Matthew 24
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 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. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. 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. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. —Matthew 24:1-13
There will come a day when the people of this world will witness and experience the very things Jesus spoke to His disciples about in this passage. But for any season, there are three important statements Jesus tells His disciples that will help us today:
1. Take heed that no man deceive you. When troubling times come, so does the fear of man and events and panic. People will rise up to deceive the hearts of the many who are fearful, unaware, or insecure. Some will come saying they are Christ or at least someone presenting themselves as one who can provide comfort or substance from the external pressures and events surrounding them. Their words will be carefully chosen and possibly be filled with a bit of truth, but their motives will be filled with deceit.
Ephesians 5:16 – Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
In our lives before God, many of us would find that we’re not good at managing our time. Not only that, but we spend much of our day doing things that draw us further away from our purposes in the Lord. We consider free time as time to do nothing but watch TV and weekends and holidays as the same. After some time (or even at the end of a year), we look back and wonder where all the time went…only to repeat the same course of action the following year.
Sound familiar?!
There are many things we can do in this life, but only those that were in Christ will remain. Once you use your time, there are no refunds or exchanges. Once it’s gone…it’s gone. So, how do we redeem our time?!
Ecclesiastes 7:2 – It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
When death comes to a family or friends, even those we hear about but didn’t know, thoughts of the condition of our own lives come into thought. We think about how short life may be and how we are living it. Though many of us want to be in a house of great joy and look for ways to please ourselves, death brings things into perspective.
Solomon states that the house of mourning (or at least death) is the end of all men. Those that are still living will lay ‘death’ to their heart. So what thoughts come to you when you are in a house of mourning?
A disciple is a person that is conformed into the image of Jesus through careful study and obedience to His life example, commands, and guidance through the Spirit.
Jesus outlines what one must do to be a disciple, how a disciple is identified, and how they are to live. Below is a listing of scriptural references that further outline the preceding sentence. Disciples:
1. Are not forced to follow Jesus (John 6:43-71).
2. Are drawn by the Father (John 6:44).
3. Must hate their father, mother, wife, children, and their own life (Matthew 10:32-39; Luke 14:26-33).
Luke 13:22-30 – And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
From this parable, we discover two separate ‘groups.’ Both groups may have started on the outside of the house, but some made the effort to enter through the narrow door of the house. The door of the house represents the entrance into the kingdom of God.
Why did some not enter?
Matthew 7:15-20 – Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
1. Many false prophets (and teachers) dwell among our congregations. Most people would probably be surprised because they think they could recognize these individuals easily. The goal of a false prophet is to be among the people without being identified in order to spread their message.
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