First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

*Sermon for 11.28.21 (First Sunday in Advent) Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Theme: Those were the days*

*In the Name of the Father…Amen. *

*The Old Testament lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.*

*Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the Father through our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.*

*Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:*

* Sing praise to the God of Israel! *

* Sing praise for His visitation!*

* Redeeming His people from their sin, *

* Accomplishing their salvation,*

* Upraising a mighty horn within *

* The house of His servant David! Amen.*

*Introduction*

*Some days are more important than others.*

*As you look back over your life, chances are a number of days stand out.*

But not all days are equal.

Some soon fade into the mix.

Others continue to stand out.

Some of you remember vividly the day JFK was shot,

the day the space shuttle *Challenger* exploded.

Most of you remember September 11, 2001.

*Introduction*

*On an individual level, you may remember a particular Christmas or
birthday.*

A special family vacation.

Your wedding day.

The day your favorite team won the biggest game.

Or a day of particular pain, tragedy, or loss that’s forever seared in your
memory.

Some days are more important than others.

*Introduction*

*In our Old Testament Reading for this morning, Jeremiah speaks to the
people of Jerusalem about some supremely important, crucial, stand-out
days. *

“Those days” sound like some pretty great days.

Jeremiah declared that “those days” are coming, but here in this house of
worship, gathered here before this cross, we celebrate that “those days”
have already come.

*Introduction*

*They came with the advent of Jesus Christ. *

Two thousand years ago, God was walking around in our world in human flesh.

Jesus came preaching the good news of God’s kingdom, healing the sick and
driving out demons, suffering and dying for our sins on the cross, rising
on the third day, and ascending to the Father.

*Those* were the days—the days when our Savior, Jesus, walked visibly in
our world and won our salvation.

They are the most important days this world has ever seen.

They are the centerpiece of human history.

*1.1 Most people of Jeremiah’s time, like people in every age, rejected his
prophecy of “those days,” caring only about “these days.”*

*Jeremiah the prophet pointed the people toward “those days.” *

*But the people of Jeremiah’s time, like people in every age, were more
interested in their own days, in the needs of “right now” of their own
lives. *

“These are the days.

These are the days that count . . . to me.

These are my days.

I have a mortgage to pay and health concerns and a difficult boss.

I have to be concerned with working out and getting the kids to music
lessons and remodeling the basement.

I have retirement investments to navigate, political causes to promote,
hobbies to pursue, and favorite sports teams to root for.

I have mouths to feed, grass to mow, cars to fix.

Jeremiah, don’t talk to me about those days.

Talk to me about these days. These are the days I care about.”

*1.2** Most people of Jeremiah’s time, like people in every age, rejected
his prophecy of “those days,” caring only about “these days.”*

*And you know, in light of such concerns, countless Israelites had turned
aside to other sources of help. *

*They neglected the words of God’s prophets; they abandoned the worship of
God.*

*Instead, they turned to false gods and false prophets. *

*They turned to prophets whose messages focused on the here and now. *

*They turned to the gods of the neighboring peoples, gods whose worship
focused on:*

guaranteeing a good crop for this year,

or on protecting them from current dangers,

or on multiplying the number of their herds.

*1.3 **Most people of Jeremiah’s time, like people in every age, rejected
his prophecy of “those days,” caring only about “these days.”*

Century after century this had gone on—the Israelites forsaking their God
to run after false gods and focus on their needs of the moment.

And century after century, God had sent true prophets to his people to warn
them and to turn them back, to call them back to hope in God’s promises for
“those days”—the coming days of the Messiah.

*1.4** Most people of Jeremiah’s time, like people in every age, rejected
his prophecy of “those days,” caring only about “these days.”*

Finally, in Jeremiah’s generation, God’s patience with Jerusalem ended.

The Lord said He had enough of the wickedness His people were involved in
and were actively promoting.

In punishment for their unbelief and idolatry, God announced that he would
bring the Babylonians against Jerusalem.

