“Jesus said: ‘Stay awake’
Mark 13:37
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
They had no idea it would cause such a panic. They just wanted to have a little Halloween fun.
It all started some forty years before, in 1898, when author H. G. Wells wrote a book called, The War of the Worlds. Then in October of 1938, when Orson Welles was looking for something new and different to air on his live radio program, he decided to use the book, and tell it as if it were really happening, not in 1898, but in 1938.
Now to be fair, the one-hour program began with an announcement that the evening’s show was all just a story, that it wasn’t really happening. But of the six million or so listeners that night, two million thought it was.
The show began with a typical evening of radio programming, of weather reports and big band dance music, live from a local hotel ballroom. That’s when, all of a sudden, announcer Dan Seymour interrupted the program to say that a series of odd gas explosions had just been observed on Mars, and that an unusual object had landed on a farm just outside of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Then after a little more music played, the announcer cut back in again to say that police and a crowd of curious onlookers had gathered around a strange, cylindrical object, made of extraterrestrial metal that had fallen out of the sky. As the program continued, there were even more news reports of an alien invasion all around the world, with giant Martian war machines, heat rays, and poisonous clouds of smoke.
Just as soon as the hour-long show was over, Paul White, the head of CBS News, was called in to his office, where “bedlam reigned.” The cast was hurried out of the studio, where they were locked into a small back office on another floor. Orson Welles put his head in his hands and said, “I’m through...washed up.” The telephone switchboard lit up, police and reporters stormed the building, and Times Square flashed the words, “Orson Welles Causes Panic.”
Why? Because people thought it was the end of the world.
In the book of Mark chapter 13, Jesus talked about the end of the world, the real end of the world.
Please turn in your Bible to page 1080. I’ll start at Mark chapter 13, beginning at verse 1: “And as He came out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’”
Then verse 3: “And as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?’”
So Jesus told them. For the next thirty-three verses, He told them. In verse 6, He said: “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
Then go with me to verse 19: “For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.” Then verse 24: “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”
Of all the doctrines in the Bible, the second coming of Jesus Christ is one of the most important of all. And while the New Testament speaks of it more than three hundred times, the Old Testament refers to it twelve hundred times. As one commentator put it, “While as much of one-fifth of the Bible is prophetic, one-third of that one-fifth speaks of the second coming of Christ.”
Think about it. For example, the Old Testament prophet Joel wrote: “The day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! The earth quakes. The heavens tremble.” The prophet Zephaniah wrote: “The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast--a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry.” And Peter wrote in his second epistle: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief...the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!”
And here in Mark chapter 13, Jesus said: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”
Just like the disciples, Peter, James, John, and Andrew, we too can’t help but ask, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
A little over thirty years ago, back in 1988, a former NASA engineer and Bible teacher named Edgar Whisenant, wrote a book he called, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will be in 1988. Not only did he sell 4.5 million copies of it, he mailed three hundred thousand more copies, free of charge, to pastors and churches across the country. He said, “Only if the Bible is in error am I wrong; and I say that to every preacher in town. I would stake my life on Rosh Hashanah 1988.”
But Rosh Hashanah came and went, and nothing happened.
So he tried again in 1989 and 1993 and 1994. But by then, no one seemed to be paying any attention to him anymore.
Ever heard of Harold Camping? He was an American radio broadcaster, author and evangelist who died in December of 2013.
First, he said the final day of judgment would come on Tuesday, September 6, 1994. But it didn’t come, so he revised it to Thursday, September 29th. But it still didn’t come. So he revised it again to Sunday, October 2nd. But it didn’t come then either. Then finally, he gave it one more try--Thursday, October 21, 2011. Still nothing happened.
So as the disciples once asked, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?
Imagine for a moment, that you’re taking your family on a trip to Orlando, Florida. It’s a long drive from north Wisconsin, and your children don’t have a clue as to time or distance. All they know is that it’s going to take a really long time.
Finally, after a nearly five-hour long drive, you make it to the Illinois state line, and you hear a voice from the back seat, saying, “Are we there yet?” No, we’re not there yet.
Eight more hours, and you make it to Nashville, Tennessee. “Are we there yet?” No, we’re not there yet.
Four more hours, and you’re in Atlanta, Georgia. “Are we there yet?” Almost. Not quite.
Three more hours, and you cross the Florida state line. Almost there. Won’t be long. Only three more hours to go till you see the sign for Orlando.
Wow! What a ride!
We could say the same thing about our Lord’s return. Since God stands outside of time, Christ’s coming was “soon” two thousand years ago, one thousand years ago, five hundred years ago, fifty years ago, and five years ago. Just think how close we must be now.
In Nashville, you’re closer to Orlando than you were in Spooner. In Atlanta, you’re closer than you were in Nashville. Every day, every minute, every mile brings us closer to our destination.
As Jesus said in chapter 13, verse 32: “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning--lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
Let me take you back for a moment, to 1864, to the height of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln had already been inaugurated as the sixteenth president of our United States. Jefferson Davis was appointed as the president of the Confederate States. There was the Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battles of Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, and Gettysburg. Finally, in November of 1864, General William Sherman began his famous march to the sea, leading some sixty thousand troops on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, hoping to frighten Georgia’s civilians into abandoning the Confederate cause.
In the meantime, another general, General Corse, with his small company of fifteen hundred men, was doing all he could to hold the Allatoona Pass. A million and a half rations were stored there, and it was critically important that he protect that pass.
That’s when Confederate General Samuel French, with his three thousand men, decided to attack. But before he did, he sent a note to General Corse. It read: “I have placed the forces under my command in such positions that you are surrounded, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood I call on you to surrender your forces at once, and unconditionally. Five minutes will be allowed you to decide.”
Corse responded: “Your communication demanding surrender of my command I acknowledge receipt of, and respectfully reply that we are prepared for ‘needless effusion of blood’ whenever it is agreeable to you.”
And in the moments that followed, sixteen hundred men were either killed or wounded, including General Corse himself, who was shot three times, losing a cheek bone and an ear.
That’s when an officer suddenly caught sight of a signal flag far across the valley. It read: “Hold the Fort. I am coming. W. T. Sherman.” And so the Confederate army decided to retreat.
Today, in spite of all that sin and Satan may do to harm us and rob us of our Christian faith and life, we have the hope and the promise of Christ’s return. That’s what He said in the book of Revelation, chapter 22: “Behold, I am coming soon.”
Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come.
You promised, dear Lord, that soon, the end will come. Keep us strong in faith as we continue to rest in Your unending, unchanging grace, for Jesus’ sake. Amen