Matthew 24:1-13
‘Whoever stands firm to the end will be saved’.
Sermon – Why we must stand firm
The day will come, according to Jesus,
when men will hand over their brothers to be killed;
fathers will hand over their children to be killed;
children will hand over their parents to be killed;
Christians will be hated by everyone;
Christians will be persecuted;
Christians will have to leave their home towns and run away.
And they call the Gospel the ‘Good News’!
In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is also recorded as saying
that in spite of all this trouble and persecution,
the Gospel of salvation will be preached,
must be preached,
until He returns, and all will be judged.
And in spite of all the trouble, persecution,
even execution,
Jesus says we are not to be afraid of people,
for while they may be able to kill our body,
no one can kill our soul.
Jesus is saying that it is better to suffer here for a short time,
if we have to,
than give in and give up;
because those who turn away from Christ
and seek an easy, trouble-free life,
will not be allowed to enter into eternal life,
with the Father, the angels and the saints,
and join that ‘great cloud of witnesses’ mentioned in Hebrews 12:1.
According to Jeremiah 20
there was a time in Judah’s history, about 600BC,
when things were bad for God’s people.
It makes you think:
was there ever a really good time for God’s people?
Ever since the temptation of Adam and Eve,
the devil has gone out of his way to make life difficult for followers of God.
Anyway, in Jeremiah 20 the prophet complains to God
how the more he tried to be true to God,
the more people plotted his downfall,
and made life very difficult for him.
He felt so depressed at times
that he thought God had deceived him.
In this state of dejection he even tried to turn his back on God
and stop preaching God’s word, but he couldn’t,
so he fell back on his faith, his trust in God’s righteousness;
and prayed that God would take revenge on his enemies.
So, even though persecuted and suffering, rejected and lonely;
Jeremiah ends up saying:
‘Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord;
the God who rescues the oppressed from the power of evil men’.
This should be our attitude also
if and when WE are mistreated by those who hate God and the Gospel.
It would be so easy to retaliate and curse those who curse us,
but we are supposed to different;
God calls us to be different.
Jesus says we should love our enemies
and pray for those who persecute us,
not pray that they fall into a deep pit or die a painful death,
which is what the natural man would pray,
but that they repent and become fellow believers,
which is what the spiritual man should pray.
Jesus has warned us
that WE might one day be arrested, tried, and even killed
for our Christian faith.
Christians in Pakistan and India (so called Friends of the west) are persecuted;
Christians in many other countries are
(refer to reports by Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Open Doors); why not us?
It might soon be our turn!
We have to be on our guard,
because, according to Jesus, who loved to tell parables,
and use illustrations from real life,
we are like sheep being stalked by a pack of wolves!
But even in spite of this, He says:
‘Do not worry’ because He will be with us,
and He was with Jeremiah in the time of his trouble,
and the way He was with every true believer facing opposition and persecution
because of the Gospel;
and if trouble comes our way, He will be there with us too.
I watch repeats of ‘Hill Street Blues’ on TV
and each episode starts with ‘Roll Call’ round about 7am
in the basement of the Precinct House or Police Station.
After giving his announcements to the uniformed police officers
and plain clothes detectives, before they go out on duty,
the Station Roll Call Sergeant, Philip Esterhaus, always says:
‘Hey! Be careful out there’,
because, even though they probably do not need to be reminded of it,
the streets are crawling with low lifes and criminals,
many of whom are armed and dangerous,
and especially hostile to Police officers.
As God’s people,
we go out into a world that is largely negative if not hostile about God
and hostile to the Gospel and Christian morality.
Police officers COULD stay in Police Stations all day
where they would be safe,
but they would not be doing what they are paid for.
They are needed out in the streets and shopping centres,
and wherever people need protection.
Similarly staying in churches or convents or monasteries,
or sheltering in our homes, is not what Jesus wants US to do.
He wants us out there, in the sinful world, in it, but not of it,
living and working in it, but not allowing ourselves to be tainted by it.
He wants us out there, witnessing by our words and our actions,
even if we are sometimes like sheep among wolves,
which is why we have to ‘Be careful out there’;
on guard against materialism, complacency, compromise and temptation,
and the spirit of timidity which Paul talked about in his Letters to Timothy..
And the big difference is that while sheep have little or no protection
against wolves, WE have the Holy Spirit, as Jeremiah did;
and while sheep which do die at the hands of wolves
simply cease to exist, if we die in God’s service
we will be translated into God’s presence for eternity;
what the Salvation Army calls being ‘Promoted to glory’.
So, in Jeremiah’s time Judaism was about 1500 years old;
the Kingdom of Israel was over 500 years old;
Judah had stood alone for about 120 years;
and was about to fall to Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces.
With all the fighting and threat of defeat and going into exile around them,
Jeremiah’s message – which was rejected – was
‘Get back to that old time religion’, the religion of Moses.
In Jesus’ time, Judaism was an ancient religion,
and Israel had been absorbed into the Roman Empire.
Jesus established a new ministry based on love rather than tradition;
Gospel rather than Law.
He established a new covenant based on faith rather than religious formalism;
he wanted his followers to adopt a new attitude,
based on loving God and loving one’s neighbour – anyone, everyone,
because all have sinned and need God’s grace and forgiveness,
not just the ‘Chosen People’.
Jesus established a new Church, which was for all tribes and peoples,
not only those physically descended from Abraham;
a New Israel;
and he established a new religion, based on grace rather than Law,
relationship rather than ritual.
And just as Jeremiah was rejected and persecuted centuries earlier,
so Jesus was for the most part rejected, betrayed and spat upon and whipped,
until he was killed on a cross.
In our time, Christianity is 2000 years old
and considered by many an ancient and defunct religion;
the Evangelical or Protestant Church is 500 years old,
and in some places struggling.
Our economy is in trouble
and all around us we see evidence of falling moral standards.
As Jeremiah put God first in his time,
and Jesus put God first in His,
so WE should put God first in ours,
even if this means losing our friends, our families,
and ultimately our lives.
What we must never lose is God’s favour
and our name being listed in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
I would like to close by reading Psalm 124 verses 1 to 5
and the personal statement that I hope we all relate to, in verses 6 to 8.
The text for this sermon is Matthew 24 verse 13:
‘Whoever stands firm to the end will be saved’,
NOT might be, but WILL be
and I posed the Questions ‘Will you stand firm to the end?’;
and ‘Will I stand firm to the end?’
I hope and pray that with God’s help, the Answer will be ‘Yes’,
not least because if we deny Jesus to the ungodly,
He will deny us to His Father,
and ‘Yes’ because we have the assurance that no matter how many thorns
the Evil One will puncture us with,
we will be able to say, like Paul,
God’s grace IS sufficient for me.
Amen.
