Introduction
A. The outline for this message came from “The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible’” by Leadership Ministries Worldwide
B. Lets begin by reading Matthew 24:1 - 14 again
Matthew 24:1-14 (NKJV)
Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. {2} And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." {3} Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" {4} And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. {5} "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. {6} "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. {7} "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. {8} "All these are the beginning of sorrows. {9} "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. {10} "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. {11} "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. {12} "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. {13} "But he who endures to the end shall be saved. {14} "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come
1. We are not going to reiterate the events of the day
a. Just know that it is afternoon
b. Jesus had just put all the religious elite to silence
c. He had put the secular leaders to silence
d. He had pronounced the 9 woes
2. And Jesus is leaving the temple
a. In the first verse of our passage
Matthew 24:1 (NKJV)
Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
b. The NIV says that “Jesus left the temple and was walking away…”
(1) So lets look at this passage just a little differently than we have the others
II. Body
A. I think there are two reasons these verses are in the Bible and they are both found in verse 1
1. The first reason these verses are in the Bible is to re-ignite our walk with Jesus
“Jesus left the temple and was walking away…”
a. We should want to leave here walking like Jesus
b. We should want to leave here walking with Jesus
2. The second reason these verses are in the bible is to redirect our attention back to Christ
a. And His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple
(1) Sometimes our attention is on the wrong things
(2) Sometimes our attention is on the temporal rather than the eternal
(3) Nothing will re-ignite our walk with God or redirect our attention back to God like exposure to the truth.
(a) Just look at verse 2
Matthew 24:2 (NKJV)
And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
(b) The temple was once classed as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world
i) Now Herod’s temple did not ever begin to approach the magnificence of Solomon’s temple
ii) But, it was still a national treasure
iii) It was still something which the nation was very proud
iv) And what was Jesus saying?
Matthew 24:2 (NKJV)
And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
(c) This had to be a shock, But lets turn to John 8:32
John 8:32 (NKJV)
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
b. Jesus was trying to teach these men a spiritual truth
c. This temple, the place for Hebrew worship is only a thing
(1) Lets turn to John 4:24
(2) It is only temporary
John 4:24 (NKJV)
"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
(3) Turn to 1 Corinthians 3:16
(4) The place of worship is within ourselves
1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV)
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
(5) At the end of the day the only thing that will stay standing is Spiritual so we need to be building something that will last forever.
(a) Lets reread Matthew 24:3 - 14
Matthew 24:3-14 (NKJV)
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" {4} And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. {5} "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. {6} "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. {7} "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. {8} "All these are the beginning of sorrows. {9} "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. {10} "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. {11} "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. {12} "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. {13} "But he who endures to the end shall be saved. {14} "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
B. This morning we want to come to Jesus and get some understanding of the signs of the End of the Age in order to re-ignite our walk with God and redirect our attention back to God
1. In verse 3 the disciples asked the question we want to ask, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
a. Lets turn to Mark 13:3-4
2. Matthew simply says that “the disciples came to Him
a. But Mark is more specific
Mark 13:3-4 (NKJV)
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, {4} "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"
b. The two sets of brothers came to Him and asked their question
3. Then in verses 4-14 we have 4 signs that will define the End of the Age
a. Turn to Matthew 24:4 & 5
Matthew 24:4-5 (NKJV)
And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. {5} "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many
b. At the End of the Age there will be great spiritual deception
(1) Look down to verses 6 & 7
Matthew 24:6 - 7 (NKJV)
"And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. {7} "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places
c. At the End of the Age there will be great political unrest.
(1) Look on down to verse 7
Matthew 24:7 (NKJV)
"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places
d. At the End of the Age there will be great natural disasters.
(1) Now look down to verses 8 & 9
Matthew 24:8-9 (NKJV)
"All these are the beginning of sorrows. {9} "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
(2) At the End of the Age there will be great religious persecution
C. If each of these signs were like quarters of a football game which quarter might we be in now?
1. Some people have no clue what quarter we are in.
a. Why?
b. Because our attention is not on the game but rather on the building
c. They can’t tell you the score but they can tell you the seating capacity of the stadium
d. They go to the game just for the concessions
e. If you ask them “How was the game?” they neither know nor care
2. Some people have a better idea how the game is going
a. They say we may be in the final quarter, the final minute, even the final seconds
(1) I can’t help but remember the words of the man who was once the TV preacher at the for “Rejoice In the Lord.” who often said that he believed we are close to the rapture
