Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

In January of 1945, the Allied forces liberated the Auschwitz death camp.

And, that day, there were two different reactions to be found among those who were associated with the camp.

For those who worked at the camp and profited from the camp and believed that they were in control of their own destinies, that day was not a day of liberation at all, but rather it was a day of condemnation.

For many of them, it was the day that would spell the beginning of the end of their lives.

Seeing this coming, Himmler had ordered that all of the gas chambers be dismantled and destroyed, and he demanded that all the documents be burned, hoping to eliminate the evidence of the atrocities that had been committed there.

Still, more than 12 percent of those who worked at the camp were hanged for war crimes, and for them and their families it was to always be remembered as a day of great mourning.

For those who were imprisoned at the camp, for those who were used in medical experiments and for those who had watched as their family and friends were transformed into smoke against a darkened sky and for those who were on the verge of starvation, it was a day of rejoicing when the Allies arrived.

It meant that they were saved from their enemy and delivered from a certain death.

It meant that smoke from the incinerators will go away and that they could eat their fill.

And so, with whatever energy they had left, with whatever health they had left, with whatever emotions they could still muster, they rejoiced over the arrival of their saviors.

And, this is the picture of what it will look like when Christ returns.

For some, it will be a day of mourning, a day of judgement, and a day of condemnation.

It will be the day they loathe forever.

For others, it will be a day of rejoicing and celebrating and permanent joy.

And, on that day, every person will have one of those two experiences: mourning or rejoicing.

Turn with me to , as Christ explains to us how we must be found when He returns.

God’s Word

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“Immediately After the Tribulation”

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days...” Jesus’ disciples have asked Jesus when the Temple will be destroyed, and when will He return.

In their minds, it seems as though these two events were to happen simultaneously.

They are ready to establish his earthly rule and to be vindicated for being his disciples in the world’s eye.

And so, Jesus’ words must’ve been shocking for his disciples.

Jesus tells his disciples that it’s going to be an extended time before He returns, but that in the mean time, they would face a time of tribulation, of suffering and persecution and hardship.

Where we pick up this morning, Jesus is going to pivot and explain to his disciples what to expect when He does return and how they should live in the mean time.

Now, one of the things that is fascinating here is the timing of Jesus’ return.

He’s going to go to great lengths to leave that timing very much open-ended, but He does say something specific that is often missed.

He says that he will come ‘immediately after the tribulation of those days.’

That is, Jesus says that He will return after his disciples have experienced the tribulations of the broken world.

He will return after they have been persecuted and betrayed.

He will return after the false teachers have come to lead as many astray as possible.

He will return after his disciples have been tempted to abandon him.

He will return after the horrific destruction of the Temple.

He says that, immediately following all of these things, the sky will darken and the moon will disappear, and then every person in every nation will see the obvious and terrifying return of their King, not born in a humble manger in Bethlehem, but riding his victory horse in full power and glory.

The Mourning Nations

“all the tribes of the earth will mourn” Upon his return, Jesus says that the world will be divided into two different groups who will have two entirely different reactions to his return.

First, He says that the tribes of the earth, or the nations of the earth, will mourn.

The word ‘mourn’ means to literally beat one’s chest or to beat one’s heart because you are so overwhelmed with grief.

It means to wail because you are so distressed by what has happened.

It is often used to reference a death and the overwhelming grief a person experiences when they’ve lost someone they love dearly.

So, why are the nations grieving?

Why will the tribes of the earth wail when they finally see their true King in all of his power and glory?

Remember what Jesus said would happen in verse 14.

Jesus said before the end comes, that is, before He returns, that every nation and every tribe would hear the Good News of the gospel.

They would hear the Good News of how they could be delivered from their sin and rebellion against God because what Christ has done.

But, most of them will reject him.

Most of them will join in the persecution of the church and in indifference toward his message.

They will live their lives as they always have, and they will be unchanged by the Good News they have heard.

But, when the King returns, when Jesus comes back on his victory horse in power and glory, the Good News of salvation by the risen Christ will turn to bad news for all those who have rejected him, and they will mourn as the reality of God’s wrath against them, their sin, and their rebellion comes to bear upon them starting that day and never ending.

