Watching for Signs
Matthew 24:1-14
September 25, 2005
Morning Service
Introduction
On your way to church today, did you have to obey any signs? Of course you did!
Stop signs, street signs, caution signs or even our church sign. We are conditioned to follow signs. What would happen if no one followed the road signs anymore? There would be mass chaos! People would go through intersection without stopping. Some might drive through a road closed sign and cause an accident.
Signs play an important part in our daily lives. They give us direction. They tells what we need to do or what we need to avoid. They help us find our way and show us where we need to go.
A year or so ago, we were going to the Cincinnati Zoo and we were going a way that I had never driven before. My thinking was that I could simply follow the signs and I would get there without any trouble. Unfortunately, I missed one of the signs and went the wrong direction. To this day, I still maintain that the sign was not where it needed to be. The result was that we headed in the wrong direction and had to turn around, go back and find some signs.
This same principle works for us in our spiritual lives. We need to be carefully watching the spiritual signs of life, so we will not be led in the wrong direction. This morning I want to look at some of the specific signs that Jesus gave to His disciples about the end of time.
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.
I. The Progress of Turmoil (1-7)
There will be a personal turmoil (1-3)
The disciples were with Jesus in Jerusalem for the Passover feast. This was one of the many times that week that jesus visited the temple with them. As they left the temple Jesus told them that the temple would be destroyed. This was a shocking statement because of what the temple represented to the people of Israel.
A.) There was a spiritual connection
B.) There was a social connection
C.) There was a security connection
The disciples are clearly dismayed at what such an event would bring to their lives. So they approach Jesus and ask two important questions. These questions deal with two separate issues.
1.) When will this happen? - Meaning the destruction of the temple
2.) What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?
There will be a spiritual turmoil (4-5)
Jesus makes it clear that there will be a great spiritual deception. The reality is that Satan has no need to deceive those who are already His. He needs to deceive the church with anything he can to create chaos. Jesus is talking about believers being led astray and being taken away from the church. How will he be able to do this?
The Bible is God’s Word and the essence of His divine Truth. If there is something that does not measure up to the Truth of scripture, it cannot be true. Believing God at His Word is a personal choice. If you choose not to believe the bible, you choose to believe a lie. Far too many Christians do exactly this very thing.
Why would Christians settle for a lie? Because it far easier to live in a lie than it is to live according to the truth. We settle for a watered down Christianity that asks us to change nothing in our lives. We settle for an easier life without the hassles of church. We settle for less of Jesus than we really need. Settling means to get less than you actually deserve.
When I was in seminary, I took an internship in one of the largest mental hospitals in the state of Kentucky. I served as an assistant to the chaplain and was given the responsibility for the spiritual care of three separate floors of the hospital. On my second day I met a most unusual individual, I never did get his real name.
I introduced myself and asked his name. I did not get the response that I expected at all. The man reached out, shook my hand and said: “I’m Christ, Jesus Christ.” Since I am such a discerning person I quickly realized that his medication was a bit off.
Jesus makes it clear that there will also be false Christ’s. Those who will say that they are God to lure people away from the truth. How many different cults and false teaching are floating around that have someone claiming to be God?
There will be political turmoil (6-7)
Jesus said that there would be wars and rumors of wars. Our current world situation shows this truth in vivid ways. War is one of the sad realities of life and there is little that we can do about it. War is sometimes a necessary tool. There are times in life when evil must be confronted and sometimes war is the only way. However, the vast majority of the wars in our world have nothing to do with justice, defending the weak or anything of the sort. Many of the wars in our world are just plain evil.
Jesus specifically describes two separate kinds of conflicts that will be a part of our world. The first is nation against nation. It might surprise you but this is not a conflict between two or more countries. The Greek word here is ethnos, where we get our word ethnic. Jesus is speaking here of a race or tribe, not a country. Jesus is clearly talking about civil strife and civil war.
Think about this way. America is the great melting pot of the world. How many different ethnic groups do we have in our country? Look at your own family. My family has ancestors from Denmark, Germany, France and England but I am American.
The second conflict that Jesus speaks of is kingdom against kingdom. This is a conflict between countries. The word kingdom defines a specific area by its borders. The war here is a battle between two separate lands.
