SIGNS OF THE END TIMES - Matthew 24:3-14

amen all right if you have a Bible or an

app let's open it up we're going to be

in Matthew chapter 24 this morning

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 24 we're going to be

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

looking at verses 13 through

14 we are in week two of a series uh

that we've entitled The Coming glory and

we're looking at what the Bible tells us

about the return of Jesus and here's

here's a straightup reality that we need

to confront just just get it out the way

we don't know when Jesus will return as

a matter of fact if you're familiar with

the whole of Matthew chapter 24 Jesus

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

says that that no one knows the day or

the night in which the son of man will

return and and the obvious reason for

that is so that we would be prepared

that we would live ready since we don't

know when he will return he may come

tomorrow this afternoon he may come next

week he may come 50 years from now but

living in the unknown allows us and God

has purposed it to push us to live with

greater intentionality we learned a lot

about that last week and so in Matthew

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24 the the

disciples they have

questions they have questions about when

will you return matter of fact they

phrase it this way when will the end of

the age Age come and outside of the Book

of Revelation that really details in

great symbolism and imagery what will

take place prior to the return of Jesus

Matthew 24 is up there with one of the

more famous and popular passages

regarding the return of Christ and so

let me just kind of give you the setting

the

disciples are coming out of Jerusalem

and they're headed towards what's known

as the Mount of Olives now this is

taking place in the final days of

Jesus's life Jesus knows that the cross

is coming he knows that he is going to

die for the sins of the world and and as

they're approaching the Mount of Olives

the disciples make a comment they're

gazing at the temple and remember this

is the temple where where God's presence

dwelt this was the temple where the high

priest on the day of atonement would end

enter one day a year to offer sacrifices

in accordance with God's standards

precepts and law to atone for the sins

of God's people and as they stare at the

Grandeur and the beauty and the Majesty

of the

temple Jesus says some profound

words Jesus says in the first three

verses of Matthew

24 he says this Temple is going going to

be

destroyed not one of those stones will

be left unturned which is a quite

remarkable statement for Jesus to make

because according to Jewish custom to

Jewish tradition according to the Jewish

faith that's not the trumpet all right

y'all yall y'all hang

there according to the Jewish Fai the

temple was

everything and to be told that the

temple would no longer be left standing

was a shot to the gut for anyone who was

committed to the Jewish faith and then

Jesus beginning in verse three begins to

unpack what this will look like

so Matthew chapter 24 beginning in verse

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

three it'll be up on the screen let's

read

it as he sat on the Mount of

Olives the disciples came to him

privately saying tell us when these

things will be and what will be the sign

of your coming and of the End of the Age

so so they are intrigued by what Jesus

has just told them about the Temple and

so that has now led to followup

questions it's going to dive into a

really great conversation or to to put

some some church words on it a really

great discourse from Jesus

when is this going to happen let us in

on the information we want to know

details verse four and Jesus answered

them see that no one leads you astray

we're going to get into the importance

of that statement see to it that no one

leads you astray that no one takes you

down a dark path that you were not given

in to the schemes and the tricks and the

lies of this world that that that you

don't become a a casualty of Satan's

agenda to rob you of a relationship with

the savior of the world to steal your

peace your joy and all the ambition that

should be rooted in the glory of Our

Father who is in heaven he says see to

it that no one leads you astray for many

will come in my name saying I am the

Christ and they will lead many

astray so Jesus is painting a very clear

picture here when will these things

happen What what will take place prior

to your return and Jesus lays it out

many will come claiming to be me but

their purpose is not to save you like my

purpose is their purpose is not to

reconcile you back to the Father the way

my purpose is they're set on one purpose

which is to lead you astray to make

death and the grave your final

destination to gaze at the kingdom of

God and eternal life and to no longer

desire all that it entails for the

believer but to rob you of all the

promises that are for those who believe

this is what Jesus is saying verse 6 and

you will hear of wars and rumors of wars

see that you are not alarmed for this

must take place but the end is not yet

I'm going to get ahead of myself here

but but I think it's worth mentioning so

Jesus makes it clear there are going to

be things happening around the world and

one of the major things that we're going

to recognize is that people are going to

be at War but do not be alarmed so often

when it comes to the end times when it

when it comes to the theme and the topic

of Christ's return I think Christians if

we're not careful we can spend a lot of

energy looking and gazing at what's

taking place around the world reading

the latest headlines reading the latest

