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Matthew 24:3-14
As Jesus has questioned the awareness of His disciples to discern the signs of the times in Matthew 24:2, He seems to be almost in amazement of their unawareness. In Matthew 24:3 the disciples of Jesus come to Him to ask Him to explain these things to them. They ask (NKJV), “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
In Matthew 24:4-14 Jesus replies to them, “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
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 is a promise of the coming of the end of time.
As we read and ponder the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus, we see that these things are happening all around us throughout the world. The end of time is near. But this is the end of time, not the end of eternity which lasts forever in spirit. This is the end of the physical world, not the end of the spiritual world.
It is important to realize and understand that as this physical world will parish, we will live on in spirit for eternity in heaven for all who, as the Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 10:9-10, “…confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” But for those who refuse to believe that Jesus died to pay the price for all our sins, and rose from the grave in victory over sin, death, and Satan, the eternity will be, “cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42, 49-50). Jesus goes on to teach us in Matthew 13:43, “then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
We all have ears to hear, so I pray dear LORD, please let us hear the good news of the kingdom of heaven, repent of our sins, and open our hearts to the freedom from sin in the salvation found only in believing and professing Jesus our Lord and Savior!
Dear LORD,
The signs of the end of time are prevalent all around us. Please open our eyes so that we may see, and open our ears so that we may hear of the good news of salvation in Jesus – the One who sets us free from sin and gives us new life for eternity in heaven in righteousness shining bright as the sun! In Jesus name I pray, amen.