1st Sunday of End Time Reformation Sunday
Pastor Tim Patoka October 31, 2021 Faithful to the Word Mark 13:5-11
1) The Signs of the End Continually Tempt Us 2) God’s Gospel Comforts Us to the End “Bang! Bang! Bang!” went the hammer and without intending to, Martin Luther began the Reformation. It was 504 years ago today that a monk named Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses – 95 statements for debate – to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. What was intended to be an academic debate soon became an fight for the gospel itself. But on this Reformation Sunday, our focus is not on the man Martin Luther or even what he necessarily did. Rather, it is on the Word of God he had rediscovered, restored to the church, and clung to throughout the troubling times of the Reformation. Luther was not the first Christian to receive such strength from the Word in troubling times. As we’ll hear in our verses this morning from Mark chapter 13, Jesus himself encourages us to remain faithful to the Word in light of the signs around us that point to the end of all things that is surely coming. For no matter what time in history it is, we find our strength in troubling times by remaining faithful to the Word. 1) The Signs of the End Continually Tempt Us We live in troubling times, in part because of the end time signs that Jesus tells us about in our verses. There are three signs in particular he mentions. First is that no one deceives us with false claims of being our Promised Savior. It could be a person claims to be what Jesus supposedly was not or insists that you have to listen to what they alone have to say so that you don’t end up SOL for eternity. Either way, they are part of those that Jesus warns us will come and falsely say, “I am he” in hopes of deceiving many. Second is the unrest we find in this world whether it be man-made or nature flexing its muscles. As Jesus tells us, we are not to be troubled by these unsettling things nor surprised by them. Rather, these are compared to birth pangs, the recurrent pains you expect to feel as you progress to the eventual end. Third are the hardships we bear as Christians when we are persecuted for our faith in Jesus Christ. Whether it be in physical forms that end in martyrdom or the silent ways we see today, we are to be on our guard when those lost in sin take their anger against God out on those who hold to his Word.
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Pastor Tim Patoka October 31, 2021
1st Sunday of End Time Reformation Sunday
The thing about these end time signs is that they’re not simply here for a bit and then gone forever or a quick ramping up before the actual Last Day. Rather, they have been going on since Jesus ascended into heaven and will continue to do so in varying degrees and in different places until the end itself comes and life as we know it changes forever. Jesus tells us about these three signs because they can be quite tempting for us to give up our hold on God’s Word. When deceptive claims arise about who the Promised Savior truly is, what is often our reaction? We wonder if what the Bible says is actually true and we question its core teachings of who our Savior is and how he has saved us. When man-made and natural unrest troubles our hearts, where is our attention often directed? Not to our God above or his inspired Word. Rather, it’s to our lives here and the ensuing temptation to keep it there. When persecution raises its obvious or hidden head, the question comes to every Christian – will I pay the price to remain faithful to God and his Word? Or not? Any one of these end time signs is dangerous enough to our continued faithfulness to God and his Word. But all three on a continual basis? That’s a trio to beware of. A trio that, if they had their way, would rid us of God’s Word and therefore rid us of his gospel. During Luther’s time in Germany, he saw firsthand how bad things can get when you lose sight of God’s Word. Due to expensive printing costs, Bibles were typically only found among the clergy and the nobility. Biblical teaching at that time was far more based on man’s expert opinion than on God’s inspired Word. As a doctor of theology, Martin Luther had become quite familiar with both the Bible and the church’s teachings. But things came to a head when Johann Tetzel came selling indulgences like today’s dishonest used car salespeople. With the sale of indulgences (which has no biblical basis) magnified by Tetzel’s shady sales tactics, the common person looked to the indulgence as their way to secure God’s gospel for themselves instead of through faith in what God has already done and said. So Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany out of concern for his misguided members and in naïve innocence of how deep the problem ran in the Roman Catholic Church. Not long after posting that historic document, Luther would later realize what was truly at stake – not indulgences and church practices, but the gospel itself and all that God gives through it. We give thanks to God that the church today is in a much healthier position than it was in Luther’s time. But the danger still remains – give up God’s Word 2
Pastor Tim Patoka October 31, 2021
1st Sunday of End Time Reformation Sunday
and you give up his gospel. And when we remember Jesus’ tempting trio of end time signs, we see how Luther’s dire times could easily become our own. Give up God’s Word and you give up God’s gospel. 2) God’s Gospel Comforts Us to the End But why is God’s Word so critical for us to receive God’s gospel? To answer that question, we turn our attention to three phrases that came out of the Reformation – faith alone, grace alone, and Scripture alone. It is through faith alone in Jesus Christ, and not in anyone or anything else, that we receive the forgiveness of our sins and the guarantee of eternal life in heaven. It is because of God’s grace alone, not because of what we have done or who we are, that our Lord blesses us and gives us these gifts. It is in Scripture alone that we hear about this wonderful news that alone has his mark of inspired authenticity. Because Scripture alone has this message of sins forgiven due to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we see how important it is to remain faithful to the Word. Keep God’s Word and you keep God’s gospel. Another thing is certain – God’s gospel is never going away. Jesus tells us so in light of those continual end time signs, “The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” (Mark 13:10 EHV) Not only will God’s gospel survive to the end of all things, it will become public knowledge to all the nations of the world. But that doesn’t mean that everyone will listen to it or believe it. For those who know the history of the Christian Church, you know what challenges the gospel has faced to let its light shine to all nations. But even if you don’t know the history, know this – it’s entirely because of God that his gospel has remained intact throughout all the centuries and original to what he had recorded in the inspired Scriptures. As he has done this throughout the ages and despite all the changes of the past, so he will for the time to come. It is through this everlasting gospel that God comforts us in light of the end time signs he mentions. When we hear deceptive claims of who the Promised Savior is, there is no question about who our Savior is or how certain his salvation is. It’s Jesus Christ and he has certainly forgiven our sins. That includes when we fall for such temptations – Jesus will forgive us. When the birth pangs of manmade and natural unrest trouble our lives, we have God’s assurance of the coming eternal to calm our hearts. He will protect and provide for us as promised and usher us into our heavenly homes when the time is right. When we suffer persecution for being a child of God and his Word, we have the added promise of the Holy Spirit 3
1st Sunday of End Time Reformation Sunday
Pastor Tim Patoka October 31, 2021
who will be giving us the words to speak and assuring us of his abiding presence. As long as we remain faithful to God’s Word, we will have his gospel. And if we have God’s gospel, we will have this comfort until the end itself. Conclusion Soon after Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses, he found himself over his head in troubling times. Yet the reason why he got through them and talk about him today is because of his faithfulness to the Word of God. It was this message of sins forgiven through faith in Jesus alone, because of God’s grace alone, as told in Scripture alone, that Luther rediscovered and restored to the church in the Reformation. This rediscovered gospel also gave him the strength to remain faithful to the Word in his troubling times. Luther was not the only Christian to find strength from God by remaining faithful to the Word. We too find our strength in troubling times by remaining faithful to his Word. As Jesus said, those three end time signs are now and will continue to tempt us to give up God’s Word. And we know that if we give up God’s Word, we give up his gospel. Yet nothing can surpass the good news of sins forgiven through Jesus Christ and the eternity in heaven that follows it nor the comfort God gives to us through it in light of all the end time signs we see today. Because this gospel is never going away, neither will its comfort for us in every troubling time. As such, may we follow in Luther’s steps and listen to Jesus’ words by remaining faithful to the Word of God until the end comes. Amen.
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