Signs Of The End Of The Age.

Text: Matthew 24:1-14

Title: Signs of the End of the Age.

Introduction.

I think there are two reasons these verses are in the Bible and they are both found in verse 1.

The first reason these verses are in the Bible is to re-ignite our walk with God. (V1)

“Jesus left the temple and was walking away…”

a. We should want to leave here walking like Jesus.

The second reason these verses are in the bible is to redirect our attention back to God.(V1)

“when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.”

a. sometimes our attention is on the wrong things.

b. sometimes our attention is on the temporal rather than the eternal.

Nothing will re-ignite our walk with God or redirect our attention back to God like exposure to the truth. (V2)

“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.”

You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

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.

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.

In verses 4-14 we have 4 signs that will define the End of the Age.

1. In the End of the Age there will be great spiritual deception. (V4-5)

2. In the End of the Age there will be great political unrest. (V6-7)

3. In the End of the Age there will be great natural disasters. (V7)

4. In the End of the Age there will be great religious persecution (V8-9)

If each of these signs were like quarters of a football game which quarter might we be in now?

Some people have no clue what quarter we are in. Why? Because our attention is not on the game but rather on the building. They can’t tell you the score but they can tell you the seating capacity of the stadium. They go to the game just for the concessions. If you ask them “How was the game?” they don’t care or know.

Some people have a better idea how the game is going. They say we may be in the final quarter, the final minute, even the final seconds.

Let us look again at the four signs of the End of the Age.

1. In the End of the Age there will be a great spiritual deception. (V4-5)

“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming I am the Christ, and will deceive many”

Jesus said that in the last days many will come in his name claiming “I am the Christ” and deceive many.

When we understand what it means to come “in his name” we can then see how spiritual deception works.

When Michelle and I got married she took my last name. We became equals.

Therefore to come “in his name” is to claim another set of teachings are equal with the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the Life nobody comes to the Father except through me.”

But Jesus said that others will also make these claims for themselves.

1. They will either elevate themselves

a. all roads lead to God

b. what’s true for you is not necessary true for me

c. life is whatever I choose.

2. They will bring down Jesus.

a. Deny his deity.

The second sign of the End of the Age is great political unrest. (V6-7)

“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. Nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom.”

Have you heard of any rumors of war lately?

Notice that Jesus speaks about two types of wars.

a. Nation against Nation

b. Kingdom against Kingdom.

What is the difference between a nation and a kingdom?

The word “nation” in the Greek is the word “ethnos” from which we get the English word “Ethnic.”

The first type of war is one between ethnic group and ethnic group.

The word “Kingdom” in the Greek is the word “basileia” (pronounced Baa-Silly-ah) and translates into something concrete. In other words something that has borders.

The second type of war is one between border and border.

We are seeing a lot more tension between ethnic group and ethnic group and between border and border.

The third sign of the End of the Age is great natural disasters. (V7)