The Ship is Sinking & There Will Be No Survivors

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark chapter 13 verses 1 through 13.

And as Jesus came out of the temple one of his disciples said to him, look teacher what wonderful stones, 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.

And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite of 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.

And Jesus began to say to them, see that no one leads you astray. 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 don't be alarmed.

This must take place but the end is not yet. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These are but the beginning of birth pains.

So be on your guard for they will deliver you over to councils and they and you will be beaten in synagogues and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them.

And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations and when they bring you to trial and deliver you over do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say but say whatever is given you in that hour for it is not you who speak but the

Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death and the father his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death and you will be hated by all for my name's sake but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Well you can always tell we're getting towards the end of the church year when the topic turns to the end of the world.

Now on that note we've all heard the saying there's no point in polishing the brass on the Titanic.

Have you ever heard anyone use that statement? I have unfortunately and usually goes along the lines of this.

What difference does it make whether or not abortion is legal in the United States? We could fight it and spend all of our efforts turning it over but what's the point of polishing the brass on the

Titanic? You know it's kind of the fatalistic aspect of that you know and so people will often use that phrase to justify in action as Christians as if well this whole place is going down anyway what's the point in trying to make things better or comfortable because this is all gonna burn.

Now a little bit of a note here no one was ever seen or reported as spending the last minutes on the

Titanic by polishing her brass which is kind of a weird thing to do anyway. Instead think of it this way is that everybody on board the ship knowing that the ship was going to go down was doing one thing or another in order to save themselves or resigning themselves to the fact that they weren't going to make it.

There were clearly just not enough well lifeboats for everybody on the Titanic and so instead knowing that the whole thing is coming apart it is reported that for the musicians on board the

Titanic rather than polishing her brass played classical music while the ship was sinking and while passengers were in a panic scrambling to find anything that could keep them afloat in the icy April waters of the

North Atlantic. Now hopefully everybody knows this movie yeah y 'all seen the movie

Titanic? If I told you it came out in 1997 would that make you feel old? Yeah I know

I know I know. Now what's fascinating about the film Titanic is that it depicts the surrealness of Titanic's stringed quartet playing classical music while the ship is slowly sinking into the sea and funny enough

Titanic survivor Vera Dick who was a first -class passenger from Canada she reported that the final song played by that string quartet was a hymn was a hymn and funny enough that is strangely appropriate it's oddly appropriate and fun and it actually has a lot to do with where I'd like to take us with our text today but the the report from Mrs.

Dick in the movie Titanic recreated the final scene of the final song and the name of the hymn by the way was nearer my

God to thee nearer my God to thee and if you know the lyrics to that hymn they speak of the account found in Genesis of Jacob sleeping with a stone you know under his head as he's fleeing from his brother and the story of Jacob's ladder and the lyrics actually master masterfully connect the text with our sufferings here on earth during our brief sojourn here on earth and the musicians played it calmly they played it professionally without fear without panic with kind of a firm sense of resignation and when they had finished they had long reached long by that time reached the point where it was clear that their fate had been sealed and had arrived you know at a point where there was nothing left to do but resign themselves to their demise and wait for the inevitable and at that point in the movie

Titanic one of the musicians said gentlemen it has been a privilege playing with you tonight and a privilege and then they calmly departed and all four it is reported went down with the ship none of them survived fatalistic yeah they weren't polishing the brass but they were doing something quite important they were playing a hymn and kind of think of that juxtaposition as we work our way through our gospel text today in March after 13 it is reported by the eyewitnesses that Jesus when he was coming out of the temple and it's important for us to note this this was

Jesus's last time ever in the temple complex in Jerusalem he would never again return to it he is literally on the cusp of being arrested put on trial crucified for sin so this is kind of last time he would ever set foot in the temple and you'll note that that temple doesn't exist today

Jesus prophesied that it would be taken down and so one of his disciples and it's not reported which one says to Jesus look teacher what wonderful stones what wonderful buildings do we not do the same thing with kind of like our big buildings in our landmarks you know you take a look at the

New York City skyline ah the Empire State Building or maybe the

Statue of Liberty you know or that new building that went up instead of the

Twin Towers or maybe in Chicago you think of the Sears building which doesn't belong to Sears anymore which is weird and you know and then you think of like Paris like the

