The Last Days Part 3
Scripture: Matthew 24:12; 25:34-40; Mark 13:12; Ephesians 6:1-3
Introduction
In my message last week I spoke to you concerning the signs of wars and rumors of wars. As we evaluated what has taken place in the last 2000+ years we saw that the number of wars have increased as the years decreased. We also realized that we live in a time where man has the capability to wipe out all of mankind with the push of one button, something that was not conceived of 200 years ago, let alone 2000 years ago. We also discussed the famines and earthquakes that have taken place since biblical times and once again we see that they are increasing and becoming more severe. This morning we will focus on what will happen when the love of Christians begins to grow cold and how that will also impact the relationship between family members.
I. Love Of Many Will Grow Cold
“And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”
Matthew 24:12
“And brother will deliver brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.” Mark 13:12
These two verses together give us insight into our present day, but in order for us to fully understand what these verses are saying we must take a journey back in time to what living was like at the time that Jesus made these statements. If I were to tell you that when people stop loving one another and family members begin to turn on each other that it would be one of the signs of the last days many would say that it was just normal. In our day and age it is perfectly “normal” to hate. It is okay to not speak to your neighbor. It is okay to walk away from family members and never speak to them again. In this day and age, all of these things are normal. What we call normal is not only “not normal” according to Jesus’ standards, but is a definite sign that our days are running out. Let me share with you what life was like during the time when Jesus made this statement so that you will be able to clearly understand why the statement carried such importance. I will focus on two areas that I think speaks to these two Scriptures. The first area is hospitality and the second is the relationship between family members.
A. During Biblical Times
Hospitality: In Biblical times, sharing hospitality with others was something that was a vital part of their lives. For example, after a meal had been prepared, men were known to call out three times from a high spot in the neighborhood inviting others to come and share in their meal. People who had guests in their home (whether friends or strangers) believed that the guests in their homes were sent to them by God thus their hospitality became a sacred duty. Remember the story of Abraham when he entertained the three strangers? His enthusiasm in receiving the guests would indicate that his belief was that they were actually sent by God (and in that case, they were.) It is said that he ran to meet the strangers and asked Sarah to begin making a meal for them (Genesis 18:2-7). What is really remarkable was that even an enemy who entered a person’s home was safe and treated with hospitality.
Let me recount one story that you may remember. When Jesus was preparing for His last meal with His disciples (the disciples did not know this), they did not have a place to have this meal. The disciples asked Jesus where they would eat the Passover. Matthew 26:18 records the following: “And He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, the Teacher says, My time is at hand; I am to keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” The disciples did what they were told and the man immediately accepted them into his home. It does not appear that Jesus had a relationship with this man, but for the sake of being hospitable, the man would not refuse Jesus’ request. Jesus made it clear that in no uncertain terms we were to be hospitable to one another and to strangers. In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus says “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and gave you drink?’ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to you?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Being hospitable was a crucial part of every day living during Jesus times yet as we will see shortly that is not necessarily the case in our times. Let us move on with a review of the family relationship.
Parents’ Position Within The Home: During Jesus’ times, the idea of family carried the idea of each family being a little kingdom within itself. In their system the father was supreme in command. His authority extended to his wife, children, children’s children, his servants and to his entire household. (Many in that part of the world still live this way.) When the father died, his authority was handed down to his eldest son. Children reverenced their fathers (and mothers). It was very seldom that a son is heard of as being undutiful. It is customary, even today, for a son to greet his father with a kiss on the hand and wait with humility for any assignment for the day. Obedience to parents was commanded by Moses and was enforced. The father provided for his family and would give his life to ensure his family was safe. The wife held a subordinate position to that of her husband, at least as it pertained to office, but not in nature. Wives were not treated as equals by the men, as is the custom in many parts of the world today. However, the wife had tremendous influence over her husband as proven in Scripture. The husband showed great respect for his wife and although their roles were different, the role of the wife was considered to be very important. Children likewise showed the same fear and respect to their mother as they did their father. The attitude about children is also different in some respect. Children were viewed as a blessing from God, one that women universally longed for and took great joy in. Children were cherished. During their early years the mother was primarily responsible for the training. As the boys grew older, the fathers took over while the girls stayed with their mother until they were married. Children remained respectful of their parents until death and taught their kids that same respect. Even after they became adults, if their parents were alive, they gave them the same respect as they did while they were much younger. The parents never lost their authority over their kids. This was the normal life when Jesus made the statement about family members turning on one another.
In the book of Ephesians, the sixth chapter, verses one through 3, Paul records the following: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your Father and Mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” What was the promise that Paul is referencing? The promise is actually based on the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses. So this is not something that parents came up with, but was commanded by God. Now here is what we all need to understand, this commandment is in place still today. In Jesus’ times the children respected their parents “regardless” of how old they were. Today it is not that way. So what is happening today in respect to hospitality and family relationship?
