May 10

Written by:
5/10/2010 7:07 AM 

 

Christians have always been curious about the End Times. It's part of our nature to be curious about such things. Even Jesus' closest followers asked about the end of the age:

Mat 24:3  As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"

Mar 13:3-4  And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?"

Luk 21:7  And they asked him, "Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?"

What is significant to note is the context around the disciples' question. What is stated clearly in the Matthew account and inescapable in all three parallel accounts is that the question is asked in the context of the second coming of Christ. All of the accounts end with "then they will see the Son of Man coming", followed by the gathering of 'the elect'.

Mat 24:30-31  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Mar 13:10  And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

Mar 13:26  And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

Mar 13:32  "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.

Luk 21:13  This will be your opportunity to bear witness.

Luk 21:19  By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Luk 21:27  And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

More importantly than 'when' are our actions and attitude. As believers we are not to speculate:

"But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

We are not to be alarmed by the 'events' of the end times, whether they be personal persecution, drastic weather/natural phenomena, or warring nations. We are to endure by God's power and we will be 'gathered together' with Christ - the 'salvation' spoken of in these passages.

Mat 24:6  See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

Mat 24:13  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Luk 21:13  This will be your opportunity to bear witness.

Luk 21:19  By your endurance you will gain your lives.

We are to 'bear witness'. Of what? the gospel:

Mar 13:10  And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

How can we summarize Jesus' teachings about the end times?

·          They began before the destruction of Jerusalem, which is specific to the above passages of scripture, and will end at the Second Coming of Christ.

·          A lot of 'bad stuff' (according to us and not necessarily to God) will happen between the beginning of the end times and Christ's coming.

·          Some of that 'bad stuff' will happen to followers of Christ, but we are to continue to spread the gospel of Christ to 'all nations', meaning those in our areas of influence as well as the nations of the world.

·          All of God's elect will be gathered together with Christ - our 'final' redemption to God's great Glory.

While Jesus does does provide a lot of detail concerning the 'signs', he forbids speculation about the 'when'. Rather, he tells his closest followers (and us) to endure while spreading the gospel of Christ, confident of His Second Coming and the hope of our final redemption and glorification.  What should the apparent escalation of 'stuff' we see do to our thinking and attitudes? 

This old soldier thinks it should cause within us an even greater urgency to spread the gospel of Christ!