Eiffel Tower or you know just name the different buildings with which we kind of take our pride from in which we find a lot of well our own glory as a society in that that's kind of what's going on here the temple itself at this point was being rebuilt and beautified by Herod Herod at this point had been dead for a while and yet the construction project that he began to really make the temple shine and be one of the wonders of the ancient world was now coming to fruition and one of the disciples is marveling at this and Jesus is his response is how did the

Millennials say it today was meh meh yeah so if you hear a millennial say to you meh you know that that's like a not enthusiastic response so he said do you see these great buildings there's not gonna be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down and Jesus was absolutely right that in 70

AD the Roman legions once they were able to breach the wall of Jerusalem they burned the temple and all of the gold with which the temple was made to look beautiful with melted and kind of wrote flowed like a river out from the temple itself into the cracks of the stones and stuff like that so in order to get at the goal the

Roman soldiers took the whole complex apart grabbed the gold through the stones off to one side of the temple complex and those stones lie there to this day in a ruin off to one side of the temple and so the disciples hearing this that the destruction of the temple was going to happen tie this to Jesus's second coming and the end of the world and that makes perfect sense because the temple was the place where the true worship of the one true

God happened it was a place where the sacrificial animals lost their lives and their blood was shed so that the children of Israel could have their sins forgiven and atoned for if there was no true worship of the one true

God if there were no sacrifices for animals if there was all of that disappeared from the earth well it had to be tied to the end of the world and that's kind of the idea so as Jesus sat on the

Mount of Olives opposite of the temple which is right across the Kidron Valley Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately tell us when will these things be and pay attention to these words and what will be the sign what will be the sign how do we know this is going to happen when all these things are about to be accomplished so Jesus began to say to them see to it that no one leads you astray many will come in my name saying

I am he and they will lead many astray have you ever noticed that it just seems odd that Christianity the state of the visible church those confessing to be

Christians that we have all of these different denominations all of these different sects these different leaders people who claim to be prophets and prophetesses and stuff like that at somebody recently said that they estimate there's 46 ,000 now 46 ,000 different denominations of Christians up on the planet and what's funny is that some say we see that's the fault of the

Reformation you know you just got rid of the authority of Rome and replaced it with like individual authority and stuff like that that's not exactly right you're going to note that Jesus led us to expect this and the purpose for this is because of many who will rise up with delusions of grandeur claiming to be the

Messiah or claiming to be a prophet claiming to be an anointed one these are the ones who are causing these divisions and it's if you kind of think of it this way we all know that somebody who is getting really old and fragile and in bad health maybe they're in their 90s and they've been around for a while but now you look at them and they don't look like they did when they were in their 80s and and they're you just they look like if they cough too hard it could kill them you know what

I'm saying we all recognize that that person is much nearer to death because of just the physical appearance that they have or the manifestation of their symptoms continues to get worse same with the end of the world look around you the world's getting really old and these are symptoms of the age of the earth which are signaling to us the ultimate demise of the whole creation and in next week's gospel text we're gonna hear how

Jesus describes the end of the world as the heavens and the earth themselves as passing away as dying everything you see here is going to disappear it's all going to die now that being said it's important to kind of come back to our

Titanic analogy you think of it this way in Genesis chapter 3 when our first parents disobeyed the

Word of the Lord and listen it instead to the word of the serpent and ate of the tree that they were not permitted to eat from and thus plunging us all into sin in so doing the earth itself at that point struck the iceberg it's been taking on water slowly and surely ever since things are wearing out and so one of the signs that we are to look for that as the day gets closer for the return of Christ and the death of everything that we see around us including ourselves that one of the signs is the multiplication of false teachers false prophets different sex all of this fracturing that we're seeing going on in the visible church and no adherence to the

Word of God Jesus said it would be that way it's to be expected and then you will hear of wars and rumors of wars and Jesus says don't be alarmed this must take place the end is not yet nation will rise against nation kingdom against kingdom

Jesus himself at this time already saw into the future and saw

World War I saw World War II should there be a World War III he saw that one too and so you'll note then that the nation's rising against nation the lack of peace on the earth the turmoil in great wars and conflict these are also signs of the eminent demise of the entire planet and the universe and then he says there's gonna be earthquakes in various places famines and these are but the beginning these are the beginning of birth pains things are gonna get worse and now comes something that we must listen to very soberly and what

