Author: missionspaul

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father.” (Matthew 24 v 36)

No one knows.

Not the day, hour, the month or the year or even generally knowing it’s in the next few years. No one knows.

If the Son of God in taking on human form restricted himself from knowing then how much more should we be content in that for ourselves?

The message from God seems to be:

I want you to live not knowing when exactly Christ will return but live as if He is near.

But how do we do that? Jesus continues and will guide us in this in the next few verses.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24 v 35)

Our world as we know it may shake to its foundation. Everything can disappear in a heartbeat. Even Heaven and Earth as we understand it now will come to an end eventually as the new Heaven and Earth come into being.

But one thing remains: the Words of Christ, the Word of God, it is the firm foundation, immovable, unchangeable, nothing will stop the gospel, it will keep on emerging and it will be there in the end.

So how do those in persecution today become encouraged by this? Or how does the Church in the West with the rise of restricting legislation and secularisation survive without giving up?

It is by knowing that the gospel can never be stopped. Not at any time in the present nor in the future. It is eternal.

“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” (Matthew 24 v 34)

This seems to have caused confusion ever since it was written down.

Is it the generation who experience the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70? Is it the Jewish people alive at the return of Christ? Is it the type of wicked people who will also oppose God’s people when Christ returns?

What is true is this: there will be a last generation, they will see all these terrible things and then they will see Jesus.

But this is the key principle for every follower of Christ regardless of whether they are the last generation or not.

• Suffering will not last forever, the Son is coming.

Whatever you are facing and going through today. No matter your circumstance:

• At the end of this is Jesus.

Have you been into the garden recently?

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (Matthew 24 v 32-33)

Taking a parable from nature Jesus teaches us all a lesson:

Are we carefully staying alert for His coming?

That is the important question rising from this question: When has summer come? You know summer is near by looking at nature and you know the end and His coming is near by looking at the increase of wickedness and the expansion of the worldwide gospel that Jesus has previously spoken about.

Maybe we need to step outside from our lives full of earthly difficulties and the now moments and go into the garden of a bigger world and look at a fig tree?

These next verses describe the culmination of all the other signs pointing to the return of Christ. But before we read them we need to realise again that the Messianic future is known in the mind of this generation of Jesus. They have been brought up on familiar passages of Scripture such as the following:

“The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.” (Isaiah 13 v 10)

“All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shrivelled figs from the fig tree.” (Isaiah 34 v 4)

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7 v 13-14)

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” (Zechariah 12 v 10)

They literally can recite these verses verbatim. Now let’s read what Jesus says:

“Immediately after the distress of those days, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24 v 29-31)

• The Magi saw a star in the sky and believed it was a sign of a King had been born; John in his gospel reminds us of the signs Jesus gave in his miracles that He was the Messiah; This next time the sign will be for the culmination of the whole world.
• He has darkened the skies before (the cross) and He will do it again. When He did it around the cross it spoke loudly of the victory over sin and death. This next time it will speak loudly of His victory over all the nations of the world, His world.
• Angels announced the arrival of the baby Jesus; the resurrection of the Lord; and they will announce the coming of the Son of Man. They will gather all the believers together.

When I live in the light of this sign then everything pales into insignificance; I am reminded that He is in control of the world; evil doesn’t win; good will triumph.

“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time. “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.” (Matthew 24 v 22-28)

At the time when no one would survive if the days had not been cut short, at a time of unparalleled suffering in the world there will also be an unprecedented rise of false Messiahs and some with great miraculous abilities that look like God.

But don’t look for the Son of God in the obvious places (ie the Jesus’ generation saw the wilderness as the place for special revelation) or even the secret places (inner rooms).

No.

When He comes everyone will know! He will come in a spectacular manner. As vultures can be seen high above the dead carcass, everyone will see the Messiah come to bring an end to a dying world.

Don’t be fooled by hidden opportunism that exploits or takes advantage of weakness and suffering.

Don’t be fooled by hidden Messiah discoveries that produce a trail of pilgrims with a new surge of pseudo-Christian belief.

Don’t be fooled by hidden deception wrapped in what looks miraculous as it alleviates suffering temporarily.

Wait. We will know it is Him when the whole world, from east to west, also know at the same time.

There will be no discovery within the earth’s suffering; there will be no revival on earth leading to a place or a person; there will be no supernatural activity anywhere in the world. Those are simply signs.

That’s not where the Son of God will be.

He won’t be hidden.

Do you ever wonder whether the bad day is going to end or not?

Jesus indicates the scale of the future suffering in this next verse:

“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24 v 22)

‘No one would survive’. That is how bad it will get for those going through this suffering. In fact if it wasn’t for the fact that God’s people were in the middle of the suffering then it would continue until no one was left. But His eye is forever on His people.