He told Jeremiah he had made up his mind to destroy the city, and nothing
could change it.

*1.5 **Most people of Jeremiah’s time, like people in every age, rejected
his prophecy of “those days,” caring only about “these days.”*

That was the situation in which our text this morning was spoken.

Jeremiah had announced to the people that a great destruction was coming,
sent by God’s own hand: the unstoppable armies of Babylon.

To the people of Jerusalem in this desperate situation, Jeremiah speaks the
words of our text: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I
will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of
Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to
spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the
land. In those days [in his days] Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will
dwell securely” (verses 14–16).

*1.6 **Most people of Jeremiah’s time, like people in every age, rejected
his prophecy of “those days,” caring only about “these days.”*

What kind of a reaction do you suppose Jeremiah got to these wonderful
words of promise?

Well, most of the people despised him!

“Get out of here, Jeremiah, they said, and take your irrelevant,
someday-down-the-road promises with you!

We don’t need a God who will help us ‘in those days.’

We’re tired of a God who says, ‘The days are coming.’

We need prophets who will speak about peace for this day! Just in case you
haven’t noticed, Jeremiah, there are like a million Babylonians outside
these walls, every one of them armed to the teeth. They’re planning to kill
us or carry us off into slavery, and all your God has to tell us is that
‘the days are coming’ when he will fulfill his promises?

Jeremiah, we don’t care about ‘those days.’

*1.7 **Most people of Jeremiah’s time, like people in every age, rejected
his prophecy of “those days,” caring only about “these days.”*

It wasn’t long before Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, as Jeremiah had
foretold.

That beautiful city of God was torn apart—her great walls toppled—the
temple of God looted and destroyed.

The prince of the city was taken before the Babylonian general, who killed
his sons right before his eyes and then ordered that his eyes be gouged
out.

And he and most of the people were led away in chains to a life of exile in
far-off Babylon.

*2.1 But God would fulfill his promise of “those days”—including another
great day of Jesus.*

But those few among them who still placed their hopes in the promises of
God’s Word through Jeremiah were not to be disappointed.

In spite of present hardship—bitter hardship—they clung to God’s sweet
promises.

In spite of present hardship, and maybe partly because of present hardship,
they set their hearts not on their own day, but on the days which were
coming.

Guess what? We will meet these faithful people one day, and rejoice with
them, when Jesus comes again to reign over us forever!

*2.2 But God would fulfill his promise of “those days”—including another
great day of Jesus.*

*“The days are coming,” *

God promised. And come they did.

Six hundred years later—at God’s own perfect time—God made a new branch
sprout from the line of King David.

His name was Jesus, God’s own Son, and he came to Judah and to Jerusalem to
fulfill every promise God had made to them.

He conquered death and sin and hell.

He restored the relationship between God and his people. He won eternal
victory for God’s people over all their enemies—eternal security for them,
eternal joy, an eternal kingdom.

*2.3 But God would fulfill his promise of “those days”—including another
great day of Jesus. *

“Those days”—Jesus’ days—are God’s source of true help and comfort for his
people—also for us, living in 2021.

The significance and power of Jesus’ earthly life extends far beyond the
day when he ascended to the Father and was hidden by the clouds.

The saving strength and merciful favor of God for you today is rooted and
anchored in “those days”—in the life and work of Jesus Christ, come in the
flesh for you, two thousand years ago.

*2.4 But God would fulfill his promise of “those days”—including another
great day of Jesus. *

*That’s why the Church observes a church year, a liturgical year, year
after year, rehearsing the life of Christ, over and over again. *

From Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, to Lent and Easter, and Ascension and
Pentecost, our Scripture readings and hymns direct our attention to the
saving life and work of Jesus Christ.

The church year directs our attention to “those days,” which God tells us
are the most important days for us.

And so, as we begin another church year today on this First Sunday in
Advent, we fix our eyes, we set our hearts, on “those days.”