tweets and trying in our mind to

articulate a timetable or a season in

which Christ is going to return and

Jesus says these things are going to be

happening and let me clue you doing on

something they're always going to be

happening the signs of the end times are

Universal here's what I mean by that

across every

generation and across every culture

since the history of time the world

because of sin has always been in a

state of

Brokenness and so in every generation

and in every culture there's always

going to be an experience of these end

time signs and do you know why they're

there so that we would recognize what's

happening and therefore conclude Jesus

is returning and therefore get our lives

right with God that's the goal that's

the purpose of the universal nature of

these signs which is why Christ says

don't be

alarmed in other words you can live in

peace despite the craziness that's

happening in our world today did you

know you can live with an assurance and

a security despite the storms

metaphorically speaking that are waging

Wars around you Wars physically Nation

against Nation Wars in your own life

Wars with your identity Wars at work

Wars in relationship Wars with family we

can rest assured why because greater is

he the Son of God who is in us than he

the devil who is in the world who's

greater the Son of God Christ my savior

which is why he declares you don't need

to be alarmed let's

continue for nation will rise against

nation and Kingdom against Kingdom and

there will be famines and earthquakes in

various places all these are but the

beginning of birth pains I love that

because elsewhere in the scripture

particularly in the Book of Psalms we we

read about how creation itself

groans for Eden creation groans for all

that is wrong to be set right and there

will come a moment when that will happen

when Heaven and Earth will collide in

the final consummation of God's plan and

all that is wrong will be glorified and

made right because of the sacrifice of

the son Jesus Christ verse 9 then they

will deliver you up to tribulation and

put you to death and you will be hated

by All Nations for my name's sake now

now there's there's a shift in thought

between verse eight and verse nine Jesus

is talking about the univers the

universal nature of these signs uh false

Messiahs Wars rumors of wars these

hardships and these these challenges and

then there's a shift of of thought where

where Jesus is no longer directing his

attention to the universal signs of the

end but now he's directing his attention

to his disciples the people of

Israel and 40 years later from the time

of Jesus this is this is what is so

amazing about history lining up with

biblical prophecy if if someone has ever

come to you and said why do you believe

the Bible why do you hold fast to the

Bible in regards to the faith that you

profess and the beliefs that you live

out why because history lines up with

the Prophecies of scripture so in verses

1 and two Jesus talks about the

destruction of the Temple 40 years later

in 70 AD during the first Jewish

Revolt the Romans destroyed the

temple there was not one stone that was

left unturned and it was during that

moment Jesus gets into it later in

Matthew 24 that when that happens you

need to flee to the mountains of Judea

why because they are coming after you

they will deliver you up to tribulation

put you to death and you will be hated

by All Nations for my name's sake what

do we see happening with the people of

God and you can look at this in two two

ways actually it's it's both both sides

of the same coin people will look at the

nation of Israel and around the world

particularly in Easter civilizations

they despise the Jewish Nation you can

look at the people of God every son and

daughter who has proclaimed Jesus Christ

as Lord and guess what the most

persecuted people group in the entire

world is who Christians Christians are

the most persecuted people group Nations

and when Jesus talks about nations in

Matthew chapter 24 he's not talking

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

about

kingdoms or countries that are defined

by geographical boundaries he's talking

about people groups people groups will

despise you this is a sign that the end

is near verse 10 many will fall away and

betray one another and hate one another

and many false prophets will arise and

Lead many astray and because lawlessness

will be increased how many of us have

recognized the fact that lawlessness and

godlessness has increased in our society

how many of you senior adults have

recognized the increase of godlessness

and lawlessness from the time that you

were young to the time of today has

increased all the more these are the

signs of the end times he continues the

love of many will will grow

cold here's a sad reality of that

passage the love of people in the church

will grow

cold the love of many who profess Christ

as Lord will be apathetic to the world

will not have a spirit of compassion or

a sense of care to the Deep needs of

those who are drenched in the Brokenness

of sin and the chaos of evil here's my

hope and my prayer that our church that

you and I would never become a people

whose love grows

cold I pray God God would you fill us

with your spirit so much that in those

moments when we become apathetic to the

world when there is no sense of

compassion or kindness and no desire to

share the gospel with people who are in

desperate need May the conviction be so

overwhelming that we have to act that we

have to move I pray that our love would

never grow

cold he

continues but the one who endures to the

end will be

saved and this Gospel of the Kingdom

will be proclaimed throughout the whole

