Mt24M

SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGEMatthew 24:1-51Key Verse: 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Human history seems to be nothing but a vicious cycle of fallenman. Many people agree that the last part of the 20th century is theend of the age. The phrase, "the end of the age," alludes to the mosttragic destruction of the earth, partly because of the exhaustion ofnatural resources, and mainly because of man's immorality and violence.But this is not the case. Matthew 24 teaches us that the future of theworld is not dark, but glorious. All the bad things happening at theend of the age are actually signs of the beginning of birth pains forthe glorious new age to come. In this chapter we learn several thingswe must be careful about, and we learn what kind of attitude we musthave while living in this chaotic post-Christian era.First, the startled disciples (1-3). Look at verse 1. "Jesus left thetemple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to callhis attention to its buildings." As we know well, the disciples weremostly rural Galileans and fishermen who knew the fish market. But theydid not know much about the people in the higher classes or aboutelegant buildings. After looking at the temple, some of them werefascinated by what they had seen. The Jerusalem temple had been builtat the summit of Mount Zion. It was built of white marble stones,plated with gold, and it shone in the sun. No wonder the Galileans wereoverwhelmed to see it. Immediately they turned to call Jesus' attentionand expressed their amazement. In Mark 13:1b they said, "Look, Teacher!What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" They really spoke upto express their feeling. But what they said only revealed their hiddenlove of the world. Since they were Jesus' disciples, they should havehad a spiritual value system. But they did not. What did Jesus answer? Jesus did not respond to their curiosity atall. Instead he taught them the future things to come. Look at verse2. "'Do you see all these things?' he asked. 'I tell you the truth, notone stone here will be left on another; every one will be throwndown.'" Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70, when the Jerusalemtemple was completely destroyed by the Roman army until not one stonewas left on another. Jesus' prophecy is also a warning that the peopleand nations who do not practice God's laws are destined for completedestruction. What was the disciples' response? As Jesus was sitting on theMount of Olives, from which the temple could be seen in full view, thedisciples came to him privately and said, "Tell us, when will thishappen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of theage?" (3) To the Jews, "your coming" or "the end of the age" wasunderstood as "the day of the Lord"the day of great joy and victory,the day God himself would intervene in history.Second, the characteristics of the end of the age (4-8). Jesus did notanswer their question concerning the end of the age directly; rather,he told them several things to be careful about. Look at verse 4."Jesus answered: 'Watch out that no one deceives you.'" Jesus warns hisdisciples to watch out, because the end of the age will be a season forfalse messiahs and a time of great deception. As history proves, at theend of one civilization after another, people become extremely violentand immoral. Most of all, people become ungodly. People who live amongviolent, immoral and ungodly people become very fearful. Then many sorcerers and magic artists like 'Koresh' arise,claiming, "I am the Christ" (5). They deceive weak-minded people andempty their pockets. Especially, they empty sorrowful widows' pockets.These days, to most people, secular humanists are false messiahs. Theysee the things of the world without the absolutes of God. They seeeverything according to situation ethics. One father once looked at hisdaughter and said, "She is my precious daughter." After he was drunken,the father said, "Wow! She is a beautiful woman." His relativistic ideacaused him to commit incest. Jesus also said that people will hear of all kinds of tragicevents happening, such as nation rising against nation, famines, andearthquakes in various places. We should not be alarmed. It is becausethese things are the beginning of birth pains for the glorious new age.The world is not easy to live in because of the increase of wickedness.Wicked people are selfish people. Because of selfish people the love ofmost grows cold. But Jesus' way of thinking is different. In verse 6b Jesus says,"...but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen,but the end is still to come." Jesus says here that Jesus' peopleshould not be fearful on account of the world situation and evils inthe world, because God rules the world. The world is not heading fordestruction, but for the day of the Lord, the day of eternal victory.All kinds of troubles, trials and tribulations are nothing but birthpains for the day of the Lord. Verse 8 says, "All these are thebeginning of birth pains." So we should not be alarmed by the worldsituation, but rejoice, waiting for the day of the Lord.Third, "Stand firm to the end" (9-13). In the last days many God-hatersarise. These people persecute Jesus' people in proportion to theirdemon-possession. They hate Jesus' people because they hate Jesus, forhe is holy (9). In the last days, many people turn away from the faithand betray and hate each other, poisoned by the devil's doubt (10).Look at verse 11. "...and many false prophets will appear and deceivemany people." Here, "false prophets" refers to the Pharisees or secularhumanists. In this situation, what can Jesus' people do? Look at verse 13."...but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." How can we "standfirm to the end"? First of all, Jesus' people must be faithful toJesus. Revelation 2:10b says, "Be faithful, even to the point of death,and I will give you the crown of life." Jesus' people must love oneanother fervently, until the devil flees away from them with ravingspeed. Jesus' people must live a life of victory. St. Paul is ourchampion in this. He said in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the goodfight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."Fourth, the good news of the kingdom of God must be preached (14). Lookat verse 14. "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in thewhole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."Jesus' people are chosen people. They are chosen to proclaim the goodnews of the kingdom of God. God made a plan of world salvation. Godstarted to fulfill his plan first with Abraham; next with King David.Finally, God fulfilled his plan through his one and only Son JesusChrist. Now this gospel must be preached to the whole world before theend comes (14). When we preach the gospel to the whole world, God ismost pleased, because the salvation of the whole world is God's utmostdesire. When we obey God's world salvation purpose, we are going to bepersecuted. But there is a final victory. For example, under the RomanEmpire the early Christians were persecuted simply because they livedpure lives, while the Romans lived very corrupt lives. Later, theRomans