*2.5 But God would fulfill his promise of “those days”—including another
great day of Jesus. *

*Those are the days that truly matter most. *

As we hear from the Scriptures about Jesus’ life of love two thousand years
ago, we encounter his revelation of God’s true heart, his profound love,
and the true pattern and meaning of life.

As we eat this bread which is his body and drink this cup which is his
blood, we do so in remembrance of the days of Christ’s saving work; we
proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Because of Jesus’ death two thousand years ago, ALL OF YOUR SIN AND GUILT
is removed today.

At the baptismal font, as our Lord gives us new life in Holy Baptism, he
does so by the power of Christ’s resurrection.

Because of his resurrection two thousand years ago, you have the pledge of
eternal life and glory today.

*Conclusion*

*If you’ve ever cut down a tree, you know it can be a big job. *

You plan it out carefully, you notch and fell the tree (and yell timber!),
you cut off all the branches and section the limbs and the trunk, you stack
the wood or haul it away, and after all the sweat and sawdust, the task is
complete.

Where a tree once stood, all that remains now is the lifeless stump.

But come next spring, you might just find out that the tree you chopped
down is not gone and that the stump is not so lifeless.

For out of sight, under the ground, the sprawling roots of that tree are
still gathering and sending forth life.

New green shoots spring up, and what seemed like a dead stump can become a
living, growing tree once again.

*Conclusion*

*Jeremiah uses this image in our text (Jeremiah 33:15–16) to describe God’s
promise to King David that one of his descendants would reign over the
people of Israel in justice and peace forever. *

God brought severe judgment upon the people in Jeremiah’s day, and God cut
off the line of the Davidic kings; they were left like a stump.

But God’s merciful love and faithfulness to his promises were like the
powerful roots of a tree.

And the new green, living shoot that he caused to sprout forth from that
stump was Jesus Christ, born from the lineage of David to bring new life
for his people (cf Jeremiah 33:17–26).

*Conclusion*

*Some days are more important than others, more outstanding, more special,
more crucial. *

For those who know Jesus, those days, his days, are the most important and
dearest of all.

There is another day that needs to be discussed.

It will be the greatest of all days; Jesus calls it “that day.”

That day is yet coming, our Lord Jesus has promised us, when the heavens
above will be shaken and we will see Jesus coming on the clouds with power
and great glory.

Even as we fix our eyes on those days two thousand years ago, the days of
our Lord Jesus, we also watch for that day, just as our Lord encourages us.

In the flood of your everyday worries and concerns, dear brothers and
sisters in Christ, set your hearts on that day.

And when you do see him coming on the clouds, “straighten up and raise your
heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28)!

*Conclusion*

*Because of his saving work for us at his first coming, when Jesus comes a
second time, he will raise up all the dead, and he will give eternal life
and a place in his eternal kingdom to all who trust in him. *

All of his saints from days long past will rise from the dust on that day,
and we will shine with them like the stars forever and ever.

Jeremiah will be there, and those who trusted Jeremiah’s words. “In those
days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely” (verse 16).

On that day, all our troubles will end.

And God and his Messiah, King Jesus, will reign forever and ever.

At last, they will establish justice and righteousness in the earth.

Our Lord Jesus, our King, will establish justice and righteousness in us
and among us.

That day is coming soon, Jesus promises us.

Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.

Some days are more important than others. Amen.

*Let us pray:*

*O bright, rising Sun, now shine on us *

* In need of illumination;*

* Come scatter the shades of sin and death *

* And shatter their domination.*

* Be guiding our footsteps on the path *

* Of peace, in Your presence dawning! Amen *

*Text: © 1992 Stephen P. Starke, admin. Concordia Publishing House. Used by
permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110000247*

*Prayer*

*2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.*

*The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. *

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

•

*Sermon for Thanksgiving Eve 2021 Text: Deuteronomy 8:1-10 Theme: God’s
Grace at work*

• *In the Name 0f the Father…Amen.*

• *The Old Testament lesson serves as our sermon text for
this evening.*

• *Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the Father
through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.*

• *Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:*

• Praise and thanksgiving,
Father, we offer
For all things living,
Created good:
Harvest of sown fields,
Fruits of the orchard,
Hay from the mown fields,
Blossom and wood.

