Matthew 24: 3 – 14
“ 3 While Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, and said, “Tell us, when will this [destruction of the temple] take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end (completion, consummation) of the age?” 4 Jesus answered, “Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error]. 5 For many will come in My name [misusing it, and appropriating the strength of the name which belongs to Me], saying, ‘I am the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),’ and they will mislead many. 6 You will continually hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end [of the age]. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs [of the intolerable anguish and the time of unprecedented trouble]. 9 “Then they will hand you over to [endure] tribulation, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will appear and mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures and bears up [under suffering] to the end will be saved. 14 This good news of the kingdom [the gospel] will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end [of the age] will come. Matthew 24: 3 – 14 (AMP)
In this passage, Jesus instead of telling his disciples the exact day of his return and of the end of ages, he tells them how to be prepared and which signs to watch out for. Jesus reminds us of the importance of being prepared, being ready and being watchful and alert.
Church, I am really concerned as I share this word. I prayed and asked God to give me the word to share with you today and he gave me a very concerning dream with revelation of his word. In my dream I saw the end times approaching very fast leaving us with no time. When I woke up, I could still feel a very strong presence of the Holy Spirit on me and the sense of having no time left was still there and it was so real. I couldn’t stop crying realising that this could just happen at any time. So I named this preaching:
No time left, be ready!
So, after reading this passage about Jesus describing the end of times, did you notice any of these signs today? I do notice them. Today I hear a lot about wars, troubles, sickness, and persecutions of Christians and much more. I meet many people that are troubled by everything that is happening today. I have also noticed how the level of stress and pressure has increased in many people’s lives. Many have voiced that they don’t have enough time and hours in their day. Brothers and sisters, the end times are coming, they are real, and we do see the signs of that. But what is Jesus is teaching us that we should do?
- Be ready
“So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: If the head of the house had known what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore, you [who follow Me] must also be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him. Matthew 24:42-44 42 (AMP)
We do not know the time or the day, but we must live as if it is today, we must be ready and help those who God put around us to be also ready. Do the work of God while there is time.
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” John 9: 4
- The word of God is your torch
The Lord is my light and he makes me safe.
So I am not afraid of anyone!
The Lord takes care of my life.
Nobody can make me afraid! Psalm 27: 1 (EASY)
Read the word of God daily, breath it in, eat it and drink it. It must become part of your cells and a part of your personally and character.
You must even smell like Him and carry His lovely aroma. You shouldn’t be the same after reading His word. Only then you know that all of what you have read stayed in you and is going to shine light in the darkness for you. Otherwise, you are in trouble, if it’s not inside of you it means you have not received anything and when the hard times come you’ll have no light. My advice to you then would be to search for the Lord harder and seek Him more intensively and out of a full heart just as bible directs you to.
- Do not be afraid
22 And if those days [of tribulation] had not been cut short, no human life would be saved; but for the sake of the elect (God’s chosen ones) those days will be shortened. 31 And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet and they will gather together His elect (God’s chosen ones) from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Matthew 24: 22;31 (AMP)
The trust in God and His word should help us face our fear, especially when facing the end times. We should also challenge ourselves and prepare ourselves to face persecutions. If we’re still afraid, we should ask ourselves how deep our love and trust is in God. One of the great examples we have are Jesus’ disciples, who gave their lives for Jesus with joy. Again, I will repeat that they gave their lives with JOY. Are we as the church ready to be persecuted and yet be joyful during it? I think the answer would be no. Then we must act as soon as possible to change that. We should all individually seek the presence of the Holy Spirit and ask Him to transform us and makes us ready for the end times and be joyful in times of trouble.
When we read the first passage, one of the signs is that many Christians hearts will get cold, and they will betray each other. This is so sad, and yet so possible. I would like to remind you of a very recent examples of that. Remember Covid and lockdowns? How many Christians have had different opinions about vaccination and isolation and how many divisions this created? Christians were so strongly influenced by all the rules, news and media that this became their priority rather than love for each other and forgiveness.
Next, look at the war now, some Christian have already set opinions and sides which were influenced by everything but not by the bible. This is already causing divisions among brothers and sisters around the world, because bible says we have brothers of every nation and not excluding any. We should take only one side – Jesus’ side. We must be so careful especially when we can be so easily conditioned. Take care of your hearts and minds.
I want to show you some more examples of courage from “Braveheart” 1995 movie. Just before you watch I want to explain what was happening there. The Scottish people there were just simple farmers that came to stand up for their homeland against the English army. English soldiers were many in numbers and the Scottish got terrified and wanted to run away to save their lives but that would mean they’d still lose their freedom as they would remain under the harsh occupancy of England. Here is a speech about freedom by the brave hearted William Wallace who stood firm for what he believed.
Braveheart: Freedom Speech – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIvRkjOd1f8
“They may take our lives but they’ll never take our freedom!” William Wallace
“Every man dies but not every man truly lives” William Wallace
We should be sure about our beliefs and the values it teaches us to the point that we can stand up for it without a doubt. Death should not be seen as a threat or a final destination but rather as an honour and as a seed for the kingdom of God. Because the death of Jesus or others like Wallis in this movie only inspired a multitude of people to stand up for justice and righteousness, for love and forgiveness, for unity and freedom. Jesus showed us the way to that, and we are the ones to witness the fruit of his death. So why should we be afraid of anything at all if even the death has only produced life in true Christians lives?
When Christians’ hearts grow cold and there is lack of unity between them there is only one answer to that – the true values of Jesus are not deeply rooted in their hearts.
Jesus died for all of us and not for some of us. We should not take our relationship with Jesus as advantage among others but as a duty to serve and help save others.
- Use the opportunities which God gives you with people as you might not see each other again.
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Matthew 24:38 (ESV)
Take care of your relationships, help others, be mindful of your actions and words. How many times we have heard news of people leaving this world instantly and families were not prepared for such a tragedy. Be aware of what you tell your loved ones, or your neighbours because you don’t really know if you’re seeing them for the last time. Also, have you used all the opportunities you’ve had to tell people about our Saviour? What if they are gone the next day and you were the only person God has trusted to share the good news about Jesus? We must remember that all we have is today and we don’t know if we’ll still be here tomorrow, but we hope so. Yet we must live and function as if all we have is today as this is the truth.
Dear brothers and sisters, to conclude today’s preaching, I want to remind you that the main point of today is to be ready. The end times are approaching, and we need to remember that and live with this in mind. Check everything you do against the bible and with the values of Jesus; in other words, your actions must match Jesus’ heart and not yours. Also, strive to develop a good Christian character where you can stand up for your faith and where the word of God is being deeply treasured in your heart and not just in your mind, as knowledge only will do very little in such times.
May God bless you.