faced severe marriage problems for their sons and daughters, forfrom among the Romans they could not find anyone who had not contractedthe Roman version of AIDS. Because of this, Jesus' people who had livedpure lives were accepted and honored. Finally, Rome became a Christiancountry. Praise God who uses our struggle in evangelizing the wholeworld!Fifth, abominable people (15-18). Look at verses 15,16. "So when yousee standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causesdesolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the readerunderstand--then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." Theabomination that causes desolation refers to Daniel's prophecy inDaniel 9:27. A king of Syria who was disgusted by Judaism determined tostamp out Judaism and introduce the Greek religion in Judea. Hecaptured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and placed the head of aswine on the altar. The temple in Jerusalem was the place where God waspresent, as well as where the ark of the covenant, the word of God,was. But when the temple was desecrated, the head of a swine was placedon the altar. What a great inversion! Where God should be present, thehead of a swine was placed! Figuratively speaking, this is theinversion of the order of the universe. This was a disaster to theJudeans. Jesus warned his disciples that the same thing would happenagain (15,16). The abomination that causes desolation is an allegoryof the chaotic world. Those who have no personal commitment to Jesusare all abominable people. Most men worship money instead of God; mostwomen prefer stinky macho men rather than noble men. They are indeedabominable. Jesus told his people to flee to the mountains when they see "theabomination that causes desolation." Here, "mountains" stands for aplace where God's people can worship God quietly. But most peoplecannot flee to the mountains because they do not want to give up ahandbag or a pair of gym shoes. Instead of fleeing to the mountains,they come back home; next, they go to the place where they can getsomething or enjoy sinful pleasure (17,18). Finally they are caught bythe inverted world. People who live in an inverted world are alwaysfull of fear and anxiety. They have no peace in their hearts.Sixth, "when the Son of Man comes" (19-31). In the last days there willbe great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now(21). What shall we do in such days? Verse 20 says that we must prayfor God's help. It is amazing to know that God will shorten the days ofdistress for the sake of the elect (22). Here we learn that a handfulof Jesus' people who struggle to keep the life of faith are mostbeneficial to all mankind. On the other hand, false messiahs, saying,"Take it easy," can be most deceptive. We must not listen to them(23-26). If we listen to them, we become like vultures that eat acarcass (28). This distress is nothing but a prelude of the coming of the Son ofMan. When the Son of Man comes again, the sun and moon and the starsthat have given light and energy won't be necessary, because the comingof the Son of Man himself will be sufficient light for his people andthe new world. When the Son of Man comes, there will be two kinds of people. Onekind will mourn, and the other kind will rejoice. Look at verse 30. "Atthat time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and allthe nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Mancoming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." Allpeoples of all nations despised and rejected Jesus because they hatedGod, who is holy. They ignorantly nailed Jesus to the cross, thinkingthat they would never see him again. But they shall see the Son of Manwith their own eyes, whether they want to or not. It is a greatpunishment for them to see Jesus, whom they crucified. More than this,they have to stand before him to be judged according to what they havedone to him and his people (Ro 2:6-11). On the other hand, the Son ofMan will gather his people who have been faithful unto death and say,"Well done, good and faithful servants" (31). May God help us to beworthy of his praise.Seventh, God's people must have spiritual insight to interpret thetimes (32-35). Look at verses 32,33. "Now learn this lesson from thefig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, youknow that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, youknow that it is near, right at the door." Each generation has its owncharacteristics. So it is not easy to interpret the times. But Jesus'people can do so because they have the word of God--the universal canonof everything. Let's read verse 35. "Heaven and earth will pass away,but my words will never pass away." During the first century, Jesus'people had to live under fiery persecutions. They had to overcome allkinds of trials in order to defend the gospel of Jesus. Jesus' peoplein the last part of the 20th century have to live in times like thoseof Sodom and Gomorrah--very immoral and violent. Jesus' people shouldbe sacrificial in order to advance the gospel of Jesus. It is possiblefor us to do so when we have spiritual insight to interpret the signsof the times. These days many people say in their bewilderment, "What'sgoing on?" or, "What's up?" They have no insight to see the world. ButJesus' people must have keen spiritual insight to interpret the signsof the times and lead his people to God.Eighth, "keep watch" (36-44). There are many people who say, "I want tobe a Christian, but not now." Such people are deceived by the devil,who says, "You can do it tomorrow." Jesus' people must awaken fromcomplacency because no one knows the day or hour of Jesus' coming, noteven the angels (36). The people of Noah's times only engaged in eatingand drinking and giving in marriage. They never imagined that God willjudge those who are only eating and drinking and mating. The flood camesuddenly, but their swimming ability was too poor. So they all drowned(38,39). Therefore, Jesus' people must keep watch through prayers andBible study (42-44).Ninth, "be a faithful servant" (45-51). Who is the faithful servant toJesus? He is the one who faithfully distributes spiritual daily breadto the Son's children. In the last days, corrupt people eat too muchfood and become sick spiritually. They need spiritual food. Who cangive spiritual food to his sick children? Jesus' people can do that.Teaching the Bible seems to be a losing business. But we must do so,because our Lord Jesus wants us to do so (45-47). There is a dangerthat we calculate too much and come to the conclu sion that he will notcome soon (48,49). A habit of calculation only makes men wicked andunfaithful. What happens to them? "The master of that servant will comeon a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites,where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (50,51). In this passage we learn that we should not be afraid of the worldsituation. We must believe that all the troubles of the world are thebirth pains for the day of the Lord. In this troubled world, in orderto be faithful to our Lord Jesus we must struggle hard to teach theBible to God's sheep. Let's not despair. Let's be faithful to God,standing on his promises.