• Bless, Lord, the labor
We bring to serve You
That with our neighbor
We may be fed.
Sowing or tilling,
We would work with You,
Harvesting, milling
For daily bread.

• Amen

• *Introduction*

• *Starting with our first parents, Adam and Eve, God has
given us a place to live, a place to tend, a place that produces sustenance
for our existence, a place that cares for us while we care for it. *

• In Genesis, “The Lord God took the man and put him in
the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Gen 2:15, Scriptures
quotations are NIV unless noted).

• *Later, God, through a covenant, gave a land—a holy land—to
his people. *

• *To Abraham, he said: *

• “To your descendants I give this land, from the [river] of
Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates” (Gen 15:18).

• *And of course later, after Moses had led the Hebrews out
of their Egyptian bondage and through forty years of wandering in the
desert:*

• “Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the
top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole
land. . . . Then the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath
to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your
descendants’ ” (Deut 34:1, 4).

• * Introduction*

• *The gift of a land to call our own is God’s pattern, right from
the beginning. *

• Today, the day before Thanksgiving Day, exemplifies and
highlights this—especially for us as Christians—but in more ways than that.

• *Thanksgiving Is a Day to Recognize God’s Pattern of Grace Always
at Work among Us.*

• *Of course, we, as Christians living in the United States, thank
our God for this land where we enjoy the ability to worship God as of right
now without persecution.*

• A land that produces much good food.

• A land in which to raise our families and build our homes.

• A land in which to live out the days of our earthly lives.

• *1.1 We see that pattern in God’s grace to provide for the Lutheran
Church through the Reformation and in its coming to America.*

• *But today, in preparation of celebrating Thanksgiving
Day, I want to remind you that we, as Lutheran Christians of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod, should also remember what it is that brought our
Lutheran forebears to America in the mid 1800s.*

• *The Reformation took place in Saxony, Germany, in the
sixteenth century, triggered by events surrounding Martin Luther’s posting
of his Ninety-Five Theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg, October
31, 1517.*

• In fact, many of the events of the Reformation took
place in Saxony, which at the time was essentially a kingdom.

• There was no unified country of Germany as we know it
today.

• Now, what you know as Saxony today, contemporarily, is
the German state of Saxony in the eastern part of the Federal Republic of
Germany.

• But there are also two other states with similar names,
Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony.

• Together, they make up what was the Kingdom of Saxony,
ruled by Prince Frederick the Wise.

• These are the heart of the Luther lands.

• *1.2*

• *Three hundred years after the Reformation, religious persecution
returned to the area, once again directly affecting those Christians who
followed the reformer Martin Luther’s teachings and theology as recorded in
the unaltered Augsburg Confession.*

• But this time, the persecution was different.

• The government was essentially forcing the Evangelical Lutheran
Church and the Reformed Church—what we would know in America as the
Methodists and the Presbyterians, among others—to ignore their differences
and merge into one church.

• Essentially, the Lutherans were being asked to abandon the
Lutheran Confessions, especially as found in the Augsburg Confession, in
order to bring only one state church to the area; indeed, false religion
was again the source of great troubles.

• The direct descendants of the Reformation Church again found
themselves being persecuted by the government for their faith.

• This was going on not only in Saxony but in neighboring Prussia
as well.

