It was my plan to preach on another aspect of our relationship with the Spirit. I was doing some thinking on Ephesians 4:30 where the Apostle talks about grieving the Holy Spirit. But somewhere around Wednesday the Spirit made it clear to me that I needed to change my topic. It's not that the topic of grieving the Spirit is unimportant. It's very important. And I expect that we'll get to back to it soon. But some things happened recently that got me to thinking. One was the cyclone that hit Myanmar and the other was the earthquake that shook China. Between these two events tens of thousands of people were killed. And that means that millions will have their lives dramatically changed forever. Something big happened in our world. And then, you can add to that the fighting that has broken out again in Lebanon, the shortage of rice - the basic food for billions - around the world, the political unrest in places like Zimbabwe and Nigeria, the struggle for the future of the worldwide Anglican church, the price of oil and its implications, and so much more. These are things that are happening now in our world. Is there a word from Jesus to guide us in how to understand and respond to these things? There is and our text is a part of what He has to say. The disciples ask Jesus for signs of His coming again. Jesus responds with more than just that. He tells them about life between the advents, life until His return. It is here that we can find some help. And, by the grace of God, we will.
The first thing I want to do is to break down what Jesus has to say into categories, and there are four: the religious, the political, the natural, the social. We'll look at each in turn. The first is Jesus' description of what will be going on in the religious realm. He tells us that there will be false messiahs, people who will be making great claims for themselves as God's leaders. And He tells us that they will have some success. There will be those who will be led astray. Do I really need to spend time talking about Charles Taze Russell and the Jehovah's Witnesses or Joseph Smith and the Mormons or Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science? And I've limited myself just to the modern American religious scene. Jesus also talks about the inevitability of the persecution of the saints. And again, He warns that there will be some success here. There will be those who will fall away and betray the saints and hate them. Life in the religious realm will face great difficulties. Then, there is the political realm. Jesus prophesies that there will be conflict between nations. He mentions the worst kind of conflict: war. But in this category are included all those things that lead up to war, or might lead to war. There will be continual conflict in this area. Then, there is the realm of nature. Jesus speaks about what we call 'natural disasters', things like famines - think Africa - and earthquakes - think China. We could include here things like the drought in Australia or the cyclone in Myanmar that I mentioned. Go back a few years and we'd be talking about the tsunami that hit in the Indian Ocean or a little further back and it would be the tornado that went through Albion. Nature is in upheaval and will continue to be. And that leaves the social area. Jesus predicts that lawlessness will increase and that the love of many will grow cold. A glance at any newspaper will show the results of the first of these and a visit to an abortion clinic will provide an example of the second. And Jesus is clear that these things are not a signs that His return is near. Oh, no. As He said, 'All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.'
Jesus has just laid out, in broad strokes, what life on this world will be like until He returns. He could have said anything He wanted. He could have talked about birthday parties and wedding celebrations, great achievements and blessed lives. He could have, but He didn't. He could have skipped over the entire topic and jumped to the one sign that would let everyone know that His return is just around the corner. But He didn't do that either. He answered the disciples' question by talking about these things. Now, this doesn't mean that everything is bleak. It isn't. There are lots of things that are quite enjoyable and pleasant. There are many achievements and successes, many times of happiness. It isn't all bleak, not by a long shot. There are many times of smiles and hugs and lots of really good things. And yet, that's not how Jesus decided to describe the time between His first and second advents. Why? There is a reason, and it is important that we discern what it is.
Let me offer one reason why Jesus described life between the advents in this way. He did it because it's the truth. Life here is filled with evil. Paul echoes Jesus' perspective when he talks about 'this present evil age'. That was his summary statement. Jesus is just being accurate. We live in evil times. And these evil times are not just limited to our era, as if there were some perfect time, way back when. Life here has been evil since Jesus left and before that, and these evil times will continue until Jesus returns. We believe this because that's what Jesus taught. But He wasn't just interested in being accurate. There's another reason why He spoke in this way. He wanted to help His disciples, not just those few who asked the question, but all His disciples throughout history, including us. He wanted us to see reality clearly. There is a tremendous temptation to ignore, as best we can, all the evil that surrounds us, a temptation to build a moat around our lives to keep out any sense of evil. But how can we serve others in this present evil age if we think that way? Our understanding of the real state of things will affect our ability to serve while we are here.
