“Seasons Of Faith” Mark
Intro.: By inspiration of the Holy Spirit Solomon
once wrote: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
heaven..” (Eccl. 3:1)
In today’s Gospel our Lord
Jesus teaches us about the seasons of faith: the fall of groaning, the winter
of destruction, the spring of first-fruits, and the summer of fullness.
I.
The Fall – The Groaning Of Creation.
Right now it’s fall. All around us the leaves are dying, and it’s
getting darker and colder every day. It
is a warning for us to insulate our windows, repair our furnaces, and find our
snow shovels. This is our time to
prepare, because the dead of winter is right around the corner.
Right now is also the time of the fall of
faith, or should I say the fall from faith.
This is the season in which all creation groans under the weight of
sin. Nature has been subjected to frustration
and decay because of the poison mankind injected into it. In Romans 5 the apostle writes that “Sin came into the world through one man,
and death through sin.” (Rom.
We also are groaning, aren’t we? In our fallen bodies marked by sin with
hungers and hurts “We…groan inwardly as
we wait…[for]the redemption of our bodies.” (Rom.
Do not join the unbelieving blind in their
denial! Do not join them in their
refusal to face the approaching day of judgment, those
who sin boldly while they still can, who hoard more of what they cannot keep,
and who fill their treasure chests full of dead leaves. The Lord has told you, His beloved, everything
so that you may be prepared. He opens
your eyes to the sight of the fall season, so that you may groan and cry out
with
II. The Winter – Destruction For This
Present Age.
After
describing the time of fall, this time of groaning under sin, our Lord went on
to describe the harsh realities of winter.
“But in those days, following that
distress,” he said, “the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the
sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great
power and glory.” (vv. 24-26)
The winter that is soon coming upon our
world is not merely the darkness of shortening days, but “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light” (v.24) It will be marked not by mere leaves falling
from trees, but “the stars will fall from
heaven and the powers in the heaven will be shaken.” (v.26) The winter of God’s
judgment will mark the uncreation of the present
heavens and earth.
In drastic contrast to the vision we heard
a couple of weeks ago for the glorified saints who dwell in the heavenly light
of God’s glory, Jesus speaks of the dark day of judgment, when the darkness
people loved and preferred over the light of Christ will be confirmed for
them. On the last day, Christ will
literally grant to those who refused to come into His light and be saved what
they desired. They will be separated
from him and cast into the outer darkness.
On that day all those who put their trust
in the stars or leaned upon the created spiritual powers in the heavenly realms
will be devastated. Nothing they loved,
nothing they hoped for, nothing they looked to for good in this life will
remain when the wrath of God is revealed to them. How horrible that day will be for those who
refused God’s gift of grace in Christ, when they see the Son of Man they
rejected coming in the clouds with great power and glory to judge them by the
standard they have chose – to judge them according to what they have done.
That day will be the beginning of an
endless winter for the unbelieving world.
It will be the day when they will be cast into the thick and hopeless
darkness of eternal death, and the depths of hell into a cold that burns like
fire. But praise God, for us who have
been chosen, called and made holy by grace through Christ, it will be a very
different thing. Because that marks the
day when our Lord Jesus “will send his
angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to
the ends of the heavens.” (v.27)
III. The Spring –First-Fruits Of New Life.
In the midst of this fall, as winter
approaches, we who have been given a new birth to a living hope through baptism
and faith are already enjoying the springtime of a new creation through
Christ. Jesus told his disciples as he
tells us, “Now learn this lesson from the
fig tree: As soon as its twigs get
tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.” (v.28)
Brothers and sister, Christ is the one who
has come to bring into spring with the glorious promise of summer. We look to that cross of dead wood where the
Son of God and Man offered His Holy Life and Innocent Blood as the all sufficient sacrifice for
our sins, and we know that spring is soon to follow. We know that on Easter morning from that
cross a tender shoot came forth, and the leaves of the tree of life came out to
heal us. After three days in the tomb,
Jesus rose again in glory and power, to announce His victory over the winter of
death. He was the first fruit of springtime, and the guarantee of a long and beautiful summer
for us all.
Even now we taste the first-fruits of the
springtime of faith, don’t we? Scripture
affirms for us that, “If anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation. The old
has passed away and the new has come.”
(2 Cor. 5:17) Already in you the twig has been made tender
and the leaves are coming out. In the
waters of holy baptism we have died with Christ and been raised again to a new
life with Him. Through the living and
enduring Word the Holy Spirit has planted in our hearts we who were once dead
in our trespasses and sins have been made alive with Christ and live in this
world as the first-fruits of the new creation.
Yes, even while the light grows dim all around us we live as children of
the light, and Christ shines through us.
While the world rots away, we are renewed daily by the power of the Holy
Spirit and made new through the forgiveness that comes to us in Christ’s body
and blood.
Because we are in Christ, winter will
pass us over. It holds no fear for us,
because we know that the springtime of our new spiritual lives in Christ will
soon give way to the summer of an enduring eternal life.
IV. The Summer – Enduring Eternal Life.
As we approach the end of this church year,
living in the fall of this world and the springtime of our faith, we know that
the summer of our long, warm, beautiful, full life with Christ is near, right
at the door!
We know that Christ has delivered us from
our wretched bodies of death and that the day is coming when the redemption of
our bodies will fulfilled. Christ will
come with His angels, in power and glory, and we will hear the voice of the
archangel and we will be changed. Our
lowly bodies will be transformed to be like Christ’s own glorious body! On that day all our groaning, and the
groaning of all creation will cease, because by the power of His almighty Word
Christ will bring forth a new heaven and a new earth, our home of everlasting
righteousness!
Christ has promised us that this generation
will not pass away until all of this has happened, so let us prepare our hearts
and minds to receive Him. Let us prepare
ourselves with His powerful Word which alone will see us through the groaning
of fall and deliver us through the death of winter, as He teaches us in our
Gospel, “Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will never pass away.” (v.30-31)
Concl.: What a
wonderful time awaits you and me! By the
love of the Father, the merits of the Son, and the faith given by the Holy
Spirit we are ready to welcome the summer of our faith. Come Lord Jesus! Gather us together from the ends of the
earth! Take us home to enjoy the
fullness of your presence in the endless celebration of a perfect summer! Amen.
“Seasons Of Faith” Mark
Intro.: “There
is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven..” (Eccl. 3:1)
I.
The Fall – The Groaning Of Creation.
A. Fall is a time of groaning.
1.
Nature groans because of our sin. (Rom.
2.
We groan as we await our redemption.
(Rom.
B. Fall is to prepare us for winter. (Mark
1.
Fall serves as a warning of winter.
2.
The unbelieving are in denial.
3.
The Lord tells us everything so that we may be prepared.
II. The Winter – Destruction For This
Present Age.
A. The darkness of spiritual death. (v.24)
B. The falling and shaking of all in which
people put their trust. (v.25)
C. The judgment that bring unbelievers into the
endless winter. (v.26)
III. The Spring –First-Fruits Of New Life. (v.28)
A. Believers enjoy the springtime of a new
creation.
B. Christ is the first sign of spring.
1.
Dead wood of the saving cross.
2.
Resurrection as the tender twig and green leaf of spring.
C. Even now we taste the first-fruits of the
springtime of faith.
1.
We are a new creation in Christ.
(2 Cor. 5:17)
2.
We live as children of the light
3.
We are daily renewed.
IV. The Summer – Enduring Eternal Life.
A. We know that summer is near, right at the
door! (v.29)
B. We know that the redemption of our bodies is
at hand.
C. Christ’s enduring Word will deliver us into
summer. (v.30-31)