• *1.3*

• *Therefore, devout Saxon Lutherans—the descendants of Luther,
Melanchthon, and all those who fearlessly stood down Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V and the pope himself—now some three hundred years later, in the
1830s and 1840s, were again being persecuted. *

• *This time, they packed up, boarded ships, and settled in Perry
County, Missouri, a new world that would allow them to practice their faith
freely.*

• *1.4 *

• *The leader of this exodus was Martin Stephan, a Lutheran pastor
from Dresden who appointed himself as a bishop after arriving in America.
These brave Lutherans, the forebears of The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod—our forebears—about 1,100 of them, wanted the freedom to practice
their Christian faith in accordance with Scripture, expressed in the
Lutheran Confessions, the Book of Concord, and so they bravely and
faithfully followed Stephan toward the United States in November 1838.*

• *Four of their ships arrived in New Orleans in January 1839. *

• *Not knowing that another ship had been lost at sea, they spent
some time waiting there. *

• *Finally, most of the remaining 750 immigrants settled in Perry
County, Missouri, and in and around St. Louis.*

• *1.5*

• *Later, on April 26, 1847, twelve pastors from fourteen German
Lutheran congregations met in Chicago, Illinois, and founded the German
Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States. *

• *Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther, better known as C. F. W.
Walther, became the first president of the synod. One hundred years later,
in 1947, the synod changed its name to our present name: The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod. *

• *And today, the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison is the thirteenth
president of the LCMS.*

• *1.6*

• *I take the time on this day before Thanksgiving to give you a
brief history of our own Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod because, while
tomorrow is not specifically a church holiday, without question, tomorrow
is a day that highlights God’s great mercies toward his children throughout
the millennia. *

• *God continues to bless us with his grace—that beautiful, sweet,
unmerited, undeserved goodness he shows toward us, his sinful and
rebellious children. *

• *What he’s done for our church fits his pattern of grace that is
always active among us.*

•
* 2.1 We see that pattern because of God’s grace in giving Jesus to
provide eternal blessings for all.*

• *That pattern of grace is all a result of God’s one great act of
grace. *

• *The gift of God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ, who took your
sin and my sin upon himself and paid for those sins on the cross, is God’s
grace at work. *

• *And that one act of grace, Jesus’ death on the cross:*

• since it removed the sin that would have ever separated us from
all of God’s gifts,

• that this one act satisfied God’s wrath over our sins

• this act has reconciled us to him as dear children—that one act
of grace has made possible every other gift for every person.

• *2.2*

• *The gift of the Garden given to our first parents is God’s grace
at work. *

• *The gift of the Promised Land—promised to Abraham, shown to
Moses before his death, and given to the people who entered into this
Promised Land—is God’s grace at work. *

• *The protection afforded the Wittenberg reformer, Dr. Martin
Luther, as he faced kings and emperors and pope, in order to proclaim
fearlessly the pure, life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ—salvation by grace
through faith, without any work of our own—that is truly God’s grace at
work, in so many ways!*

• *2.3*

• *The exodus of our own forebears:*

• those brave Saxons who had their hand firmly on the
Gospel as recorded in Holy Scripture, who, when challenged, refused to let
go of that Gospel and instead chose to leave their own country behind in
order to practice their God-given faith freely here in America

• this is God’s grace at work!

• * 2.4*

• *Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the fact that you and I
are here today, worshiping the same God of Scripture—this is God’s grace at
work. *

• *For this same God protected our own ancestors, whoever they
might be: *

• original immigrants to the first thirteen colonies or perhaps
refugees just a few decades back from Cambodia or Laos.

• Perhaps slaves taken against their will, either from Africa or
from wherever they called home, literally ripped away and stolen from their
own lands.

• Perhaps immigrants from Mexico or the Philippines or Russia,

• recent immigrants from Africa,

• or perhaps a happy bride coming to this country with her American
soldier husband.

• Whatever the background, whether the trip to America was one of
optimism or one of terror, these are our ancestors, whom God has promised
never to leave or forsake.

• *2.5*

• *We recall the words of the psalmist in Psalm 121: *

• “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help
come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not
let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who
keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the
Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep
your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this
time forth and forevermore” (ESV).

