Birth Pains | Oshkosh | October 19, 2025

This passage introduces Jesus’ teaching on the end times in Matthew 24 (with parallels in Mark 13 and Luke 21), emphasizing that while the disciples admired the magnificence of the Temple, Jesus foretold its complete destruction—a prophecy fulfilled in AD 70—demonstrating His deity and authority. In response to questions about timing, signs, and His return, Jesus warned first against spiritual deception, urging discernment and faithfulness to the true gospel, then described increasing human and natural disasters—wars, famines, earthquakes, and other calamities—as “birth pains,” signaling that history is moving toward God’s appointed end rather than spiraling randomly. He further warned of persecution, false prophets, widespread wickedness, and cooling love, while assuring that those who endure in faith will be saved and that God’s patience delays judgment so more may repent. The central call is not fear or obsession, but readiness: staying grounded in Scripture, faithful to the gospel, and committed to proclaiming Christ to all nations, for Jesus will surely return at the appointed time.