This week’s reading: Matthew 24:1-51
Hi Friends,
We will continue in the Gospel of Matthew this week, reading the entire chapter 24, that’s verse 1 through 51, and touch on the very real topic of the “End of Times.” What is important for us to know, I believe, is that here Jesus is promising that He will return even before He has paid the penalty for our sin, and resurrected to prove that it is paid. The Second Coming of Christ has always been a plan of the Father’s because you and I were not created to live in this fallen and corrupt world. God’s desire is for His children to be with Him for all Eternity. This very short, and quick life on earth, became a temporary journey because sin, and the death that results, adulterated God’s original plan for Humanity. Here Jesus will describe the horrors that await mankind, but He will also bring Hope in the midst to His followers too. Listen here to these verses:
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 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.” Mt 24:10-14 NIV
As Jesus and His disciples continue along their journey, they walk away from the Temple, but the disciples still have their eyes on the greatness of this manmade worship center. (You can find similar accounts of this week’s reading in Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36) His disciples point to the magnificent building, but Jesus cautions them that, “Not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Mk 13:2) Just a quick lesson here: while we humans focus on this world and the things of this world, Jesus always has His eyes set on Heaven. It is as we grow in Christ, that we begin to obtain a healthy balance between this world and the world to come. I am convinced this is one of the many reasons the Lord chose to take my Baby Girl Home. Now I already have one foot in Heaven while I still have the other here in this world. This helps me to let go of these temporary trappings, and lift my eyes to God and His greater plan for my life, as well as for this world. As with everyone else, I am a work in progress, but I am not holding on white knuckled to this life as much because I know where I am going, and who is waiting for me when I get there, in addition to Jesus, of course. Had Beckie been healed in this world, then my eyes might have been focused on here only. I have found this to be the case with some who have been blessed to receive healing of their physical illnesses in this life. They falsely, and sadly, assume every person must get their healing here too, or else they are at fault. “Your Faith must not be strong enough,” they say. Or, “There is some unconfessed sin in your life,” they accuse. Or they pass judgement and proclaim, “You are just not truly saved.” I have actually attended a class where the leaders made a man whose cancer had returned, feel ashamed and condemned because of it. It was sickening to watch. Does God want us all to be healed? Yes, but only God alone knows the type of healing that will be of the greatest blessing to us, and those around us. To use our own physical miracle against others who God has not chosen to bless in that way, is both disgusting and dangerous. Our eyes must be on Jesus and Heaven, not on this world. (see 2Co 4:18; Col 3:2; Heb 12:2) While worship buildings can be beautiful, while many do get their physical healing here, and while God is still working out His plan for each of us, and all of us collectively, we must understand that we simply do not see the whole, big picture this side of Heaven. And we must learn to trust God, no matter how things seem to be working out. The final reality of our lives will only be realized after the End of Times, when we are Home with God forevermore.
It is all coming down. As Jesus makes this statement, He is speaking in layers. First He is talking about when the Temple would be physically torn down and destroyed by the Romans. When Jerusalem fell in 70AD, the Jews were no longer able to offer up the sacrifices that God had prescribed for them back in the days of Moses. But then again, since Jesus the Messiah had come, those rituals were no longer required. The Lamb of God was to be the final, all atoning offering to pay for all sin, for all nations and all peoples, for all time. Sadly, many Jews missed this truth and still do. Yet God is God Who knows the hearts of those who are truly His children, so as we pray for Israel, we trust God to be Faithful to all those who believe. The next layer, of course, was the End of Times, when Jesus will return to gather His people and bring judgment to the lost of this world and the spirits of darkness. When He will come, no one knows. Jesus Himself said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mt 24:36) It is my heart’s belief that we are not to trouble ourselves with the details of when and how, but instead to continue to live in union with God so that we will be ready whenever He sees it is Time. Our part is to trust in Him, to obey Him, and to seek to love Him and others as much as our level of maturity will allow. Jesus warns that we will be persecuted. He warns that believers will be betrayed by other family members who do not believe. Jesus warns us that there will be “great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.” (Mt 24:21) The bad news is, once again, really bad…but that only makes the Good News that much more good!
But God! While the End of Times will be devastating, Jesus also promises to be with us through it all. When we are persecuted, for instance, we need not worry about what to say because “say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mk 13:11) Jesus promises those days will be cut short so that followers of Christ will survive. (Mt 24:22) Jesus promises that, if we are sincere believers and followers, we will not be deceived by the false Christs and prophets that will come. (Mt 24:24) Jesus promises that not a hair on our heads will perish. (Lk 21:18) No matter how challenging and frightening those Times will be, the promises of the protection, provision and victory of the Lord is so much greater. (see 1Jn 4:4) We can remain at peace. We can continue to thrive. We can draw others into Jesus, before it is too late. We can live a life ready for “come what may,” because the one Who began this great work in us, will see it through to the end. (Php 1:6) The reason any of us will go to Heaven has nothing to do with you or me. It is all based on the Love of the Father, the sacrifice of the Son and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Our part? Make sure we are sincerely His. Choose to increasingly surrender your life every day, with every decision, to God and His will instead of our own, because “he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mt 24:13) This is the challenge, of course, but all we have to do is remain with God. This means learning to think the way He thinks by setting our minds on what is above, not below. The more we think about our life here in terms of our life there, the more we will be thinking like He does. The truth is this life is temporary. Whether Jesus comes again while we are still here OR whether He takes us Home before He comes, you and I will not remain on earth for all Time…and this is a good thing. Here Jesus describes some of what the End of Times will look like…but we have the end of the Bible to see what Heaven will look like too. Pearly gates. Golden streets. Tears wiped away. No more death or mourning or crying or pain. (Rev 21:4) Let me encourage us, the more we keep our eyes, and hearts, fixed on the wonder that is to come, because of the Wonderful God Who will make it so, the more this life loses its appeal and the ability to cause us to live in fear.
Do what you know God wants you to do. As I have said many times, the point to this life is to point to the Giver of Life. We were made BY God FOR God. Anything less than living for Him, through Him, in Him, will never lead to a satisfying life. No matter how beautiful buildings may be, no matter how frightening the unknowns of life may seem to be, we should be focused on one thing: obeying God. If we have sincerely surrendered our life to Jesus, then it is no longer our life. As we choose to grow in Jesus, we will be more concerned with what He is more concerned with: saving souls for Eternity. As we choose to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves, we will be “faithful and wise servants” whom God will bless even more when He comes to bring us Home. (see Mt 24:45-47) I will leave us with the wise words of King Solomon, “When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecc 12:13) As God has told me many times, “If you fear Me, Child, then there is nothing else to fear.” And the more I focus on my responsibility to love and be loved, the more I can trust God with His Faithfulness to watch over me and get me safely to Paradise. Living a life in which I trust God, no matter what happens, or when it happens, because He is a Good, Good Father, makes my life less and less hopeless, and more and more abundant. Want that too? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