• *Indeed, in our pilgrimage here on earth and our
journey to our heavenly home, our Immanuel God is with us. This is God’s
grace at work!*

• *2.6*

• *And so tomorrow, the day of Thanksgiving, we, many of
whom are either immigrants ourselves or descendants of immigrants, give
thanks to God that he had his hand of protection upon each man, woman, and
child as they came here, as they came here to America, regardless of
situation. *

• *And because of God’s grace at work in protecting them,
you and I are here today, November 24, 2021, worshiping God freely,
according to our conscience.*

• *2.7*

• *God’s grace at work! *

• *Our Immanuel God is with Adam and Eve at the fall in
the Garden*

• *He was with the Israelites during the time of
horrible Egyptian enslavement*

• *He was with those brave reformers in Saxony some five
hundred years ago*

• *He was with those original immigrants from Saxony as
they came to America to worship God freely.*

• *And He is always with us in the person of his Son,
Jesus Christ, true God and true man, true Messiah for the world! *

• *Thanksgiving is a day to remember God’s grace—his
living, active, all-powerful, and all-forgiving grace—and that is why we
gather here today and why we celebrate around the dinner table tomorrow.*

• *We gather to worship God. *

• *We gather to receive grace upon grace as we read God’s
Holy Scripture and hear his Word being preached to us. *

• *We received grace and forgiveness as our sins were
washed from us in those waters of Baptism. We receive grace and forgiveness
of sins as we take comfort in having received Jesus’ body and blood in,
with, and under the elements of the bread and wine this last Sunday.*

• *Conclusion*

• *Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is God’s pattern! *

• *At a time when we were horribly and irrevocably lost, God saved
us from our fallen nature through his Son, Jesus Christ. *

• *Indeed, we have so very much for which to be thankful today!*

• *Have a blessed Thanksgiving, dear brothers and sisters of First
Lutheran Church. *

• *You are living proof of our God’s grace at work.*

• *In the name of God the Father, who created us, in the name of
God the Son, who by his blood has redeemed us, and in the name of God the
Holy Spirit, who made our bodies to be his own holy temple and gives us
that same faith that bestows God’s grace at work. Amen.*

• *Let us pray:*

3

*Father, providing Food for Your children, By Your wise guiding
Teach us to share One with another, So that, rejoicing With us, all
others May know Your care. Amen. *

*B. 2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.*

*C. The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. *

*D. In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

*Sermon for 11.14.21 Text: Mark 13:1-13 Theme: Built to last*

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*

*The Gospel lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.*

*Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the Father through our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.*

*Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:*

Psalm 16:1-11

*A Miktam of David.* Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all
my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink
offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful
inheritance.

I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs
me.

I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I
shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also
dwells secure.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see
corruption.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness
of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

*Introduction*

*So why are we always shocked when cars break down, or bodies, for that
matter? *

*Don’t they always? *

*Or why are we surprised when the house that was always on that
corner—though, obviously, it wasn’t always there—but why are we surprised
when it’s not? *

*Or everything you see, sit on, or lean on in the whole world? *

*For one reason or another we trust in things on earth and this is not just
idolatry. *

*Maybe we secretly think that if we believe in them enough, we can make
them stay—by faith. *

*St. Paul told us that the things that we can’t see yet are permanent,
whereas the things we can see now are temporary. *

*“Yes,” says my heart, “but you can see them.” *

*To little people like us, whatever you can see, in spite of everything we
know, it can seem like it’s forever.*

*Especially if it’s impressive at all—like, say, oh, the Roman Empire or
cancer or a Mercedes-Benz—it takes your mind away, until we can reason,
contrary to all experience, “It’s here today; ergo, it won’t be gone
tomorrow.”*

*Well, the disciples were little guys like us, and when they came to the
big city and saw the temple in Jerusalem, it took their breath away. *

*Naturally. It was enormous and gorgeous, built by King Herod with all his
money and power, earthly to the max. *

*But beyond that, it was one of the best things earth ever produced. *

*God used it. *

*God met people there. *

*It was the house he chose to live in for a while. *

*If anything on earth was impressive, that was it. *

*And when those small-town fellows from up in Galilee saw it, they were as
awed as any country boy staring up at the Simmons Tower. *

*It seemed as invulnerable as the State Capitol building. *

*It seemed as solid as the earth, or as solid as the earth seems until
Judgment Day.*

*Really, when you look at anything, cars or bodies or temples or planets,
the question isn’t “Can I see it?” The question is “Is it built to last?”*

*1. Not the world or anything from it, not anymore.*

*A. In the beginning, all earthly things—including us—were built to
last.*

1. By this we know God’s will.

a. Not destruction,

b. But everlasting joy.