world as a testimony to All Nations

watch this and then the end will come

all God's people said amen Lord would

you bless your word Holy Spirit would

you stir our

hearts so much

happening in this passage in Matthew 24

and here's here's what I want to

encourage you to do I want you to take

some time this week and I want you to

slowly thoughtfully and prayerfully read

through the entire chapter of Matthew

Matthew 24 that'll give us and give you

greater context to what we're talking

about this morning but but it'll really

paint a picture for you as to how as we

discussed last week we are to live

prepared lives because if you

notice Jesus's response to the question

his disciples ask is not necessarily a

timeline of what's to come but rather a

warning of what's to come so that their

hearts would continue to press into God

as their only source of hope that their

strengths would be derived from the

spirit as the only one who can empower

the mission at hand and as Jesus gives

the disciples this warning of what to

prepare and what to be mindful of prior

to his return I want to do that as well

I want us to live prepared lives and I I

want us to be mindful so mindful of

God's truth and God's word compared to

what is happening around the world so

not only we can live ready and prepared

for the return of Jesus and let me just

say this when I say ready and prepared

that means that you know Christ is your

savior that you recognize that your sin

has separated you from God and without

the hope of Salvation you will remain in

your sin for all eternity separated from

God but Christ in his love his mercy and

his grace has saw it fit to take your

place and my place on the cross to

suffer the Wrath of the father on our

behalf that those and anyone who would

call upon his name in faith will be

saved and if you have done that and you

are living in obedience to his call and

commands and everything about your life

is from the Overflow of God's grace and

mercy from the way you think to the

words that you say to the actions that

you participate and conduct that all of

that would point to the gospel then you

are prepared and ready and if you are

not here I implore you I encourage you I

beg you would you come to

Jesus would you turn from your sin and

say yes to Christ would you receive the

free gift the free gift of Salvation

that was accomplished on calvary's Cross

because of his love for you so that you

can rest in the Assurance not of the

strength of your salvation but the

strength of his ability to save you so

that when these things occur you can

walk in the reality of what Christ

declared do not be

alarmed so Jesus what he is doing is he

is outlining three key realities in our

passage to inform and to prepare his

followers that as history moves towards

the return of Christ they can live in

such a way where they are ready so let's

examine each one of these carefully as

we go back to our passage if you're

taking notes here's the first one Jesus

tells us that false Messiah

will

come people proclaiming to be Christ in

the flesh matter of fact there's there's

a following in Australia right now

gentleman by the name of Aaron I believe

his last name is is

Miller he has deceived so many people in

Australia by telling them this one lie

that he is Christ

reincarnated Jesus has predicted that

that will happen from people like David

Kesh and the branch devidians to Jim

Jones and the people's Temple all

throughout history and even in the 21st

century there are people who claim to be

Jesus Christ in the flesh and here is

the sobering reality really the shocking

reality those false Messiahs are leading

people astray

they're not leading them to Glory

they're not leading them to eternal life

these false Messiahs are set on one goal

and one purpose to lead as many people

into the pits of Hell than they can and

so Jesus in answering this

question is preparing his disciples of

what they will be up against this is

what the gospel is up against if you've

been in church for a while you've

undoubtedly heard this phrase in some

shape or form that there are enemies and

agendas set against the gospel and its

Messengers one such enemy one such

agenda is that of false Messiah go back

with me to verses four and

five Jesus answered see that no one

leads you astray I love how Jesus

phrases this with the word

see in Words Be be certain

stand

firm hold

tight so much so that that no one will

lead you astray he continues in verse

five for many will come in my name

saying I am the Christ and they will

lead many astray you know in Western

culture we don't often bow down to

individuals and and I believe that in

Western culture even if you are not in

drenched in church even if you are not a

believer in Jesus Christ and Western

culture has been so drenched enough with

the gospel that that people who are not

Christians will will question people who

claim to be

Christ so for the majority of people in

Western culture we don't bow down to

individuals who claim to be the Messiah

so what does that look like in our

context what does that look like for us

in America America and in western

civilization here's what it looks like

we bow down to

agendas we bow down to

ideologies system of beliefs political

identities we bow down to all these

different systems and ideals who may not

say it outright but at the root of all

of them say this is the way this is the

truth This Is The Life and if you abide

by this system by this organization by

this set of standards then your life

will be better you will be secure and

you will be saved but let me just tell

you this worldly systems lead nowhere

except to the pits of Hell there's only

one way and that is through Jesus Christ

