This morning's passage is Matthew 24:3-44.
In the first two verses of this chapter Jesus had remarked to His disciples that the great and mighty Temple in Jerusalem would one day be reduced to rubble. Naturally, this alarmed the disciples and today's passage begins with them asking Him when this was going to happen. Jesus did not give a direct answer, such as April 19, 2038. Instead, He gave to them a list of signs that will indicate His coming is near. Let's look at them:
1. The Non-Signs (verses 5-8)
Wars, famines and earthquakes will continue until the return of Christ, but they are pretty much "business as usual" on this fallen world.
2. Doomsday Deceivers (verses 4, 11, 23-28)
The first sign mentioned and the one Jesus gives the most emphasis is the proliferation of false Messiahs, leaders with "forged identities" (vs. 4, The Message version). These charlatans will claim to be the Christ, the Messiah and will deceive a lot of people. Jesus gives a related sign in verse 11 when he mentions "lying preachers", who will preach a false gospel. These, too, will deceive many. Jesus mentioned this first sign more than any of the others, returning to this theme in verses 23-28. Spiritual blindness and deception will be everywhere.
3. Widespread Persecution of Christians (9-10)
The world over, Christians will be hated. Christians will even betray one another, out of deception, and will turn their friends and loved ones over to authorities who will torture and kill them.
4. Evil Will Be the Order of the Day (vs. 10-12, 21-22)
Brotherly love will have been replaced by hate. In The Message version, the translator says, "it will be dog-eat-dog". Trouble "off the charts"! Jesus commented that, in fact, if this time period were not cut short by God's mercy, mankind would utterly destroy itself.
5. The Gospel Preached in Every Nation (vs. 13-14)
And, then, Jesus gave a beautiful sign. In the middle of all this chaos and deception and persecution, the true gospel of Jesus Christ will have been preached to all the world, to every nation. My pastor points out that this prophecy is yet unfulfilled. There are still people groups who have not heard the story of Jesus and His love. I personally believe that it will be the persecution of Christians which will propel the gospel to every nation. As communication across the world continues to "make our world smaller", the persecution of Christians will be broadcast far and wide. Some people will first hear about Jesus through the martyrdom of His saints. The reason I believe this is that the Church now has the capability, the resources, to send the gospel to every people group. However, we are too wrapped up in our own materialism and self-centeredness to do so. When the push comes to the shove, some will renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, revealing themselves as spiritual frauds, pretend believers. Those who profess their love for Jesus to the point of death will be a powerful witness to the world. And, the gospel will be made known to every nation.
6. The Monstrous Desecration (15-20)
The most easily identified sign from this passage is found here, but it is actually two signs bound together. This prophecy concerns the Temple in Jerusalem, which most of you know was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. There is just part of the Western Wall remaining, commonly known today as The Wailing Wall. Many orthodox Jews can be found there daily, even now, praying earnestly.
At any rate, the first sign is that the Temple will be rebuilt before Jesus returns. And, it will be desecrated in the last days by a man many believe to be the Messiah. He will be possessed by Satan and will be a world-wide ruler. For a time, he will allow the Jewish sacrifices and rituals to be performed in their new temple. But, then, he will suddenly bring all that to a halt.
He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And, the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.
Daniel 9:27 HCSB
7. Strange Signs in the Cosmos (verse 20)
The sun will do strange things, such as appearing to fade. The moon will likewise appear to cloud over. The stars will "fall from the sky", which could mean an increase in meteorites, or a shifting of the earth's poles, or something similarly catastrophic.
And then....and then...
The Savior returns! His sudden return will be characterized by these things: (vs. 30-31)
a. Every eye will see Him. His accompanying angel armies will fill the skies, the world over.
b. Simultaneously, His angels will gather His chosen from all corners of the earth. There will obviously be some who will have escaped death and will have remained faithful to Jesus, through all the years of tribulation.
I want to leave you with two additional things to ponder:
1. I am amazed at how Jesus limited His God-ness by putting on flesh. He stated in verse 36 that He did not know the day or the hour of His return, that only God the Father knows that. There were some limitations God had to put on His Son, in order for Him to be not only fully divine, but fully human as well. This appears to be one of them. I do believe that, now that He has been glorified and is seated at God the Father's right hand, He has taken up again all aspects of God-ness in all His limitlessness. Very God of Very God. And, I do believe that He now knows that exact day and hour, as does the Father.
2. What we need to concentrate on is laid out by Jesus in verses 13-14: remaining faithful. The Message version:
"Staying with it - - - that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved."
The apostle Paul echoed this in 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV) - - -
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
Have you ever thought about whether or not you could lay down your life for the cause of Christ? I mean, physically, because Jesus calls us spiritually to lay it down every, single day....right? IF we do the latter, He will give us the grace to do the former, should it come to that in our lifetimes.
Dear Father, we are living in a world in which we see and hear of monstrous evil on a daily basis. By Your Holy Spirit who lives in each of us, Your children, help us to pay attention to the signs around us. More importantly, however, keep us focused on being faithful to the calling You have given to each of us. In Jesus' name, amen.
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