Early Edition
Early Edition Series: Matthew 24:1-14
January 18, 2009
Morning Service
Introduction
One of my favorite television shows in the mid nineties was Early Edition. The show was built around the premise that an ordinary guy named Gary Hobson would receive a newspaper each morning. The paper was different because it was tomorrows news today. Gary would get the paper and have all of the news for the day one day ahead. He knew everything that was going to happen and would use his information to prevent tragedies, stop accidents, rescue hurting people and literally save the day.
What would you be able to do, if you got tomorrows news today? You could win the lottery. You could play the stock market. You could avoid disasters, rescue the hurting, or even get ahead in life yourself. The thought of tomorrows news today is more than a little silly because we all know that cannot happen or can it?
I firmly believe that we have been given a glimpse into what the future holds but we do not know when it will happen. It may be today, it may be tomorrow. We have been given timeless truths from the master of time itself. In essence, we have been given an Early Edition by Jesus Himself.
When considering the End Times there are a multitude of theories and schools of thought. There are the pre-tribulation teachers, mid-tribulation teachers and the post-tribulation teachers. There are teachers who focus on aspects of Revelation, others focus on Daniel and still others focus on various minor prophets of the Old Testament. This myriad of theories alone creates and causes confusion. I have seen a great deal of outlandish teaching as I began this study and I find it deeply disturbing. One teacher claimed that car headlights were predicted in the New Testament as a sign of Christ’s return and the end times.
Whenever you read anything about prophecy any Bible teacher, always measure what they claim with scripture. With recent events in Israel and an increasing interest in prophecy I wanted to examine again the message of the end times. Instead of studying a variety of theories, list of prophecies or deciphering a multitude of metaphors, I wanted to get back to the very basics of what we understand with the End of Time. These basics are found in chapter 24 of the gospel of Matthew.
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ, ’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 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. Matthew 24:1-14
As we begin looking at Matthew chapter 24, we need to understand some thing going on in the background.
Jesus is clearly preparing the disciples for His death and resurrection. By sharing some of the events, Jesus is giving the disciples hope while waiting for His return. It is important to remember that the disciples do not understand that Jesus is going to die. When the disciples ask this question, the resurrection was the last thing on their mind. In fact, it was not on their mind at all.
The disciples were concerned about the earthly reign of the Messiah. Why was this such a concern? The disciples were the inner circle of Jesus and when He came to power, they would as well. How can we know this was their thinking?
Here are a few examples:
The request of James and John’s mother, she wanted them to be the on his right and on His left. This was a request for power and position in the new Kingdom.
The argument over who was the greatest. The disciples enter the Upper Room to celebrate the Passover and they argue about who has to wash each their feet.
At the ascension of Jesus, the disciples were asking Jesus if His Kingdom would now come to earth.
The disciples were concerned not about the End of Time but about personal gain. Can you imagine the shock on their faces when Jesus begins to describe the End of Time? Can you see their jaws hitting the ground? The answers that Jesus gives to their questions likely shocked them and maybe even scared them. It is here that they begin to realize that their cozy little picture of a Messianic Kingdom was not going to come true.
Why does Jesus give the following signs to the disciples?
• So they would not be caught off guard by troubling times
• So they would be encouraged in hard times
• So they would remember that they were not alone
Jesus is giving answers to two different questions
Notice that Jesus is asked two point blank questions by the disciples as they are walking past the Temple courts.
1.) When will this happen? When will the Temple be destroyed?
2.) What would be the signs of Christ’s return?
We must remember that Jesus is predicting two different events in similar ways. Jesus is describing the destruction of the Temple along with Jerusalem and the End Times. Both sets of prophecies seem to go hand in hand. The Temple was destroyed in 70AD during the Jewish revolt against Rome. There would have been some of the disciples alive to witness these events. The destruction of Jerusalem shows the kind of total destruction that will exist at the End of Time.