And so, Jesus says that they will wail and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth among those who have been indifferent or hostile to Christ and his message.

APPLICATION: Iron City, if we truly grasped the agony and the scope of the mourning that day, we would sacrificially live on mission today.

Just think of all those who will be wailing and weeping on that day.

Jesus makes it clear that this is most people on the earth.

Most people among the tribes of the earth, so much so, that He can say ‘all the tribes of the earth will mourn.’

It’s universal and encompassing.

This means most boys and girls and most teenagers and most moms and dads and most grandparents will wail that day.

Your children, who have heard the gospel and heard the gospel but who still don’t care will wail and weep.

Your grandchildren who think its outdated and unscientific to believe in God or to obey God even if they do believe him will wail and weep.

Your husband or your wife who sees church as unnecessary and religion as pointless will wail and weep.

Your neighbors and your friends and your classmates and your coworkers will wail and weep.

Precious families all over the globe will join in with a cry that is so universal that it will be difficult to distinguish it from another.

Oh brothers and sisters, we must mourn today for those will be mourning that day.

We must be a church that is willing to have calloused feet and a bruised reputation so that mourning can be turned to rejoicing.

Because that’s the gospel!

Oh, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News!

The Rejoicing Church

“they will gather his elect from the four winds” But, there will be another group with a starkly different reaction there that day.

It will be as different as the condemned perpetrators of Auschwitz and the liberated victims.

For He says that there will be a loud trumpet call, a trumpet that will be so unmistakable not a single soul will be unsure of its meaning.

And, from every corner of the earth, from every nation filled with wailing and weeping, his elect, his church, his chosen people will arise to be gathered with him in the clouds of heaven.

In Matthew, the cloud is symbolic of the very presence of God, who has twice at this point, once at him baptism and again at his transfiguration, declared that Jesus is his son with whom He is well pleased.

But, on that day, because of his Son, God will call out his Church and bring them before the earth, and say, “This is my church with whom I am well pleased!”

And, the tears will be wiped from their eyes and the anguish taken from their souls and the tribulation and turbulence of this painful age will finally come to a close so that it will be marked by rejoicing that will start that day and never end!

In the sky, every race will be reconciled and every wrong will be righted and every tribe will be worshipping.

Oh church, can you imagine the rejoicing of that day?

APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, don’t you know this is why we sing in church!

This is why we rejoice every week when we come together.

We rejoice not because our lives are easy and free of suffering and full of prosperity now, but because we are assured that they will be one day.

We rejoice now because we will rejoice then!

Your worship is a declaration of faith.

Your worship, your singing, your rejoicing in this age of tribulation is a declaration for all peoples that God is as good today as He will be on that day, even though you can’t see him and even though sometimes He feels a long way off.

Rejoice now like you will forever.

The Difference is Readiness

“So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near” Having described what it will be like upon his return, Jesus returns to his main point in verses 32 to the end.

He tells them that when you ‘see all these things’ you will know that it’s like fig tree sprouting leaves — very soon the fruit will come.

It’s important that we identify what ‘these things’ are.

A lot of people have to come to this passage and said, “See, Jesus was wrong about something.

He thought He would return within this generation.

He thought He would come back in glory and power before his disciples died.”

But, this is to miss the context of what Jesus has seen.

What does Jesus mean by ‘these things?’

Notice how the question was asked in verse 3. The disciples ask Jesus, ‘When will THESE THINGS be?” And, of course, they were referencing the destruction of the Temple and tribulation surrounding it.

And, every time that the word has been used up until verse 34, it’s meant the same thing.

He even hints in verse 35 that this is going to be a long delay by telling them that it will feel like his words are going to pass away, but they’re rock solid.

So, we know by this that Jesus is going back to his original point: The difference in the mourning and rejoicing is readiness.

Those who aren’t ready for his appearing will mourn when He returns, and those who are ready will rejoice.

Mourning or Rejoicing

As you look at the rest of our passage, what you see is that Jesus continues this ‘either/or’, ‘one way or the other’ theme.

He’s saying, “You’re either the mourning nations or the rejoicing elect.