Following this discussion about wars, Jesus then raises the issue of natural disasters. He only mentions two and many people believe that it is only these two that need to be watched for. This interpretation doesn’t seem to hold water.
Jesus is using the types of issues faced by that particular area of the world. Since there have been so many hurricanes this year, let’s use that as an example. There are few hurricanes that hit Israel and even if there were, they wouldn’t call them hurricanes. The issue is the destruction caused by the natural phenomenon.
II. The proclamation of truth (8)
Jesus tells the disciples that these things must take place. Literally, all of the things we just mentioned are part of the sign that the end is near. If we carefully look at our world, these things are part of the daily events.
We witness everyday various aspects of war. We witness the results of natural disasters. We see the various social conflicts that entangle our world. Our eyes need to be watching the signs around us.
We see events unfolding of greater and greater spiritual deception within not only cults and false religions but also within the church. How many denominations in the last five years have accepted the practice of homosexuality? How many denominations no longer hold the Word of God as absolute truth? How many denominations reject the basic practices of Christianity? Do you honestly think the end is far away?
Jesus also says something else of great importance here that must be examined. These things are the beginnings of birth pains. In other words, this is just the start of what is coming in the end. Jesus warns the disciples to watch for these things because we must be ready. Why?
III. The Problem of Trial (9-12)
There will be personal trial (9-10)
Jesus says that there will be an intense persecution of the church. I believe that we are already seeing this take place in the world. Unfortunately, the church of America is blind to it. Did you know that there have been more martyrs for the faith in the last 100 years than in all of the 1900 years combined? More and more of our brothers and sisters in Christ are beaten, tortured, sold into slavery or killed each and every day. How long do you think that Jesus is going to let this go on?
Jesus also makes it clear that there will be an intense hatred of the Christians. Notice that He brings up that same word he used earlier all nations. Jesus is not saying that every country will hate Christians. It is far worse than that. Jesus says that each ethnic group will hate the Christians.
Not only will we be hated by our own nation, we will be hated by every possible group that exists. Every person who is not saved will hate us. Every friend, every family member, every neighbor and every person you come into contact with. It’s time to wake up and stand up for our faith!
This intense persecution will cause many to walk away from the faith. There will be those who currently believe who will walk away from their faith. If you cannot share your faith with your friends, what make you think that you will be able to stand when persecution comes?
Even more sadly, believers will not only betray Jesus, but they will also betray fellow believers. This same kind of attitude was seen in Nazi Germany. Some Jews were spared for giving information leading to other groups of Jews. This will be the same kind of attitude in the church.
How many times do you sell out your fellow believer for a juicy piece of gossip or a cruel remark? How many times do you sell out your church by refusing to serve? How many times do you sell out your church by ignoring the need to worship? How many times do you sell out Jesus by ignoring His direction in your life?
There will be a spiritual trial
Jesus tells the disciples that there will be an even greater deception. There will be false prophets with a message that draws people away from the faith. They will have a pseudo Christian message. It will look like the church but be a lie.
The world itself will continue on its path of wickedness. The evil will continue to increase and cause believers to lose their love for Christ. The church will become cold and unmoving. It will have the appearance of Christianity but none of its power.
Conclusion
The Purpose of Triumph (13-14)
Jesus makes it clear to the disciples that in the times of trial the church must continue to stand. Those who stand on the foundation of faith will be delivered.
Biblical Examples
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3:16-18)
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
The deliverance is God’s choice not ours. Either we will go on to be with Jesus or we will be delivered from the circumstances. Either way we still are victorious.
Jesus is clear about another matter here. Those who do not stand will not be delivered. The truth is that without Jesus you simply lose. When you will not stand up for Jesus, you are literally saying that He does not matter.
We do not know the day or the hour - we must be ready each and every moment.
We do not know the outcome of our mortal life - we must be ready to stand up
The day of Jesus’ return is close, are you ready?
If Jesus had returned to our world this morning, would you have been ready?
If the answer is no you need to come to the altar. If you’re not sure, you need to come to the altar. Don’t wait for the praise team to play music make your way now.
