The cold weather and the snow remind us we are coming to the end of the church year here in Minnesota. I have to add that part about MN, because I talked to my parents in FL, on Saturday, and it sounds like they may still be in short sleeves. Several of our members will also be heading for some of those warmer climates shortly if they haven't already left. But up here, where we have two seasons, winter, and winter is coming, we can't deny it anymore. Hopefully, all the crops are close to being out now, because we are definitely in the "winter is coming." It's also time for the church to study her lessons again on how to look forward to Christ's return.

It doesn't seem like it should take that much to learn how to look forward to His return. It's like falling off a log--no practice, training, or skill required. When He comes it will be glorious. We are always looking forward to it. When the alarm seems to have gone off too early or the milk has soured, when our favorite cereal has run out or the coffee maker didn't turn on, we wish these things wouldn't happen. That's when we show how we can't wait for Jesus' return, because when He does there will be no more of these silly accidents-or things much worse. So, looking forward to His return--that's easy.

It's the time leading up to it. That's the hard part. Just like a pregnancy. First time parents can't imagine how wonderful it could be to welcome their first child, but they do know the inconveniences of pregnancy, and shortly before the actual delivery, the pains.

The first part of our text is Jesus talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus uses this to point to the end of time. I'm sure when Jerusalem was in the process of being destroyed, when the temple was demolished and the holy place was desecrated, the Jewish people probably thought it was the end of the world.

This came in 70 A.D. and can be called the first part of the last days. After that happened, when readers look back at it, they will have some idea of how terrifying that last day will be. Christ's return will be glorious thing, but the day of His return will be terrifying for many, and the time leading up to it dangerous for God's people. That's our main concern today. We need to see just how dangerous it is. That's why Jesus warns us of the possibility of being deceived by false teaching, and being mislead by false christs and false prophets.

Now, we may listen to that and say, "Well, that's not going to happen to us." Jesus warns us for good reason. Paul was dealing with some Christians who thought the same way and he said to them, "Be careful that you think you stand, so that you don't fall." In other words, if you think you are doing fine, you put yourself in danger. Independence is usually good, but never in spiritual matters. On your own, you are demon food.

I would like to demonstrate how we could be taken in by false christs and false prophets. As I describe it, it might sound like I am talking about particular people of the congregation. This is not directed at anyone in particular. Instead, it's like Jesus said, "See, I have told you beforehand." He wanted them to know what was to come so people were prepared. He did not want them to be caught off guard.

It will take a little bit to develop this, but we need it. I will not say anything different from what most people in church have believed up until the last 15 years, but a lot has changed in that time. If I have ever been accused of making a sermon sound like it was part of a debate, today I could be rightly accused, but we've gone pretty far down this track, and we need to get redirected or we are going to lose an awful lot. Adam's guilt lay in the fact he did not warn Eve any better than he did. I don't want to make the same mistake.

First thing we need to realize, we could be taken in quite easily. Satan is sneaky. Football teams watch films of the team they are about to play to see how they play. The Vikings and the Packers play each other this afternoon. You can bet they have been watching each other's game films. With new quarterbacks on both teams, they need to see how the other team works together and figure out their opponent's strategy. Satan has a strategy against us. We need to stop and see we are in Satan's cross hairs. After I describe it, you should be able to see it for yourself. Again, this is not to be offensive; it is so we are prepared.

It starts with what we think is a positive thing. We feel it is showing humility to be open to everybody's ideas and opinions and treat all of them as though they are equal. If you say you think someone's ideas are not very good, you are thought to be judgmental-never mind the fact that those ideas may actually be bad, even dangerous. If a person holds a certain view, we are told it is Christian to consider it to be valid and good.

Now, let's say this person's views clashes with what we believe the Bible says. It becomes a matter of theirs or ours. Which is right? We say, "That's their interpretation of the Bible; I have mine. I have no right to say yours is wrong."

That sounds nice. It sounds thoughtful and considerate, but what is implied is that no one can know what is true. It sounds like humility to say "I can't know which is true," but this is actually saying, "I can't know what God thinks." If we can't know, why did He bother to put His thoughts down on paper? Why did He waste His time giving His words to the men who wrote down His words?

This puts us in dangerous territory, because we're on our way to rejecting truth. Of course, we could say that God has scattered the truth in different places; we just have to find where. When we are talking about churches and church teachings, there are a lot of different teachings. It is believed that this church has this teaching right, and this other church has this teaching right. We're left to settle with the church we think has the best claim, the one that suits us, that makes us most comfortable. This is not good. We are forced to embrace some kind of error, because if the truth is scattered in different churches, but each teach something different, then no matter what church, some of their teachings are going to be wrong. It can't be avoided.

The Lord was very intentional about not letting this happen. He was very clear about keeping anything from being added or getting dropped out of His teachings. In fact, He said let the person who does add or take away from what He has said be cursed. But now since the reformation, it seems having this chop job is the best we can expect. Supposedly the truth is now scattered in all the different churches and their teachings.