B. In The Present Time
Hospitality: I do not think we are as hospitable as we once were and we are not even close to the world in which Jesus lived. Remember how I shared with you that they would cook a meal and would invite total strangers in to share the meal? Also remember how they considered guests, even strangers, as being sent to them by God? We are so far removed from this that if the disciples would show up today at our doorstep we would not let them in. As a matter of fact, if Jesus showed up on our doorstep, we would not let Him in. I will explain this in a moment but first let me talk a little more about the “good ole days”. When I was growing up we had some good neighbors and some not so good neighbors. But what I remember most is that our neighbors back then were not just those that lived close to us, but anyone that knew me or my family. For example, if I was three blocks from home and was doing something I was not supposed to be doing, my parents would get a call about me and would be waiting for me when I got home. They would not tell me who “called the report in” but I would get it when I got home. Back then and in some communities now, people would wave and speak when you walked down the street. Back in those days, if you stopped by someone’s home and they were getting ready to eat, oftentimes they would pull out another plate and have you sit down with them. But things have changed since I was a child.
Today we build privacy fences around our yards so that we do not have to be hospitable to our neighbors. When we are cooking out we do not have to worry about anyone seeing us and inviting themselves in for a free meal. To even consider having someone who is your enemy sitting down at your dinner table eating your food and talking about life issues is something many of us cannot even imagine, yet this was “normal” when Jesus walked the earth. In Jesus’ times they would open their homes up to strangers, feed them, and provide shelter for them while they were on their journey. Today we call the police if a stranger steps onto our lawn and stays too long. When someone knocks on the door, we peep out to see who it is “just in case” it is someone we do not know. All of these actions are for good reasons because there are a lot of bad people out there with bad intentions. Although we must do what we can to protect ourselves, it does demonstrate how far our society has deteriorated. Remember earlier I told you that if Jesus was to knock on our doors we would not let Him in? Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 25:34-40? He said whenever we do something for someone else, we do it for Him. So when we refuse to help others, refuse to be hospitable to others, we in fact are doing it to Him.
Two weeks ago we experienced a tragedy in Virginia. After they released the identification of the young man who did the killing, reports started coming in across America of Korean-Americans being harassed. Last week Korean school children in Los Angeles were taunted with chants of “go back to Korea” although they had been born here in the states and have every right to be here. At a post office a Korean native complained about poor service. Afterwards she heard someone say with contempt “Don’t go shooting up this place!” The same thing happened to Muslim Americans after 9/11. Remember what Jesus said, “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.” These reactions are a prime example of what Jesus said. As our world continues to get worse, the love that people had for their fellow man before would grow cold as people quit trusting one another and become suspect of everyone. Consider what is happening within our families.
Our Families: Do I even need to tell you what is going on today? Every week we can turn on the news and hear about some tragedy that has happened within a family. In the last 20 years there have been many cases of parents killing kids and vice-versa. Brother and sisters are turning against one another for drugs, family money, relationships, etc. I did an internet search on parents killing children and vice-versa and what I found I decided not to list in this message. This trend is so common today that when we see it on TV we do not even think twice about it. A majority of our families today do not have the structure and respect for one another that existed in the families of Jesus’ times. In Jesus’ times the father was respected because his life’s work was to provide for his family. His reputation was on the line for how well he took care of his family. Today, a lot of men do not care about their reputations as being a good husband or father, one who takes care of their families. Many are comfortable just taking up space in the house and letting the wife handles all of the major stuff. For some men it is a source of pride to have 15 kids spread out across the city and state and not providing for any of them. In Jesus’ times mothers raised their kids and fathers raised their sons after a certain age. Today, we raise our kids when we have time for them. My career and lifestyle is more important than my kids. As long as I give them everything they want then I am being a good parent. In Jesus’ times kids respected and feared their parents, even after the kids themselves were grown and had kids of their own, they continued to fear and respect their parents. Today kids do not respect their parents. Our children believe they have rights. They believe they have the right to tell you exactly what is on their minds. They believe they have the right to come and go as they pleased without you having the authority to ask them where they have been. Our kids today believe they should receive whatever they want just because they want it and should not have to work hard for it. And then we begin to wonder “why”.
Why is the suicide rate among our kids so high? Why is it that our kids are turning to alcohol and drugs for recreation. Why is it that our kids are having sex at a very young age? Why is it that our kids can cuss their parents out or actually hit their parents when they are angry? Why do our kids not care enough about their future to work harder in school? Why do our kids walk around with this attitude of defiance and deservatude? (For those of you reading this, deservatude is not a real word but it is my word for people who walk around with the attitude that they “deserve” anything they want.) We are asking all of these whys and maybe the answer is simple. Maybe it is because we parents are too tired to care any longer. Maybe it is because we agree with them that they do have rights and deserve whatever they want. Maybe as parents we want our kids to be raised different from us because our childhood was so bad. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
Whatever the reason, we can know that Jesus knew this day was coming. Our news is dominated with problems between family members. Spouses are turning against each other and in some cases instead of divorcing are choosing to end one another’s life. Parents are killing their children. Children are killing their parents. Brothers and sisters are killing each other. All of these things are common to us as we watch the news or TV programs and we are no longer shocked by them. However, if anyone from Jesus’ times were to view our world today, they would not be able to believe it. Maybe this is just the way it is or maybe these are signs of our living in the last days.
To be continued next week. May God bless you.
