Everything They Trusted Was Coming Down
The disciples were gaping at the temple as if it were sacred ground they couldn’t touch. Huge stones. Ancient heritage. Imagine a building you think God would never allow to crumble. Jesus looked at it and basically said, it will all come crashing down. When God talks about the end times, He’s not hinting. He tells it how it is.
Jesus’ exit out of Matthew 24 starts with one of the loudest silences you will ever hear. He walks away from the temple. That is not silent motion. It’s deliberate. He’s turning His back on what was the religious hub of society at the time. While the disciples are gaping at buildings, Jesus utters words that should’ve knocked the wind out of them: “There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” ~Matthew 24:2. What man builds to last forever can be declared condemned by God overnight. Christianity will grow. Religion can crumble.
On the Mount of Olives, the disciples press in for answers. The disciples want specifics. When will these things happen? What should we look for? Jesus shuts curiosity down quickly. He’s going after their heart. The first red flag He alerts them to is not destruction but delusion: “See that no one leads you astray” ~Matthew 24:4. If you read nothing else about the end of the world, remember this. The greatest danger to God’s church will never be the downfall of society but the twisting of truth.
Wars will come. Famines will occur. Earthquakes will divide the earth. But Jesus tells us not to panic when we see those things happening. “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains” ~Matthew 24:8. Birth pains are painful, but birth pains mean a child is coming. Hard times do not mean God is away from the world. They mean His Kingdom is getting ready to burst upon it. Listen to Paul talk about how even creation itself “groans in labor pains until now” waiting for redemption ~Romans 8:22. There will be loud noises ahead. Let’s make sure we know what song they’re playing.
He’ll also bring it personal. Following Jesus will cost you friends. Believers will become hated. They will betray each other. They will try to convince you to turn back. Lawlessness will increase. Love will fade. And in the middle of that Jesus gives us the marker we need most: “The one who endures to the end will be saved” ~Matthew 24:13. He’s not talking about salvation by works. He’s talking about salvation by revelation. True faith won’t flee when society goes sideways. It’ll stand firm because the Father upholds it.
And just when you think He might take the edge off and give us some hope. Jesus punches us with a glimpse of hope right in the middle of catastrophic events. “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” ~Matthew 24:14. Countries will fall. People will lose their minds. But the gospel will not stop moving. Darkness will never stop the mission of God. It will highlight it.
Judgment & Urgency. When you see these signs happening,Matthew 24: 15-31 Jesus wants you to move, and move quickly. Don’t linger. Don’t drag your feet. Don’t look back. Judgment is coming, but Jesus comes first with warning. God warned Noah. God warned Israel. He’s warning us again.
False christs will appear. False prophets will rise. There will be signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the elect. Here’s the thing Jesus wants you to understand. His return will never be covert, clandestine, or undercover. “As the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” ~Matthew 24:27. There will be no guessing games or speculation when Jesus returns. Everyone will know immediately.
He closes out this section with this piercing analogy that refuses to be downplayed. “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” ~Matthew 24:28. When sin has reached its peak, comes death. When death has finished its course, comes judgment. Friend, that is not evil. That is righteousness.
This passage isn’t trying to make us worry about dates and timelines. It wants us listening to stay aware. Stay grounded in the Word. Don’t get caught up in religious hysteria. Don’t freak out when the world falls apart around you. Hold on to Jesus, and keep proclaiming the gospel.
Castles will fall. Empires will crumble. When will all this happen? Only the Father knows that. Read this passage and ask yourself, if everything around me crashed tomorrow would my faith be standing or crashing with it?
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Matthew 24:1-28
Exodus 21:22-23:13
Psalm 29:1-11
Proverbs 7:6-23
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New Testament: Matthew 24:1-28
Summary:
Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple
Signs of the End of the Age
The Abomination of Desolation
And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray…” ~ Matthew 24:4
And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. ~ Matthew 24:4
And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ~ Matthew 24:11
And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity,….
Both the false prophet, and those that sought unto him, and were deceived by him; and which being laid according to the strictness of divine justice, is intolerable: sad is the case when a man is obliged to bear his own sins, and the punishment of them, and has no surety to undertake for him, and be a mediator between God and him, and make atonement for him:
the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seekest unto him;
they being both alike culpable, each pursuing the desires of their own evil hearts; the one seeking for smooth things to be spoken to him; the other speaking them, in order to gratify him, and for the sake of gain; the one being a false prophet, and the other seeking to and inquiring of him, though he was such, slighting and rejecting the true prophets of the Lord; both being deceived, and both blind, and so should fall into the same ditch, being under the same judicial blindness and hardness of heart. The Targum is, “according to the sin of him that comes to learn and learns not; according to the sin of the false prophet shall it be.” ~ John Gill
Overview: Matthew 14 – 28 – Click Here
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