Alarmed!
Pastor Joe Fuiten, July 23, 2006
Matthew 24:1-14
“Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 "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." 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?" 4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6 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. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 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.” NIV
Jesus is answering three questions that overlap somewhat. He emphasizes the general chaos both in terms of war and “natural” events that cause havoc. At the foremost of these is nation rising against nations and kingdom against kingdom. These kingdoms are the vast number of tribal units into which the world is presently fragmenting.
In this section of Scripture Jesus described six signs. There would be false religion, international wars and threat of wars, natural disasters, religious persecution, increase in wickedness, the Gospel will be preached.
Being alarmed, or responding with some anxiety, would seem to be the natural response. I am sure that is why Jesus took particular pains to tell us not to go that route.
At least in this passage he did not tell us how to go about not being alarmed.
There is a wonderful Old Testament story that illustrates what we should do.
2 Chronicles 20:1-15 (Page
320)
1 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the
Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat,
"A vast army is coming against you from
21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever." (NIV)
Notice how he reached out to God. That in itself is significant, but we also need to consider four elements of how he did that.
One, He fasted. The fasting showed that he was serious, not
casual.
Two, He
recognized and acknowledged the supremacy of God over all the universe. In verse
six we have his prayer: "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God
who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and
might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. God is not
small. He is not weak. He is God.
The king didn’t go over the details of how tiny the
pieces of his body are going to be if those kings finally show up.
Some people, when they pray, are always talking to
the devil. Talk to the King. Let him talk to the devil. It’s more effective that way.
Listen to how David prayed in Psalm 27: “The LORD is my light and my
salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom
shall I be afraid? 2 When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when
my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army
besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then
will I be confident. 4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I
may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the
beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his
tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above
the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of
joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. 7 Hear my voice when I call, O
LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.”
That is what God is to you. He is King.
He is Lord. He is your light and
your salvation.
Three, he anticipated the future
based upon the past. God’s past help
was the basis of his anticipation. In
verses 7 he rehearses that. “O our God, did you not drive out the
inhabitants of this land before your people
Four, They waited without
knowing….even though the enemy was already close. In verse 12 we have their
prayer as they waited. “O our God, will you not
judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."
God’s answers always take time and they always come in time. Faith is knowing he will come when the enemy seems closer than God.
The people received a clear word from God. God reached out to the People with the word
of assurance. The battle is God’s, not
theirs. This was the moment they had
been waiting for. Verse15 says it
all, “This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged
because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.”
Once you have a victory promise, the actual fight is anti-climactic but still needs to be fought. Just go out praising God.
One thing you learn from this story, there is nothing really wrong with having fear. If you have an army chasing you and you are not afraid, there is something wrong with you. It is not the arrival of fear that is bad. It is what we do with it.
A fearful spirit is not from the Lord. A loving spirit is. A feeling of power or ability is from God. A sound mind is from the Lord.