Our Lord and so Church Jesus warns us

that false Messiahs will come so so

Roland how do I

prepare to combat the lies of these

false Messiahs if if Even in our context

it may not be an individual but it's an

ideal it's a it's a perspective it's a

system an organization how do I combat

that here we go here's how you combat

false Messiahs you deepen your

discernment to discern something means

that you are able to articulate in the

context of the scriptures in the context

of what Jesus is telling us you're able

to articulate and determine what is true

versus what is false what is Holy versus

what is sinful what is righteous versus

what is evil so how do we deepen our

discernment I know you know the answer

to this by knowing the truth of God's

word because the more you know the truth

the more you can spot the LIE the more

you deepen your discernment from the

filter of God's word the more you'll be

able to recognize what is wrong in the

the

world you know bank tellers are trained

to spot

counterfeits do you know how they are

trained to spot

counterfeits not by taking a deep dive

and looking at the counterfeits but by

taking a deep dive and looking at the

actual

currency they study the bill they they

study how it feels how how it looks how

how the light shines off of it there's

an ire system in science that goes into

how these bank tellers and people at the

treasury study the true currency in

order to determine what is a false

currency the same principle in concept

applies to our life if we're called to

deepen our discernment it begins not

with engaging the falsehoods of this

world but by taking a deep dive into the

truth of God's word so here's the

question what role does God's word play

in your life

what role does its Truth Factor into

your daily decisions if we're going to

combat all the falseness of this world

particularly the false Messiahs it

begins with deepening our discernment I

I think this is an appropriate

moment to go into how we see a lack of

discernment in our world today matter of

fact this is what is so saddening we see

a lack of discernment in the church

today those who claim to follow

Jesus lack even the most basic

understanding of his truth and what his

commands are I'll I I I'll give you an

example an example that we are all

exposed to Christians today are okay

with premarital sex Christians are okay

with gender fluidity Christians are okay

with gluttony or the overindulgence of

anything with drunkenness with gossip

and so many more things we become

desensitized to the sinfulness of those

things why because we have not deepened

our discernment of God's word and even

if we know God's word then one of two

things has happened we deny it or we

become apathetic to it this is why Jesus

says the love of many will grow

cold I pray that that does not become

the truth for us but

deception is not the only challenge

Jesus warns about it's not just false

Messiah he says the road to his return

will have hardships difficulties and

challenges that's a second marker here

in Matthew 24 hardships and challenges

will come let me read to you beginning

in verse

six you will hear of wars and rumors of

wars see that you are not alarmed for

this must take place but the end is not

yet for nation will rise against Nation

Kingdom against Kingdom and there will

be famines and earthquakes in various

places all these are but the beginning

of birth pains then they will deliver

you up to

tribulation and put you to death and you

will be hated by All Nations for my name

sake

better to be hated because of your love

for God than to be

adored because of your hatred for

God

continues and then many will fall away

and betray one another and hate one

another many false prophets will arise

and Lead many astray and because

lawlessness will be increased the love

of many will grow cold but the one who

endures to the end will be saved I love

this cuz Jesus is saying it's not going

to be

easy Jesus never promised an easy life

matter of fact he said quite the

opposite did he not elsewhere in the

gospels he says they will hate you

because they hate me but do not be

discouraged know this I have overcome

the world and just as Christ has

overcome the world we too because of the

the spirit who dwells in us we can

overcome all these signs that will show

us that history is approaching his

return but in particular to these false

messiah in hardship we shall overcome

because greater is he who's in us than

he who is in the world so it's not a

promise for an easy life here's what it

is it's a call to endurance did you pick

up on that notice the words of Jesus in

verse 13 the one who endures to the end

will be

saved here's how it's actually

translated in the Greek the one who is

saved will

endure this is how we combat the

hardships and the challenges that we

will undoubtedly face

now let's take a moment and let's just

praise God for the fact that we live in

western civilization first secondly

let's praise God that we live in America

America and we are afforded particular

freedoms that don't exist elsewhere

around the world now we indeed face

persecution right that's the reality of

being a Christian in the world today we

Face persecution but there are

Christians around the world who have to

meet in

secret who have to plant churches

without their government knowing there

are uh Nations and people groups around

the world where the Bible is El legal

and so

missionaries have to smuggle Bibles into

those countries because persecution is

rampant and when they are found out

they're either imprisoned or they're

executed these are the hardships and

challenges that people are facing around

the world but what does the scripture

