Matthew 24:9-14(NKJV) 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. 10And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14And 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.
This week I have been looking at Matthew 24 in light of the two chapters before it. All three of these chapters are connected and tell one story. In Chapter 22 Jesus begins by telling the Pharisees that their whole system hangs on how they keep two commandments. The first is that they must love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul and mind. The second is that they must love their neighbor as themselves.
In Matthew 23 and 24 we find Jesus having rejected the Jewish system which had forgotten these two commandments and telling his disciples that the temple would soon be destroyed. The temple represented all they trusted in and they were stunned by what Jesus said. They asked when this would happen and what would be the sign of the end of the world.
We live in a similar day. Most of the things we trust in have come into question. It is possible to see a time when the systems that keep America free and prosperous could fail. What did Jesus tell his disciples that would help them get through this time and can those things help us today. Finally, how does all this relate to these commandments?
The first thing Jesus tells the disciples is “take heed that no one deceives you.” Deception is the devils greatest weapon and in the times when he is most active deception rises. Jesus said the greatest deception would come from within the church not without. We must beware of the many deceiving voices around us and make sure we are founded in the Word of God, our relationship with the Lord and in a good local church. There we will be able to know the leaders and follow the outcome of their conduct and faith.
Jesus then told them to do one more thing. This verse is what ties all of this together. He speaks in verses 9 to 11 about many things that will befall the disciples for his name’s sake. In the middle of all this, he tells them that they must not let their love grow cold. He says that the lawlessness will cause many to stop walking in the Love of God. They must not let that happen.
To me this statement ties this whole story to what Jesus said in chapter 22. In the middle of uncertainty and even in the middle of threat, we must not stop loving with God’s love. If we do, we are going against everything Jesus established through his sacrifice. Love is the thing that everything else hangs on. Without that, we will never succeed in living or preaching the gospel. The system that the disciples trusted in failed because it forgot the foundation of love. We must not do the same no matter what we face.
In verse 13 he tells them, “He who endures to the end shall be saved.” The picture we tend to get from this is one of survival. If we just do not give in to the persecution, we can make it. It is a passive picture. However, I do not believe Jesus is talking about simply putting up with the things he mentions and trying to survive until we die or he returns. That is not victorious Christian living. That is not the way Jesus handled things. He was always actively applying the Word of God and the power of God in every situation. What does he mean?
I believe he is talking about walking in love. He who endures will be the one who keeps walking in love no matter what. The one who endures will be the one that does not stop loving God with his whole heart, soul, and mind even in the midst of great trial.
It is easy to love God when everything is going according to plan. It is easy to love God when we are healed and prosperous. The question is, will we continue to love God in the same way when we are facing trials. Will we continue to love God when our prayers do not seem to be answered the way we want them to be? When we face uncertain times, will we conclude that God must not really love us? If we do not continue to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind even when we do not understand, we cannot endure to the end.
Will we continue to love our neighbor as ourselves when we face trials? When the money is tight, will we continue to give? Will we use what we have to help someone else in need? Will we still love the sinner enough to preach the gospel to him? Will we, instead, be so caught up in our own problems that we see others needs as a distraction. If we do not love our neighbor in the midst of difficult, uncertain times, we cannot endure to the end.
What will happen if we choose to keep on loving God and our neighbor while we face struggles? Jesus tells us we shall be saved. The word for saved in the Greek means all the blessings bestowed upon man in Jesus Christ. It means healed, delivered, rescued and prosperous as well as saved from an eternity separated from the Father. If we continue to walk in love through the difficult and uncertain times we face right now, we will have victory.
It is so tempting to give in to the strife all around us. We are a very polarized nation right now. There are two competing philosophies fighting for the soul of our nation. I have certain news outlets I like to watch which, I feel, represent my point of view the best. They will often have two people from opposite sides of the issues debating. I always turn these segments off. I simply cannot handle the arguing, interrupting and talking over each other that goes on. It is nothing but strife and adds fuel to the fire.
I believe the answer is what Jesus said it was. Keep on loving. When you do not agree with a person, keep on loving. That does not mean you have to fellowship with them, but you can pray for them. You can ask the Lord to help you see them through his eyes. When you face personal trials, keep on loving. Keep on reaching out to others. Give even though it seems impossible. The Lord will give you victory in every situation if you do.
Finally, Jesus makes another statement. The Gospel will be preached as a witness to the whole world. I do not think this is the picture of a surviving church hanging on until the Lord or death rescues them. This sounds to me like a church that wins in the end. The Gospel is preached to the world and only then will the end come.
I believe the path to victory in any situation must lead through love. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul tells us love never fails. This means it never runs out. It also means that you can never lose by taking the path that leads through love. To the world you may look like you are being walked over, but love never fails. To the world it may look like you are not standing up for yourself, but love never fails. To the world it may look like you will lose everything, but love never fails.
Let us strive to walk in love even in the midst of these trying and uncertain times. If we do, we cannot possibly fail. We will have victory in the end.
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