Read
Matthew
24
Jesus had bested
the Pharisees and silenced the Sadducees and then went into an extended
monologue chastising the religious hypocrites who should have been shepherding
God’s Chosen People but who were spiritually blind and manipulated
God’s directives to their own liking.
Then Jesus left the temple but the
disciples sought his comments on the structures. They were surely magnificent. If Jesus was the
Christ—if he was there before
Abraham—then surely he had seen Solomon’s
Temple as well. He must have
something to say about this temple made to glorify his Father.
Maybe he could do a compare and
contrast paragraph or two for them.
Jesus did not admire the
structures. It was if he was indifferent
to them. There will come a time where
not one stone will be left upon another.
Jesus had chastised the religious hypocrites. Now he admonished his disciples for their Tower
of Babble thinking.
The disciples had not yet realized
that their very bodies
were much more valuable temples. Sometimes we get so fixated on structures that
we forget relationships. God had previously presented himself in all his glory in
a tent in the wilderness.
The architecture of the temple and its
courts was surely something that God’s people had wanted to do to honor God,
but the greatest thing that his people would do would be to live
in the way that God prescribed.
The greatest thing that we can do is
to follow obediently
the Spirit
of the living God
that resides
within
us.
We put the words of our Lord
into practice. That’s the best
building ever—the one built on solid rock.
There was nothing wrong with the
temple. Some had defiled it by their practices,
but it was a structure build by humankind that would not endure. Only God and his word
will endure.
We are advised to build our lives upon
him. He must be the cornerstone
of our lives. No one will continue without him.
The disciples asked Jesus a question
that prompted an answer that takes up the rest of the chapter.
What will be the sign of your coming
at the end of the age?
Realize that in this question is some
degree of acceptance that Jesus would go away.
The disciples had not yet wrapped their minds around this sacrificial
death that was soon to come. They seemed
surprised
at
the
resurrection even though Jesus
had told them that he would rise from the dead, but this simple question indicated
some level of acceptance that Jesus would not be with
them in this world all the time.
They do not yet understand the
work of the Holy
Spirit, but they have an inkling that Jesus will leave this world and come
again. They have some understanding that
there will be an end to this age and an age to come.
Jesus began his answer with
warnings. Watch out! There will be many deceivers. You will hear rumors and your nature will be
to believe that Jesus has come, but do not be alarmed and do not be deceived.
There will be wars and rumors of
wars. Nations and even kingdoms will be
pitted against each other. Famine and
earthquakes will seem more and more common.
This is just the beginning of the end of the age.
We seem to think that Jesus will come
in our time. We think that the world
could not get any worse. We could be
right or we could be thinking the same thing that disciples did for 2000
years. Surely, it’s today or this year
or this decade.
It’s good to know the signs of the
times, but we are not to be alarmed. We
are not to be deceived. I have witnessed
many a credible person of God destroy his or her credibility by proclaiming to
know what cannot be known—the day
and the hour.
Jesus will not come in stealth
mode. It will be the biggest
event in the history of history. You
will know it when he returns so if someone is walking this earth proclaiming to
be the Christ, don’t be alarmed and don’t be deceived.
Keep
watch. Be
ready.
Jesus
had described the prologue to the time of distress and tribulation that would
come as the beginning of birth pains.
Something more intense was to come.
Think about wars and rumors of war. Think about earthquakes and famine. These impact everyone. What would come would be targeted at believers.
It would be more personal.
Jesus noted that his followers would be handed
over—that means someone had to seize them first. They would be persecuted. That’s a wide-ranging term that could be
anything from online bullying to physical attacks to being denied essential
provisions and everything in between.
OBTW—and death.
Believers will be hated by all nations because
they follow Jesus.
You
will be hated by everyone because of Jesus!
This warning is not to be taken sequentially.
Persecuted, killed, and hated are not the sequence of events. Once they kill you, what do you care if they
hate you as well?
Jesus gives us a buffet of things that the
ungodly will do to his followers in these last days. And some of the persecutors might claim to be
godly for there will be many false prophets to follow, and some will follow
them. We will see this persecution not
only from the godless but also from those who claim to be followers of Jesus.
Wickedness will be on the rise.
Many will turn away from the faith.
The love of most will grow cold.
That’s some stuff right there. That’s some stuff that we probably don’t want
interfering with our bucket list. That’s
not good stuff, but it will come in the last days.
OBTW—the gospel will be preached to the ends
of the earth—to the whole world. That’s
a good thing. Not everyone will respond
in the age of wickedness and hatred, but the commissioned do canvass the entire
planet.
It’s going to be an ugly time but the gospel
will reach to the ends of the earth. The
work of the church will continue. The
work of the commissioned will continue.
God’s light will shine in the darkness.
And he who stands firm will be saved.
Do you remember the parable of
the seeds? Only
the seed that took hold in good soil produced fruit. Many who claim to follow Jesus will fall
away, but he who stands strong to the end will be saved.
What is the message to us?
Stand strong.
Don’t be deceived. Don’t focus
on the storm. There
will be more distractions and trials than you thought possible, but stand
strong.
Keep your eyes focused on
Jesus and not on the storm of evil and wickedness
that covet your attention and faithfulness.
Stand strong to the end.