Chapter 24 divides into three major sections
Nine major signs of the last days 1-14
The final sign: abomination of desolation 15-28
The coming of the Son of Man 29-31
Jesus warns about the coming deception
Jesus offers a clear warning about the End Times: Do not be deceived. If Jesus warned us about deception there must be good reason. Look at how easily people get duped into believing a lie. This is true even for Christians. People are fooled by scams each and every day. Some get deceived into giving away their money or possessions. The worst form of deception is spiritual deception. Spiritual deception is the leading of people to believe a lie for the Truth.
We live in an age of incredible spiritual interest and even some incredible deception. Sadly, some of the worst scams come from so called Christian ministers or ministries. Deception flows out of a creation of some form of confusion. Confusion is one of Satan’s most powerful tools because if he can confuse the Truth, he can distort the Truth. This alone gives us reason to examine the early edition that Jesus has given to us.
Signs of Christ’s Return
False Messiahs
One of the most troubling aspects of the past election were signs and paintings that proclaimed Barak Obama as Christ. One such painting was entitled Obama Christ and was featured on large votive candles. Votive candles are used in Catholic churches as a replacement for incense and symbolize prayers climbing to the throne of God. During one of the political dinners there was a focus on comedy and Obama and McCain took turns making jokes. Barak Obama actually said: “Contrary to popular belief, I was not born in a manger.”
I am not saying that anyone claimed Obama was Jesus or that he claimed to be the Christ. However, do you see how easily it started and how far the mindset went? It is truly frightening to see the depth of spiritual blindness in America today.
Jesus told the disciples there will be many who come claiming to be Christ. These people will come claiming to be the Messiah or the Savior of the world. These false messiahs will teach a different gospel and lead large numbers of people astray. One troubling aspect of modern prophetic teaching is that Christians will not or cannot be led astray. Let me ask you an important question: why does Satan need to lead non-believers astray? The truth is that Satan already has them in his kingdom. Satan may want to further his grip on them but they are already his and he does not need to lead them astray. In the End Times, Christians will abandon their faith in favor of a false gospel. Jesus warned not to be deceived for a reason. It is completely possible for a Christian to be led astray.
The concept of false messiahs is not a new concept. The historian Josephus recorded that following the resurrection of Christ, there were men who claimed to be the Messiah. We are dealing with an incredibly old problem with new twists.
Why do so many people turn to false messiahs and false teachings? The answer is simple, the church has remained silent. The church seems to have gone into hiding because we are afraid to offend someone or maybe we might upset someone. I would far rather upset someone than to see them deceived by a spiritual lie. When the world asks the great questions of life, Christians fail to offer Biblical answers.
War or World Violence
War has been on the minds of many during these past few years. With the United States fighting a war on terrorism in two different countries. We seem to be specifically drawn to this sign or prophecy in light of our ongoing time of war. However, we need to understand the reality of what Jesus is describing.
Jesus said that we will hear of wars and rumors of wars but not to be alarmed. The media seems to depict war all around us these days but there is hope. Jesus says that these things must happen before He returns. Violence is not part of God’s plan or destiny for the world. War is a direct result of human sinfulness. War flows out of the fact that we are fallen people, living in a fallen world. The message is simple, we should not be so fixated on the world that we lose sight of Jesus.
Conclusion
What do we gain from the message Jesus? What do we gain from tomorrows news today?
We gain hope in times of disaster
We gain peace in times of distress
We gain encouragement in times of despair
When the world around us is falling apart we can be assured that we have a security that nothing can ever take away. We have hope in Jesus and with each passing moment we are one step closer to eternity with Him.
This morning if you do not personally know Jesus, this can sound alarming, even frightening. Without Jesus, this world is frightening, it is alarming but with Jesus we have peace in any storm, hope in any situation and encouragement through times of trial.
If you lack this kind of peace this morning, take a moment slip out from your pew and come to the altar and discover some of the peace you have been missing.
