FOCUS

FOCUS

Matthew 24:9-14 NET.

⁹ “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. ¹⁰ Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, ¹² and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the person who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

We are continuing our study of Christ’s eschatological discourse. Jesus gave that sermon on the Mount of Olives in answer to three questions his disciples asked him. They asked him when the temple was going to be destroyed. They asked him what would be the sign of his coming. And they asked him what the sign of the end of the age would be. We saw last week that Jesus answered the third question first. He answered the question about the end of the age. Instead of giving a date for the end of the age, Jesus explained the age before his second coming. It was going to be characterized by three things. First, there was going to be a lot of false messiahs. Leaders would rise and try to get the world to follow them. Second, there would be a lot of international strife and warfare. And third, there were going to be a lot of natural disasters. We’re going to characterize the age in which we live now and anticipate the coming of Christ. Jesus’ command in that section is for all of us to watch out so we are not misled.

Jesus is still teaching about this present age (13-14).

In today’s passage, we see that Jesus continues to describe this present age. He gives us clues that he is still answering the same question. We know the word end shows up in verse 13 and verse 14. Verse 13 tells us that the person who endures to the end will be saved. Verse 14 tells us that the gospel is going to be preached all over the world, and then the end will come. So, Jesus is still describing the age in which we live now. We live in an age when God’s people are called on to endure. And we are still living in an age when the gospel message has to be proclaimed to every nation. Jesus says that that proclamation must continue as a testimony to all nations, and the end will come.

This is a vital truth that we cannot afford to ignore. The age in which we live now is when God has determined the gospel must be proclaimed. God has a plan and called on us to fulfill that plan. But it is going to be a difficult age in which to do that. That is why the church is called on to persevere until the end. God has given us a task, and it is a difficult task. The nature of that difficult task is one of the main reasons we have this passage that we’re looking at today.

The age will be dangerous for true believers (9).

In verse 9, Jesus tells the disciples that they will be handed over and persecuted and killed. We know that that is just what happened. All of the apostles were persecuted. All but one was killed for their faith. During the past 20 centuries, the church has sought to reach the nations for Christ, and those nations have hated it in return.

But I need to explain something about the text as it appears today. You will note that in verse 9 and verse 10, the sentences begin with the word then. Some people read those statements as if Jesus is describing a new period. But we know that that is not how it happened. The persecution of Christians began immediately at the foundation of the church. Danger has plagued us throughout all 20 centuries. So, why does Jesus begin those verses with the word then? In that context, the word then means at that time. He is describing again the entire New Testament age.

The church will be characterized by division and deception (10-11).

So, in verse 9, Jesus says that all the nations will be our enemies. But, to make matters worse, in verses 10 and 11, Jesus says we will have another enemy. That enemy will be ourselves. The Church of Jesus Christ will be plagued by division and deception throughout this age. We are not going to get along with one another. Instead, we are going to betray one another and hate one another. That is the opposite of what Jesus calls the church to do. He commands us to love one another and respect one another. He calls on us to be united. He wants us to care for one another. But he warned his apostles in this sermon that we would be tempted to turn against one another during this entire age.

He also warns us that this entire age will be plagued with deception and false prophecy. False prophets will appear and deceive many. Who are these false prophets going to deceive? They can’t deceive unbelievers, for unbelievers don’t know the truth to begin with. No, the deceivers will be seeking to deceive the church. They will seek to draw away believers from the faith. They will come with new ideas and seek to lure believers away from the gospel.

Some false prophets dress like sheep and appear to be true believers. Some dress like politicians, scientists, or educators. Their outer appearances vary, but their aim and goal remain the same: They want Christians to stop believing the truth of the Bible. It does not matter what they replace it with as long as they replace the gospel.

The church will also be characterized by lawlessness and apathy (12).

So, Jesus is teaching that during this age in which we live, The church will be attacked from the outside and from within. The nations will criminalize the Christian gospel. The churches will apostasize. They were rebelling against the gospel itself. How will the church respond to this dual attack? Jesus says there will be an increase in lawlessness. Note that Jesus is not describing the world here. If you look back at verse 9, Jesus began this section with this statement: “Then they will hand you over.” So, Jesus is talking about “you.” In that context, “you” means the Christians — the disciples. So, when Jesus says that lawlessness will increase, he talks about lawlessness among professing Christians.

He also says that the love of many will grow cold. Again, he is not talking about the world here. The love that Jesus is talking about is the love of Christians. He has called his church to love. But Jesus says that the love that should be in every Christian will grow cold during this age. Not every Christian will be like this. But Jesus says the love of many will grow cold. This is a challenge for all of us. Jesus is calling us to live above and beyond the nature of this age. The church is being called on everywhere to loosen its grip on the Kingdom of God. The world wants the Church of Christ to be apathetic. The world wants us to look upon the life of someone whose life is destroyed by their actions and to affirm them in their choices. Love does not do that. When love sees someone in a burning building, love rushes in to rescue them. Love does not walk by and let them burn themselves to death.

When Jesus said that the love of many would grow cold, he said it with a tear in his eye. He knew that when the church ceases to love, it ceases to proclaim the gospel. When the church is intimidated into staying quiet, people on the way to hell are never rescued.

Jesus commands us to persevere and stay focused on the gospel (13-14).

Jesus said the person who endures to the end will be saved. This age is not one in which we must blend in with the world. We must stand apart from it. We must resist the temptation to fall in line with the nations. When they bully us to keep quiet, we must endeavor to speak all the louder.

And this final verse, many people think, is just out of place. They believe that somebody tacked on this statement about the gospel being proclaimed. But it is not out of place. Proclaiming the gospel is God’s plan for every Christian during this age. Note I did not say every preacher. I did not say every pastor. I did not say every Sunday school teacher. I said every Christian. The world wants us to confine our proclamation of the gospel between 11:00 and 12 every Sunday. But Jesus gave us no such instructions. He did not tell us to preach in a church. He told us to preach to the entire inhabited earth. That’s a whole lot of ground to cover. But it’s a lesson we must understand and obey. We will not fulfill Jesus’ command by simply putting on a worship service for one hour a week. We have to learn to preach everywhere. There are lost people everywhere, and we are commanded to seek them out.

Some people believe that Jesus predicted that the church would triumph and everyone would eventually be saved. They believe that when Jesus returns, he will return to a world that has already accepted him as their savior. That’s not what I get from this passage. Jesus is not describing an age of triumph. I wish he were. But how Jesus described this age tells me that we will always be fighting an uphill battle. It is always going to be challenging to be a Christian. It is always going to be a difficult thing to get the gospel out. And that’s why Jesus calls on us to persevere despite the challenges.

We are running out of time. We need to stop being distracted by our internal squabbles, false prophets, and temptations to sin. Most of all, we need to focus on getting the gospel message out to those who need it.