(a) He said that he would not set a date or time
(b) But, he believed it was close
3. Now, lets take a look again at the four signs of the End of the Age.
a. In the End of the Age there will be a great spiritual deception
Matthew 24:4-5 (NKJV)
And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. {5} "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
(1) Jesus said that in the last days many will come in his name claiming “I am the Christ” and deceive many
(2) When we understand what it means to come “in his name” we can then see how spiritual deception works
(3) When Phyllis and I got married she took my last name
(a) We became equals
(b) We became one
(4) Therefore to come “in his name” is to claim set of teachings are equal with the teachings of Jesus
(a) Turn to John 14:6
(5) We know the Mohamad wrote the Koran and it is claimed to be the teaching of Allah
(a) The Koran is the only religious book accepted by Islam
(b) The Koran dictates the way of life for all Muslims
(6) But Jesus said, in John 14:6
John 14:6 (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
(7) And Jesus said that others will also make these claims for themselves
(a) They will either elevate themselves
i) They will teach that all roads lead to God
ii) What’s true for you is not necessary true for me
iii) Life is whatever I choose
(b) They will try bring down Jesus
i) They will deny his deity
ii) Have we seen this?
a) Yes, but right now very subtly
b) Now lets turn to Verses 6 & 7
Matthew 24:6-7 (NKJV)
"And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. {7} "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
b. The second sign of the End of the Age is great political unrest.
(1) Have you heard of any rumors of war lately?
(a) Now Jesus says
i) Nation against Nation
ii) And Kingdom against Kingdom
(b) He is not being repetitive, there is a difference between a nation and a kingdom
(c) The word “nation” in the Greek is the word “ethnos” from which we get the English word “Ethnic.”
(d) So that one type of war is between ethnic group and ethnic group
i) White against black
ii) White against Hispanic
iii) Arab against the world
(e) The word “Kingdom” in the Greek is the word “basileia” (pronounced Baa-Silly-ah) and translates into countries
i) In other words countries with borders
ii) So that this type of war is one between border and border
(f) We are seeing a lot more tension and unrest between ethnic group and ethnic group and between various national entities
i) Now turn to verse 7
c. The third sign of the End of the Age is great natural disasters.
Matthew 24:7 (NKJV)
"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places
(1) If you are going to have war someone is going to go hungry
(a) Famine will have three causes
(b) The first we see is war, the natural consequence of war is destruction of farm land and herds of domestic food animals
(c) The second cause of famine is nature
i) Too much rain and snow
ii) Not enough rain and snow
iii) Animals
iv) Earthquakes and floods
(d) The third cause of famine is economics
i) The price of cord is so low that farmers will not raise a crop of corn
ii) Hoarding
iii) Looting
a) Now look at verse 9
d. The fourth sign of the End of the Age is great religious persecution
Matthew 24:9 (NKJV)
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
(1) “More Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than in the past 19 combined
(2) In two millennia of Christian history, about 70 million faithful have given their lives for the faith
(a) And of these, 45.5 million, fully 65%, were in the 20th century
(b) According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom the 12 worst violators of Religious Liberty are;
i) China, Laos, Saudi Arabia
ii) India, Burma, Sudan
iii) Iran, North Korea, Turkmenistan
iv) Iraq, Pakistan, and Vietnam
(3) But, understand that Jesus said that persecution of Christians will eventually extend to all nations
(4) And we must accept that this includes the USA
(a) Now lets turn to verses 10 - 14
D. How does Jesus see the Church responding in the End Times?
Matthew 24:1-14 (NKJV)
And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. {11} "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. {12} "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. {13} "But he who endures to the end shall be saved. {14} "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come
1. There will be six responses in the Church.
a. There will be many who will turn away from the faith.
(1) When the going gets tough many people will turn away and no longer follow Jesus. Since they are not grounded in the Faith they will not take a stand for Jesus in hard times
b. There will be those who will turn against the Faith
(1) There will be those who will work to cause strive and hatred in the church
(2) Your friend may very well become your enemy
(3) Instead of focusing on the real enemy these people will fight with other believers
(4) Persecution brings out the worst in these people
(a) Turn to 1 Timothy 4:1-2
c. There will be those who twist the Faith
1 Timothy (4:1-2 NKJV)
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, {2} speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
(1) The warning here is that there will be those who will begin to follow personalities and become deceived
d. There will be those who will tune out the faith
(1) This is the biggest danger facing the church in the last days
(2) Some will be cold towards the things of God
(3) When it comes to our Faith we are either growing colder or growing hotter we never stay the same
e. There will be those who will trust the faith
(1) What more need be said?
f. There are those who will tell the faith
(1) A certain Christian was complaining to a well- known Christian leader about the times they were living in. After enduring this for several minutes the Christian leader responded, ” we may be living in difficult times but they are the only times we got.”
(a) Turn to Hebrews 13:5
III. Conclusion
A. Let us be those who trust and tell the faith. God has promised that the Holy Spirit will help us
1. Let this latter portion of our Hebrews passage encourage us
Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)
He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