I remember this doctor, who attended the same church that we did. She specialized in caring for children with very serious problems in their immune system. Because of the seriousness of their illnesses, many of her patients, these little children, died. Linda asked her once how she dealt with that. She said that she mourned each death. And if you think about it for just a minute, you'll agree that she had to do that. If she hadn't grieved for these little children, what kind of doctor would she have become? Her patients would no longer be people but merely cases. And that would have changed everything. But she did not hide from reality. She acknowledged the evil that confronted her. And doing that cost her. Allowing your heart to grieve costs. But how else could she really care for these children? That's what Jesus is getting at. If we are going to follow Jesus faithfully and do a good job serving those around us, we need to see this life for what it is. We need to see the evil. Jesus wants us to see the evil. After all, He did.
Now all of that is background to Jesus' real point. Jesus lays out all that background so that He can state clearly His expectation of those first disciples and us. That expectation is the heart of His comments and of this morning's sermon. And that expectation is tied up in this: 'But the one who endures to the end will be saved.' Do you see what Jesus expects of you? Having laid out something of the evil nature of this age, He then calls you to a patient persistence toward the goal. 'But the one who endures to the end will be saved.' I have been reading in 2 Corinthians recently. And I came upon Paul's description of his life. 'Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?' Paul understood the evil of life between the advents. But you never hear him talk of giving up. You never hear complaints. He simply continues to press on in the face of the evil. His life is one example of patient persistence toward the goal. You may never face the things that Paul did, but you will face evil. Jesus calls you to endure to the end.
To be sure, this is a daunting task. But you can approach it boldly, optimistically and with great joy. There is something implied in Matthew's account of Jesus' words that Luke makes explicit. In Luke's account, right before Jesus' words about endurance, we read this, 'But not a hair of your head will perish.' As you deal with all the issues tied up in enduring to the end, you can be assured that you are safe. That is Jesus' promise to you. It is because of this that you can face the evil of this world boldly. Questions about your safety, question that can be so very distracting, have already been dealt with. You can put all that aside and focus on what's important: serving others who are sometimes overwhelmed by the evil. And that sense of safety is renewed each time you deal with Jesus' simple question. 'Do you trust Me now?' 'Yes, Lord, I do trust You. Not as well as I'd like, but I do.' And that's good enough for Jesus. Knowing that you are eternally safe because of Jesus frees you to boldly confront the evil before you. This is very important. Such questions are a distraction. Set them aside and get to work. Remember, Jesus has promised.
You can also be optimistic because you know that your efforts toward the goal will most certainly succeed. And you know because of what Jesus said. 'And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.' The goal is the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We're back to our mission. And we know that this Gospel will spread until it is proclaimed everywhere. We know that we will succeed. We know this because Jesus promised it. There will be times when your efforts at enduring, your efforts at pushing back the evil that you find before you, your efforts at spreading the Gospel, will seem to be worthless. They will seem to be fruitless. They will seem to be in vain. But that cannot be so. You have a role to play in this battle. You have something to contribute. By your patient persistence, the Church will achieve the goal. We will win. And we can be sure of that. Remember, Jesus has promised.
That leaves this. We endure with great joy. If you try to endure merely out of a sense of duty, something will go wrong somewhere. A necessary ingredient in endurance is joy. But 'joy' is another of those church words that we need to translate into real English. For one thing, joy is an emotional response. It's not an emotion, but it is emotional. It's an up feeling, but it's not happiness since happiness is tied to the circumstances of the moment. And it's not just something intellectual because the affections of the heart are involved. So, when you boil it all down, joy is the inner person uttering a heart-felt, 'Yes!' The heart desires the goal, and that 'Yes!' comes out whenever there is progress toward the goal. Joy is a response of the heart that says, 'It's really good that this is happening.' Because of this joy - joy that only the Spirit can give - we do not consider enduring to the end as a chore. It will be hard - sometimes very hard. It will cost you, maybe even that which is precious to you. But it won't be a mere duty that degenerates into some burdensome obligation. Paul, again, illustrates what I mean. He wrote, 'I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.' Paul wasn't happy to get beaten up and all the rest. But he did rejoice that, through those sufferings, the Gospel was spreading and people's lives were being changed. Enduring to the end wasn't a chore for Paul but a joy. And it can be that for us as well. The fruit of the Spirit is joy.
Let me close with some questions for you to ponder. Are your expectations of this life in keeping with Jesus' words? Is the spread of the Gospel a goal of your heart? Are you boldly optimistic and rejoicing because of Jesus as you endure?
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