Passage of the Day - February 17, 2013

Matthew 24:1-14

Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. ⁸ But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
⁹ “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. ¹⁴ This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

This passage has a whole new meaning to me now.  I wonder how much decay and destruction will be thrust upon the Church due to the changing mores of our current culture.  Verse 9 is striking because that seems to be exactly what many churches are trying to avoid.  We are called to love, not to be loved.  Verse 10 is interesting because “many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another” refers to Christians and churches.  Although unity is what is desired by God, destruction of the Church by infighting and abandonment of faithfulness to the Truth of God’s Holy Scripture in favor of the lies/threats of Satan’s Wicked Culture is what Christ is prophesying.

Verse 13 also is telling.  We are to endure.  I try to not be fatalistic; I prefer to believe that we have no idea of when the end times are coming, so our current path isn’t necessarily the path we must be on and churches can repent and return.  However, since verse 14 states that the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to the whole world and then the end will come and since we have just about reached every people group in the world, this course may be the final course.  We need to remain a remnant faithful to the Truth.  If that means we are hated, despite the love we show through caring for the orphan, the poor, the widow, and fighting the evil forces of human trafficking, etc. then so be it. 

A (or the) tribulation is on its way.  We have very difficult questions that must be answered on their way.  It is time we start finding out what they are and how we intend to answer them.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)