promise the one who is saved will

endure so hardships are difficult but

but in God's sovereignty and in God's

authority over his creation will use

hardships watch this will use hardships

to

separate the wolves from the Sheep the

tears from the wheat to separate the

faithful from the

Unfaithful when we get to the throne

room of God one of two things will be

said to us either well done good and

faithful servant you may enter into my

father's Kingdom or depart from me you

evildoer I never knew you

wow if you remember when Jesus shared

that with the gospel in the gospels how

do those individuals follow up well we

did all these things in your

name we we we served people we we loved

people I I gave to the temple treasury I

I I did my due diligence we did all

these things he said yes but you never

gave me your

heart you were never in it for me you

were in it for you and so there's going

to be this great falling away as

people's love grow grows cold but as we

endure in faith that's how we combat

this we endure in faith the scripture

says because of our Salvation And so

when difficulties arise our our faith is

tested when hardships come God's people

stand firm

because we know the one who holds the

future right I don't know what the

future holds you've heard it set this

way but I know the one who holds the

future so false Messiah will come we

must deepen our discernment hardships

and challenges will come we must endure

in the faith but Jesus doesn't leave his

disciples he certainly doesn't leave us

with only warnings I love this he gives

us a glorious

promise here

is what the history of creation is

moving towards as it's moving towards

the return of Christ and the final

consummation Between Heaven and Earth

and the glory of God and his kingdom

forever and ever in between all that

what are we moving towards it's right

here here's a third

reality that Christ proclaims in our

passage the gospel will be

proclaimed in our series over the book

of Acts which we'll dive into now we'll

go back to it next

month one thing is certain from the book

of Acts that no matter what comes

against the church the gospel is not nor

will it ever be silenced as a matter of

fact what do we find the go the gospel

doing in moments of

persecution it doesn't shrink back it

thrives one could even say that the

gospel is is more powerful than ever

before in moments and seasons of

persecution verse

14 and the gospel of the Kingdom will be

proclaimed throughout the whole world as

a testimony to all people

groups it's translated there is a word

Nation but that's what it means all

people

groups and then the end will come this

this is why you've heard this before if

you've been in church for a

while there is such such an important

emphasis placed on missions that's why

we give to Mission groups that's why we

give to individual missionaries in this

church a certain percentage of every

dollar you give here at the Grove goes

out to support missions and missionaries

in the state in the nation and

globally why because the gospel must be

proclaimed despite deception despite

hardships the mission of the Gospel will

not fail now I told you that Jesus gives

this warning not so that we could

determine a timetable but so that we

would be ready but I believe this is

worth

noting Mission organizations have

predicted that in the next 10 to 25

years the gospel will have been Proclaim

to every people group that in the next

10 to 25 years we will be living

testimonies of what Jesus is proclaiming

here that the gospel has been proclaimed

to All

Nations now is that really going to

happen I don't know but it's worth

recognizing that where we are in the

history of

creation is one step closer to the

Glorious return of our savior so here's

what I want us to know you and and I all

of us we are part of the mission you

play a role you may not be a preacher

you may not be a Sunday school teacher

you may not be an evangelist but as a

son and daughter of God you play a role

in proclaiming The Gospel if you're a

teacher you Proclaim it to your

classroom and to your colleagues if

you're a Salesman you Proclaim it to

your clients if you're a business owner

you Proclaim it to to your employees and

how you run your business if you're an

auto mechanic an engineer refiner worker

a Rancher a farmer and how you live your

life you are proclaiming the gospel and

how long are we to do it until Christ

returns as long as you have breath in

your lungs you have been called

commanded and empowered to preach the

gospel so how should we respond that's

the question Jesus gives the disciples

this this warning these words to prepare

I hope that we are stirred towards

preparation because of this warning how

do we respond let me just say this way

let's not respond with fear we don't

need to be alarmed we know who lives in

us but we respond with faith we respond

with urgency and we respond with

endurance false Messiah will come let's

deepen our discernment in God's truth

hardships and challenges will come let's

endure in the faith the gospel will be

proclaimed you and I need to know that

we are part of that mission and to know

that God is using you and I that God is

using the Grove to play an active role

in preparation for his return what an

honor what a privilege May our hearts be

right with God may they be centered on

who he is how he works and what he is

doing even right now and I I pray that

if you do not know Jesus today that you

would turn to him in faith that you

would leave here knowing secured and

assured that he lives in you so that

when you recognize all these signs of

the end times you are ready and you are

prepared to be used by God in his

mission amen let's pray together