God has perfect timing, who appoints everything. He permits, assigns, chooses, selects, prescribes and establishes. Everything works according to His will and purposes which are perfect.

It takes faith and discipleship to be able to say my suffering will not last forever.

We all love this verse in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

But it only applies if we submit to verse 35 also: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”

A sign of the end times are days of great difficulty but it also that they will come to an end and maybe abruptly for our God is in control of the clock.

In 168 BC the Greek Hellenistic King, Antiochus Epiphanes slaughtered a pig on the altar and offered it to Zeus in the Temple in Jerusalem, it became known as the ‘abomination of desolation’. This description was used around 600 years previously in a prophecy by Daniel (chapter 9) as the people of God were exiled in Babylon. Was the prophecy fulfilled in 168 BC? According to Jesus the answer was it was still to come.

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation, ’spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equalled again.” (Matthew 24 v 15-21)

In AD 70 Titus and the Roman Army moved in to Jerusalem. They reduced the Temple to rubble and took the holy artefacts back to Rome. During this ‘abomination of desolation’ over 1 million Jews died. However the Jewish Christians heeded Jesus warning and when the Romans were approaching fled the city.

Luke’s gospel details this prophecy of Jesus in referring to AD 70. Matthew and Mark indicate that it has more than one event in mind. Was the holocaust an abomination of desolation? It certainly was for those going through it. Is Paul referring to this prophecy regarding his ‘man of lawlessness’ (2 Thess 2)? Again does John have this in mind in his vision of the beast (Revelation 13)?

It would seem that there is an abomination to come, for many, they are currently experiencing it. The spirit of the Anti-Christ is in the world increasing in every generation its abhorrent acts against God’s people. Yet there is one last abomination to come, ‘unequalled from the beginning of the world until now – and never to be equalled again.’

Many write their interpretation of the end times using this and other passages. It is a minefield of understanding. Do we have a detailed plan of what will happen and what to look for? No. The variants are many. Over the next few days we will walk slowly though the verses.

But to close note one thing Jesus calls us to do. ‘Pray’. In the time of the escape, in the time of fear and wondering what exactly is going to happen, make sure you are talking to God. Jesus says pray that you will be able to escape easily, not in winter or with religious restrictions. The encouragement is to talk to God throughout this difficulty.

And so today, whatever you are facing and it won’t be the abomination, but for some in our world it will feel like it as they plan their escape, pray. If you can talk to God then He is there with you. If you can talk to God then there is hope.

“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.”  (Matthew 24 v 14)

There are many debates over what Jesus actually meant in this verse. Some mission agencies use it to hasten His return by strategically going to every unreached people group as quickly as possible. In every generation there seems to be a new UPG so the mission continues. Some missiologists attribute a percentage of converts to a certain group which then equals them having been reached. So that group is able to be ticked off and we go onto the next. The end becomes the focus.

This morning my simple thoughts are based around the power of the gospel. Since the moment Jesus spoke this sentence till now the world has been hearing the beautiful sound of the good news! But as the generations have continued and travel has been made easier and then with the rise of the internet and technology then more of the world is hearing about Jesus than ever before.

The end of the world is not only going to come at a time of deception, falling away and difficulty, it will come during a time of mission.

Can you imagine leading someone to Christ at the time when He comes?!

A friend posted on Facebook yesterday a quote from Johnny Cash, “Being a Christian isn’t for sissies. It takes a real man (I presume he meant a woman also) to live for God – a lot more man than to live for the devil.”

“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24 v 10-13)

Many will turn away into betrayal and hatred.

Many false prophets will come.

Many will be deceived.

Most will experience their love growing cold towards Jesus because of the rise of evil.

But the one …

Jesus prophesied a numerical decline.

But the one … can you imagine what it is like for the one?

Standing alone, watching your faith-friends walk away, worse, betray you, can you imagine what that is like? Can you imagine what it is like when they fall under the spell of false leadership? So they still believe in something but it isn’t what they started out with the one. They are not with the one in the pews singing and praying anymore. That’s where they started but their passion dwindled. Can you imagine what it is like to lose your best friend because they walked away into a complete different lifestyle because they wanted to have it all now?

But the one … remains. The above is maybe many but it isn’t everyone! The one will get to the end of their life and will have resisted the deception and the temptation. They will be saved.

Johnny Cash didn’t live a sinless perfect life and he had many battles within the industry he worked in. However, he was one who made it to the end and was saved.

“I’m thrilled to death with life,” Cash told Larry King. “Life is – the way God has given it to me – was just a platter. A golden platter of life laid out there for me. It’s been beautiful.”