I mean by that is is that there are a lot of people who believe that Jesus before his return is going to take his church those who are as true believers and whisk them away to protect them from what's coming it's not what scripture teaches in fact this next part just sounds like not a good recruiting video for Christianity if you listen to the details and they says that so be on your guard they're gonna deliver you you

Christians my disciples are gonna deliver you over to councils and you're gonna be beaten in synagogues you can translate that today's you're actually gonna be beaten in churches you're gonna stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them in other words expect government -ordered government instituted persecution of Christians you are going to be in prison you are going to experience beatings and as that ramps up that's a sign that's a sign of the eminent return of Christ and Jesus says and the gospel must be first proclaimed to all nations and so when they bring you to trial to deliver you over and here's what

I consider to be one of the most amazing sentence ever don't be anxious beforehand what you're going to say in other words don't worry don't spend your money on an attorney it's you know you're gonna be on trial because of your testimony regarding your belief in Christ and see don't be anxious easy for him to say though by the way you know

I can't imagine any of us being arrested for being a Christian having to go and face trial and not sitting there in ourselves being anxious about it knowing that the book of Revelation talks about kind of the favorite way of killing

Christians in the very last part of the history of earth is going to be decapitation yay yeah read it's in the book of Revelation all the saints who were beheaded so kind of a fascinating thing so talk about not being anxious and you'll note

I'm not really painting a rosy picture here this is just fun to do right before Thanksgiving so so I'm just reading out the text blame it on Jesus so he says don't be anxious beforehand what you're to say and but say whatever is given to you in that hour it's not you who speak is going to be here the

Holy Spirit and then he predicts this brother will deliver brother over to death father his child children will rise against parents and have them put to death in other words you raise your kids in the

Christian faith you've brought them to catechism you brought them to the waters of baptism they've been confirmed received the

Lord's Supper they fall away from the faith and to thank you for you raising them they say my parents are

Christians come on arrest them so that they can be killed this is what the future of our planet holds and this is what

Jesus says and then he notes this and you will be hated by all for my name's sake not some all every nation on planet earth will hate

Christians sign me up sounds great right the best cause to die for is the one that's hopeless the whole thing's going down the whole thing is sinking and Jesus says this the one who endures to the end will be saved what does it mean to endure endure in what and here's where you have to kind of back up just a little bit from this horrifying picture of the future that Jesus paints and recognize that by Jesus telling us ahead of time this is what we are to expect that when his words are fulfilled we would then see again and again that he is speaking the truth and that we can trust him if he was telling us the truth about us being hated by everybody and warned us ahead of time this is what to be expecting don't be anxious and you're to experience persecution and wars and sex and false teachers and false doctrine if he told us that this was going to be and it shows up just as he said it was going to be then we can continue to trust him with the other words that he's given us and those words are you are bled for you are died for your sins have been forgiven and so the idea enduring to the end is a call to faith to call to trust a call to continue to believe in the face of recognizing that confessing

Jesus telling the world that he is bled and died for their sins believing that you've been united with him in his death and his resurrection in the waters of your baptism believing that you receive his body and blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins this confession this faith is going to cost you everything in this life so endure and see that's the thing remember the context it's all going down this whole universe everything you can see and touch and taste it's coming to an end and Jesus has given you the big perspective so that in the midst of all of this you can hang on to your faith and kind of like that string quartet kind of like that string quartet sing hymns and praise

God in the midst of turmoil panic confusion death and see this is what our

Old Testament text said that in a time coming there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since the nation until that time there's coming a great tribulation and at that time your people shall be delivered everyone whose name shall be found written in the book of life huh now a little bit of a note here when

I was growing up the preaching that I experienced led me to wonder whether or not my name was written in the book of life as if somehow on the day of judgment you get to find out finally once and for all is my name really in that book

I hope I was good enough for Jesus to say yeah you're on the list kinda like Santa Claus he's got his naughty list and his good list right