2. Because of this, we still expect things to last
(verse 1).

a. It’s what we ourselves were made for.

b. It’s the nature of the world we were made to live in.

*B. But nothing from earth is built to last now.*

1. Everything from earth perishes, to our shock and
grief.

2. Even the best and greatest from earth is doomed: “Do
you see these great buildings?” (verse 2).

3. In this, we have a warning and a preview of the end
of all things.

a. Earthly peace perishes: “wars” (verses7–8a).

b. The ground is shaking already: “earthquakes” (verse
8b).

c. The skies are undependable; crops fail: “famines”
(verse 8b).

d. Inevitably, earth and everything on it will be swept
away: “These are but the beginning of the birth
pains” (verse 8c).

4. Things don’t last because human sin has brought
God’s curse on all fallen creation—including our natural lives.

a. Your life is a mist, a vapor that appears for a
little while,

b. As God turns us back to dust,

c. As the beginning of judgment.

*Transition*

*What am I saying? *

*Don’t earthly things matter at all? *

*Aren’t they real? *

*Of course, they are. *

*We can see them. *

*We can see them all leaving**. *

*Is anything built to last?*

*2. Jesus Christ is built to last.*

*A. He was born everlasting.*

He is, from his conception, everything we were made to be.

A sinless man, like Adam before the fall, and therefore,

An immortal man, like Adam before the fall: the permanent man.

He is from before his conception the eternal Son of God.

In him the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9).

The God-man is the everlasting temple,

Of which the splendid temple in Jerusalem was just a shadow.

*B. Transition*

That’s what was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple (verse
3).

How strange: A temple looking at a temple!

How strange that one man, sitting on the ground, was greater than all those
wonderful buildings!

Only Jesus Christ is built to last.

How strange that his flesh and blood was more permanent than all those
wonderful stones!

Tell me, which one *looked* more enduring?

To his own disciples, which one seemed more impressive at the moment?

They told him, “Look, Teacher, isn’t it incredible?”

But that teacher from Galilee sitting there, with his little followers
looking at the best thing the world ever made—*he* was God’s real house,
holy and everlasting, looking at a little model that was doomed, like the
whole planet.

Only Jesus Christ is built to last.

But then *he* died too, like everything else.

*C. The everlasting man was born to be destroyed.*

As if he were fallen and sinful, like everything we see, including
ourselves.

To bear Judgment Day ahead of time, the whole world’s curse in his body.

To bring the end of the world on his everlasting self, instead of on us.

*D. Transition*

Soon enough, the temple in Jerusalem was turned to rubble, just like what
happened to the old McDonalds here in town.

It was a great building, for a moment; then there was not left one stone
upon another.

But that ruin was nothing as terrible as the ruin left hanging on the
cross.

The end of the whole world couldn’t be as horrifying as the end of Jesus
Christ, when the living temple of God everlasting was destroyed in front of
our eyes.

Tell me, what score doesn’t that settle?

What sin doesn’t that pay for?

What curse, what doom, what judgment isn’t swallowed up in that
destruction?

No matter how stained, how doomed, no matter how we’ve sinned, God’s death
puts paid to it all.

And Christ is risen!

*E. The everlasting man was raised. “Destroy this temple, and I will raise
it again in three days” (John 2:19 NIV).*

Built to last. Christ, being raised from the dead, cannot die again; he is
the permanent man.

Built to last. As the Son of God, he continues forever, the same yesterday,
today, and forever.

