The End

Matthew 24:4-14 The End

In my first post, Jesus Teaches On The End Of The World, we saw that Jesus uttered a shocking prophecy, “This beautiful temple shall be utterly destroyed” and the disciples reacted with three questions:

1) When shall these things be?
2) What shall be the sign of thy coming?
3) (What shall be the sign) of the end of the world?

Jesus must have considered their third question the most significant because that’s the one he answered first.

4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

But look at this. The first thing Jesus says is, Take heed that no man deceive you. Then he immediately adds, Many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall deceive many. And shortly after adds, Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. Spiritual deception is a common enough possibility and problem - we should take heed and be careful to hold on to the Faith once delivered; but it seems to me that Jesus is suggesting there is a particular danger of being deceived in this matter of the end times. How do we avoid deception? Stick close to what Jesus said, avoiding speculation and sensationalism.

6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
You shall hear of wars and rumors of war, but don't be troubled, the end is not yet. The news is full of turmoil, trouble, conflict, but don't stress, the end is not yet.

7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.
War, famine, pestilence, earthquakes. This is bad, but these are not signs of the end. These are the beginning of sorrows, birth pangs or labor pains. This is “in reference to the dire calamities which the Jews supposed would precede the advent of the Messiah.” (Thayer’s Lexicon)

I remember my early days as a Christian. Every time there was a report of an earthquake we would say, “Another earthquake! That’s a sign! It’s the last days for sure!” But that’s not what Jesus said. He said these things were the beginning of sorrows. This is what will characterize the days between the first and second coming. It is not the end. It is not the sign of the end. But it is the labor pains of the end.

9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Oh my. There’s nothing romantic or attractive about this. Persecution for the name of Jesus will mark the life and career of the church. We've had a long run in the US where we were not harassed or vexed for the Faith. So long that we began to think that was the norm. No. The norm is we live for Jesus, stand for Jesus, proclaim the gospel of Jesus and they hate us for it. This hostility is once again rearing its head in the West. Our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are living these verses.

11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Again, deception. Take heed that no man deceive you. The Apostle Peter warns us:

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

How do we recognize and protect ourselves from these false prophets? Embrace and earnestly contend for the Faith once delivered unto the saints. When teachers/preachers come along whose teaching deviates from this faith they are false prophets and we should turn away from them.

12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Iniquity abounds where truth is neglected or denied, and where sin abounds love grows cold. “By reason of these trials and persecutions from without, and those apostasies and false prophets from within, the love of many to Christ and his doctrine, and to one another, shall grow cold. Some openly deserting the faith, as Mat 24:10; others corrupting it, as Mat 24:11; and others growing indifferent about it, Mat 24:12.” (Adam Clarke)  Take heed!

13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Endure unto the end. What end? Wherever you are, whatever you’re facing, endure all the way to the end. Hold on.
The same shall be saved. However you understand or explain this, the truth is, it’s not how you begin the race, but whether you finish. Don’t you dare quit. You. Keep. Holding on!

14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
And then shall the end come! When? When this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. That’s when. Every believer, every family, every church should be concerned about and somehow actively involved in the gospel reaching every nation. Today we call it missions. We should be missions minded. At the very least praying for the unreached people groups. One good source is Joshua Project. You can received notifications of unreached people groups via their app or email.

It is really neat how Jesus spells this out for us: the end is not yet, these are the beginning of sorrows, then shall the end come. I believe he has outlined for us the general course of the intervening time between his ascension and return. So we shouldn't worry, panic, or despair. We know how the story goes and how it ends. We can be prepared for the suffering and participate in hastening the coming of the end. What? Apparently so. Peter wrote, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. You can read here the story of the modern missions movement. By the early 1900s missions rallies often featured a banner, Bringing Back The King. Let's play our part in Bringing Back The King!

But underlying all this talk of the end is the sober warning: Take heed that no man deceive you.

Next: Great Tribulation