I was was on the naughty list I'm not sure why that happened but clearly it was something wrong with Santa's reporting system but anyway the the idea then is is that scripture doesn't call us to wonder about whether our names are written in the book of life but instead to have confidence that they are because that's what it means to have faith and then he says this many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth they shall awake some to everlasting life some to everlasting shame and contempt look at that the doctrine of hell is right there in Daniel 12 and those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above those who turn many to righteousness shall be like the stars forever and ever kind of fascinating thing regarding the stars by the way you think of Abraham God takes him out and has him look at the stars and says your descendants will be like the stars if you can count them kind of an interesting thing to talk about the descendants of Abraham because he wasn't merely talking about his physical descendants but those who are descendants of Abraham who had the same faith as Abraham and you'll note then that we'll see next week that the stars are going to fall from the sky they're gonna disappear right before the return of Christ so could you imagine walking out on a cold

November night here in Oslo and looking up and there being no stars despite the fact that there are no clouds that's going to happen as well but those who turn many to righteousness those who are wise who trust in Jesus they instead are going to be the ones who shine like the stars so then here these confident words and confidence bolstering words from our epistle text which says this when

Christ has offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins he sat down at the right hand of God waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified and that's the point is that we are called to endure and enduring is continuing to believe that our sins are forgiven for Christ's sake and so because of this the

Holy Spirit then bears witness to us that this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days declares the

Lord I'll put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds and I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more and where there is forgiveness of these there's no longer any offering for sin and so because of this as the day is drawing near we are encouraged then brothers sisters since we have confidence confidence we don't need to fear whether our names are written in the

Lamb's Book of Life do you believe that Jesus bled and died for you did you believe the words that you heard in the absolution that your sins were forgiven by Christ you have confidence then feed that confidence so that you can continue to enter the holy places by the blood of Christ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh since we have such a great high priest over the house of God so therefore because of that let us draw near them with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience which is a reference to our baptism and our bodies washed then with pure water so let's hold fast then to the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful you see enduring to the end is believing with confidence that you are forgiven believing that Christ has bled and died for you despite all of your unworthiness to have eternal life and receiving it and clinging to it confidently seeing it for the great gift that it is and then consider this last part then and because of this great confidence then let us then consider how to stir up one another to love and good works loving each other good works caring for each other not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some instead encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near and now you can kind of see one of the important things is is that one of the reasons why church is so important is because as the day gets closer and closer and the world gets darker and darker and the place starts going crazier and crazier we need each other need each other to encourage each other to keep our eyes focused on Christ and what he's done for us so the

Titanic is going down nothing's gonna stop it the unsinkable is sinking everything that you see around you that seems so sure and certain is going to be shaken and destroyed and rather than polishing the brass on the planet

I think it is instead appropriate that as the ship is sinking that we sing hymns we praise

God that we worshiped him in spirit and in truth the lyrics by the way of the hymn nearer my

God to thee go like this near my God to thee near to thee even though would be a cross that raiseth me still all my song shall be near my

God to thee though like the wanderer the Sun go down and darkness be over me and my rest a stone yet in my dreams

I'll be nearer my God to thee there let the way appear steps unto heaven all that thou sendest me in mercy given angels to beckon me nearer my

God to thee then with my waking thoughts bright with thy praise out of my stony grease

Bethel I'll raise so by my woes to be nearer my

God to thee or if on joyful wing cleaving the sky Sun Moon and stars forgot upward

I'll fly still all my song shall be nearer my God to thee there in my father's home safe and at rest there in my

Savior's love perfectly blessed age after age to be nearer my

God to thee and whether or not those on the Titanic saying that last verse the music was there for them to recall it in their hearts in their minds talking about the safe place that is the home and the abode of God and the

Savior's great love with which they are perfectly blessed having received from him the forgiveness of their sins knowing that as this age draws to an end there is an age to come one where there is no death where there is no sin where there is no rancor where there are no divisions or hatred slander wars pestilence but there is only

Christ and we cannot be near to him then we will be near to him there as we come to the end of this age know that we are even near now to seeing

Christ face to face than we were just a day ago a week ago a month ago a year ago nearer my

God to thee indeed it is appropriate so rather than polish the brass on the

Titanic let us join our voices in that wonderful hymn as we draw closer and nearer to our

God in the name of Jesus amen if you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th

Avenue Northwest Oslo Minnesota 56744 and again that address is

Kungsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th