There are a whole bunch of things that
will happen in this world that may or may not signal the last days. Tribulation is a continual thing. Pressure and distress are a part of
life. We don’t have to let them control
us, but they exist and on a wide scale.
Jesus said that we would have
trouble in the world.
But there will be one thing that will
be like nothing else that says these are the last days.
It is the abomination that causes
desolation of which Daniel
wrote. So, what exactly is this
abomination?
There is a wide
range of discussion on the subject some including that this has already occurred,
but let’s see what we might agree upon.
It will be
standing.
It could be a person but more than likely an idol, possibly a talking
idol or image of some sorts.
It will be
dreadful and cause people to flee. There will not be time to swing by the house,
pack a bag, and book a flight. This part might be limited to Judea, but all
believers will go immediately to red alert.
It will begin a
time of great distress—more than
anything that’s ever come before—and nothing this bad will ever come
again. For those among us afflicted by
arid humor, you can’t say, “Could be worse.”
It will be more
than you can handle but God
will not abandon you. For you—the
faithful follower of Christ Jesus—these days will be cut short.
It will be a time
of signs and miracles that are not of
God. Deception will reach the high-water
mark. Deception will be so intense that
even the very elect will be vulnerable, but God will shorten those days before
his true followers are faced with more than they can handle.
It is something
of which Jesus warned us would
come.
There is another intelligence
indicator in this scripture. When you
see standing in the holy
place tells us that the Holy of Holies will be established
again. The scripture does not indicate
which side of the curtain the abomination will be placed. To be seen, it could not be in the Holy of
Holies, unless that place was desecrated.
It could just be that the altar is
restored, but that lacks some fidelity to the instructions
that God gave. The Holy of Holies
requires a structure.
Does that mean a third temple? It would seem that way, but we should
remember that God did not require a stone structure. His first temple—tabernacle—place for the
Spirit of God to dwell—was a tent.
So, what do we take away from this
section? Distress and tribulation come
and go in our lives and on this planet, but when the abomination that cause
desolation is revealed to us, we know the end is near. We must strengthen ourselves and our families
and loved ones to stand strong to the end.
It’s leaving it all on the field in
football terms. It’s the beginning of
the fourth quarter. It will be a time to
trust
in the Lord and keep
your eyes fixed on Jesus like never before.
As you continue to follow Jesus
through the trouble and distress that the world holds, you will be hated by so
many in this world. The world will do
its best to make your life miserable.
But we are not to be alarmed, not to
be deceived, and we are to keep watch—to be ready at all times.
Christ is coming
next Tuesday between 1 and 5 pm. Great,
it’s like waiting for the cable guy. Guess,
I will have to be sitting at home the whole time, just to get a call at 6 pm
saying he can’t make it until tomorrow.
Christ is coming
this Thursday. Let me see… I think I can
work him in just before noon.
Christ is coming
late Saturday evening. Great! I spent all week preparing my messages, and
now won’t even get to deliver them.
These are all tongue-in-cheek. What would we do if we knew the day and the
hour of Christ’s coming?
Would we test
the limits of grace until a month before his coming? Would we see what we could get away with
until a week before his arrival?
Better not cut it too close. I don’t know if Jesus observes Daylight
Saving Time or not. Wouldn’t want to do
a Maxwell Smart with this one. Missed
it by that much.
We may know the season of his coming
but not the day nor the hour. That
leaves us a simple dichotomy. We are
ready or we or not.
Most of the world will just be living their
lives like they would any other day.
Some will go to work. Some will
go to Walmart. Some will go to work at
Walmart.
Only the Father in heaven knows the
appointed time. He didn’t share that
with Jesus or the Angels, but they are ready to go at the Father’s command.
When Jesus comes with his angels to
claim those who love him, some will be ready and others not so much. The text says one will be taken and the other
left. We typically don’t interpret this
as only 50% make the cut, but we should realize that not everyone will have
lived in such a way to meet the desire
of God’s heart.
Some claimed and gathered up by the
angels and some left behind.
We who have proclaimed
Jesus as Lord have a single option—be ready. Keep watch.
Just like you would protect your family even though you don’t know when
the intruder might come, so too we protect our family by being ready for the
return of the Lord at all times.
Jesus used the analogy of the thief
and of a servant left in charge. The
servant has a simple dichotomy. The
servant who takes care of his master’s business while he is away will be justly
rewarded. The one who abuses the trust
will be punished.
We don’t know the hour. We don’t know the day. We can realize the season and most would
agree we are in the season of the Lord’s return. He is coming
soon. Will that be a week or a year
or a century or two? We don’t know, but
we are called to be
ready.
So, as we continue into 2021, we expand our parameters to
include awareness of the things that come at the end of the age. We will still love mercy, be generous towards
God, have Christ as the
cornerstone in our lives and be ready to learn from him, not relying upon our own
understanding.
And we surely want to walk humbly with your God.
When Jesus returns, we will be easy to
spot. We will be living lives of love
and mercy and obedience and generosity as we walk humbly with our God, always
ready for his return.
So many get fixated on the events that
are to come at the end of the age that they forget how they are to live. People panic.
People look for answers where they know the truth does not abide and
people are not ready for the storm ahead.
Not so with you. You are not to be alarmed. You are not to be deceived. You are to keep watch and be ready.
Amen.