Would the Lord really do that to us? Could you imagine God doing that to us? It's hard enough to live in this world. Temptations abound. The world hates us and our flesh works against us. Would a loving God leave us without any refuge? Would He scatter the truth so that we had to go about gathering it together, using our own judgment to decide what is true and what isn't? Would he tell us we just have to live with false teaching? Would He tell us, "I'm sorry but everyone is just going to have to live with ingesting some kind of poison regularly because no church's teaching is free of it"? Would He really say that? Not a loving God, that's for sure.

I know I'm hitting some pretty sensitive areas. I hate that I'm doing that. I hate that it hurts so much. It is indicates that this has gotten really deep. It's like a condition that has been ignored and now is being treated. It involves a lot of pain. But to ignore it is to allow it to get worse.

Therefore, we need to press on to examine more closely what we have been doing, so we can be better prepared for Satan's attacks and see how much ground he may have already gained. Despite how we might protest, if we say no one could have the truth, we are rejecting it, because we are rejecting the idea anyone could have the whole truth. If we don't think we can have it, then haven't we rejected it? If it is really there, but we say it is not, are we likely to see it is ours?

Think about this. If you were to find a check for a $1,000 but you didn't think it was real, would you try to cash it? Not if you didn't think it was real. If you didn't cash it, and it really was real, would you be enjoying what it could have been doing for you? No.

If we don't think we could have the truth, that is, we don't believe we could have in one place all the teachings of God without error, then we won't have it. We won't enjoy all the comfort that comes from knowing God has spoken to us what we need to hear. Instead, we will wonder about those things He has clearly spoken to, and seek for something else solid and trustworthy. We will seek some kind of communication from God, something we think we can trust. Our experience, hunches, or observations will become those things we will most likely trust because we won't have anything else from God we could. We would even believe that God was the one giving us these hunches, experiences or observations so we could reach the conclusions we were reaching.

Do you see? Even if your hunches, experiences or observations are contrary to what God has said in His Word, if you don't think you could know what God thinks, you won't see them as such.

For example, I would bet all of you know women who fill a pastor's call. They can be wonderful ladies, and very effective in their congregations. Based on your experience, then, you might conclude that the way the Christian church looked at St. Paul's statements against women's ordination must have been misunderstood. We would have to conclude that for over 1900 years the people of the church have misunderstood what the practice should have been. Even though the words have been clear for over 1900 years, now we would say things have changed, and now they are questionable. We are more advanced now in our understanding of God because we are convinced no one can know the truth. If this is so, we are going to trust only what we have experienced, even believing God has lead us to this conclusion.

For example, you may have a Mormon who is a wonderful person for a friend. You want to conclude he is a Christian, because he is so sincere, and you want to believe he will be in heaven when he dies. If this Mormon holds to what his church teaches, however, then he is lost. If he holds to what his church teaches, then he rejects Jesus as the way to the Father. You don't want to believe that he is lost, though, because he is a wonderful person and our friend. You might even say our God would not condemn a person who is Mormon. But if you did, you would be completely denying what God has clearly said. But if we can't be sure what the Bible says, then we can't say anything with confidence. We can't be sure what God has said. We would trust our own observations and experience over God's clear Word, believing God has lead us to this conclusion.

Enter false teachers and false prophets. The things they would say, the things we would see confirmed would convince us these must be from God. At least these things seem real, they seem trustworthy. We can be sure about them because we see it; we have lived it. Never mind that it is contrary to God's words.

In light of this threat, Jesus tells us the art of being Christian. Ignore what they are saying. The coming of the Son of Man is very plain. Where the word is being spoken in all its truth there Jesus will be found. It's not mysterious. It's not done in some corner or in some remote location. It is happening, He is coming where the Word and Sacraments are found. In fact, where the Word and Sacraments are found, you will find Christians. So, where you find Christians feeding on the Lord's flesh under bread and wine and hearing His Word, there you will find Christ. You can be sure of it. Where you find hungry people, hungering for life, and being satisfied, there you will find Christ. Where two or three are gathered in His name, there you will find Him.

Learn this lesson well. The Birth pangs are so intense they threaten to rip us out of God's hands. That's why Jesus says, they are so bad it seem like they could even lead the elect astray. That can't happen. The elect can't be led astray, but it tells you don't underestimate how deceptive Satan could be and how painful the attacks can be. And for pity's sake, don't think you can handle it on your own. Instead, admit your weakness, your helplessness against the attacks and lean on the sure words of our God, His promises and His gifts. He has given you just what you need to stay there in His hands. It is Himself. He comes to you so your faith is maintained despite all the challenges.

I admit, the past several minutes have been pretty intense. To know you are His child is comforting and to know He will sustain you is also, but it's what we are trained to look toward that is truly the good news.

If this is all birth pangs, then it means a birth is to come, a joyous event. Paul says creation has been groaning in the pains of childbirth. Creation looks forward to Jesus' return. Jesus comes to remove sin and its curse. It was done when He first came and conquered sin and death, but we haven't seen the full effect yet. That is coming. We can't wait for His return when life is how we dream it should be. This is your promise because He came for the first time. But in the meantime, while we have to endure these birth pangs, hold to the one who is coming back, and know these are only birth pangs and the joyous event is just on the other side.

AMEN