Built to last. He is holy and immortal, the everlasting temple of God.

*F. Transition*

He’s back.

He’s here.

The only permanent thing in all creation.

And he’s here to make us permanent again.

Who would’ve thought those little disciples would wind up indestructible
and glorious, long after that temple was dust?

But…

* 3. Jesus Christ rebuilds us to last.*

*He rebuilds us by his Word, Spirit, and life.*

That’s why the Gospel must be proclaimed to all the dying nations (verse
10).

That’s why the Holy Spirit is still speaking that Gospel to us and through
us (verse 11).

That vanishing people may be reborn of imperishable seed.

Through faith alone: Whoever believes has eternal life.

*Jesus Christ, the everlasting temple, makes us everlasting stones. “You
yourselves like living stones are being built up” (1 Peter 2:5).*

We receive from him the life we were built for in the first place: holy,
with his holiness; immortal, with his immortality.

Already in our souls: *“Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never
die” (John 11:26).*

And soon in our bodies: *“Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall
he live” (John 11:25). *

Raised, like his glorious body, powerful, imperishable.

More than Adam in Eden: indestructible, like living stones.

So that while everything we see disappears, the world around us, rushing
past like waves over rocks, and everything temporary about each of us—don’t
be alarmed!

These suffering bodies, with their cancers and their pains!

The last bit of sinfulness inside us!

What we can’t see yet is built to last.

Jesus himself.

Our own resurrection.

Our own reborn souls.

Therefore, as living stones, stay in the temple that lasts.

No matter what pretends to matter:

“And Jesus began to say to them, *‘See that no one leads you astray. Many
will come in my name, saying, “I am he!” ’ ” (verses 5–6).*

And the world will always be saying, “I am it!”

Only Jesus has the words of eternal life.

*3. Jesus Christ rebuilds us to last.*

No matter what else disappears:

Our peaceful lives: *“But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over
to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues” (verse 9)*—but Christ is
built to last.

Our friends: *“You will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (verse 13)*—but
Christ is built to last.

Our family ties: *“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the
father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put
to death” (verse 12)—*but Christ is built to last.

Our own bodies: *“over to death . . . put to death” (verse 12)*—but Christ
is built to last.

The ground, the skies, the universe (verse 8)—but Christ built *us* to last.

*Conclusion*

*Everything we see is disappearing while we watch, but not you: *

you were judged on his cross and raised by his Gospel.

The one who endures to the end will be saved, and that’s you, dear brother,
dear sister, in Christ, in whom he has built you to last, to the end and
*through* the end, into the world without end.

Everything else comes and goes: don’t lean on it.

Don’t chase it into the air.

And don’t be alarmed; whether it be pleasures and property, sorrows and
sins—we can see them all leaving.

But stand, you precious stone, in Christ, until you see what’s ahead.

Everything else that’s here today, you can bet will be gone tomorrow, but
all the while, in Jesus Christ, you are being built together into a
dwelling place for God. In him the whole building is rising into a holy
temple in the risen Lord (Ephesians 2:19–21).

*And any minute now, all the scaffolding is going to disappear with a roar.
*

When Christ, who is our life, appears, we also are going to appear with him
in glory, and holy angels are going to shout in amazement at what he’s made
of us, “Look! What wonderful stones!”

But we, when we see him face-to-face, when we see him as he is, God in
flesh, our Brother, destroyed and raised for us, then with angels and
archangels and all the company of heaven, we’re going to shout in amazement
at the splendor, the glory, and the wonder of the temple built to last
forever and ever and ever, Jesus Christ himself.

Amen.

*Let us pray**:*

*Thanks be unto You, Lord Jesus, for Your bitter sufferings, Your shameful
death, and Your joyous resurrection. *

*Enlighten our eyes to see in You the way unto life.*

*Uphold us by Your truth, so we may not fall into idolatry and false
worship, and preserve us in the true faith unto eternal life. *

*Amen.*

*2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.*

*The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. *

*In the Name of the Father…Amen.*