I invite you to stand with me once
again on the mountain peak of Scripture as we survey the prophetic landscape
provided for us in the words of our Lord Jesus Himself. In Matthew 24:1-13 Jesus informs us that the signposts of
the end of the age must be seen for what they are. They are signposts. They are advance warnings, just like a traffic
sign that says, “Stop ahead - 1 km“. It points us to and prepares us for
the stop. It is not the actual stop.
In this regard Jesus urges His
disciples not to be deceived by any announcements that claim to be His second coming
(24:4). Any such claims about His
appearing anywhere in the earth, and any setting of dates of His return must be
firmly rejected. There have been many
such in our history[1].
Of this you may be sure. When Jesus
comes, everyone will know it! It
will be a visible return with power and
great glory (Matt. 24:30). Every eye will
see Him, even those who pierced him! (Rev. 1:7). It will be the most
stunning, shocking and unexpected event in the entire history of this world. All who have not made peace with God through the
Lord Jesus Christ - will mourn (24:30).
But God’s people, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and here called the elect will be gathered from the “four winds- the corners of the world” (24:31). Isaiah prophesies: “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return… everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain
gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing
shall flee away.” (Isaiah 51:11)
And when you hear of wars and rumors
of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things
must be. They are part and consequence of living in a fallen world, in which
men constantly betray one another and hate each other. One author has counted three hundred wars in
the last 300 years of Europe’s history[2] alone!
Africa’s wars have been countless.[3]
Similarly, earthquakes and natural disasters have been with us in this entire end time period. Volcano Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD destroying Pompeii.
On November 1st, 1755 60 000 people died in Lisbon, Portugal when a gigantic earthquake, with its epicenter 200 kilometers off the coast of Portugal, caused structural damage to buildings, followed by a devastating Tsunami.
Over 100 000 people perished in an earthquake in China in 2008!
2020 has
been the year of a word wide pestilence called Covid. The World-o-meter[4]
monitoring Covid related deaths, tells us that there are now over 94 million reported
worldwide Covid cases, with as of yesterday,
over 2 million deaths.
Why does He say that?
The danger is for us to become obsessed with the signposts, when we need to keep our eyes focused on the great Sign – the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 12:38-42; 24:30). Obsession with signposts lower our spiritual temperatures and make us careless in maintaining our love for and the expectation of our coming King. Mere religion and love of pomp and ceremony has the same effect. It dulls the spirit. The parables in Chapter 25 will teach us this. Spiritual carelessness increases. Our love will grow cold. Jesus’ warning in 24:12 is much more serious and profound than we would imagine. He says, “because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold .”
Let me put it to you like this: When
does the love of a marriage grow cold?
It is when partners focus on the things that are not central to their
marriage. This includes focusing excessively on children, work, friends, sport
etc. When does one’s love for Christ grow cold?
When one focuses on secondary, religious issues, and not Christ Himself.
Many people look for signs, wonders, miracles, worship experiences. When you do that you can easily lose your focus on Jesus and His
work (the Sign of Jonah).
So also Jesus calls His disciples to
persevere in the light of inevitable persecutions and hardships
and distractions. His disciples must endure
to the end (24:13). We endure by
constantly looking to the Lord Jesus. “Many will fall away…” (24:10). To fall away means to fall away from Christ.
Against this background Jesus now
makes His next important declaration in verse 14: “And this gospel of
the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and
then the end will come.”
The concluding events of the world’s history are going to be preceded by the preaching of the gospel to all the nations of the world. This is an important signpost. This is what we must consider now.
We need to begin with the Big Picture. From God’s perspective, the world in its
present state will ultimately be destroyed and recreated.[5]
But what is God waiting for? God is waiting for the day in which all His elect
people (past, present and future generations from our perspective) have been
born and born again. When the last of God’s elect people, the living stones, that make
up God’s
spiritual temple (1 Peter 2:4,5)
is brought in, the end will come. The spiritual temple, consisting
of true worshippers from all times, will
be complete. Christ will return.
Presently, He governs and maintains this world for the sake of His
elect people, chosen from every nation throughout the entire span of human
history. The word ‘elect’ (Gr. eklektous
- literally those who are called out, from which we also derive the word ekklesia – church) is used three times in Chapter 24.[6]
1. It all begins with the Abrahamic covenant (Gen.12:1-3; 17: 1-27). God calls out Abraham and promises him that he will become the father of many nations. Rom. 4:11 showsthat Abraham will be the father of all that believe among the nations. The children of Abraham are men and women of true faith.
2. Israel is called out to become God's people. Israel
enjoys a special status before God as a people called for His own glory. But
note that Israel is chosen to bless the peoples of the earth through
making her God known to the nations (Gen.28:14).
Israel was God’s chosen evangelistic tool to make His glory known among the
nations.
3. A Messiah is called to make this possible. The promise of a Messiah given to Israel (and specifically the house of David) runs through
the entire OT. He will be the Redeemer of believing Jews and also gentiles.
4. Christ’s death on the cross is effective for
all His elect Sheep (Jn. 10). In this respect you will note that Jesus came firstly
to seek the lost sheep of Israel (Jn.
10:15). But then He says in Jn. 10:16, “I have other sheep that
are not of this sheep pen (i.e. not from the Jews, but from the gentiles). I
must bring them also “.
5. THE GOSPEL SPREADS TO THE NATIONS:
Pentecost (Acts 2) – the outpouring of
the Spirit upon all God’s chosen peoples as predicted by Joel 2:28-32. As Jewish
men and women gather in
Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost from
many countries in which they were dispersed (Acts
2:9 -11), many of them are converted
(3000 in one day – Acts 2:41). They take the gospel back to the countries (the
nations) where they live.
6. The spread of the gospel after
Pentecost is in accordance with Jesus word in Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts
1:8: Jerusalem – Judea- Samaria – to the
ends of the earth. The apostle to the gentiles, Paul accomplishes a major work
in this regard (Acts 13-28)
7. The spread of the apostolic
gospel from AD 100 to the furthest corners of the world in our day!
Ø From AD 100 – 313 [7]
(the death of the apostle John to the emperor Constantine) the gospel continues
to penetrate the world, mainly around the Mediterranean basin,
and North Africa), despite severe
persecutions (24:9). This is remarkable
especially in the light of the fact that no less than 174 000 martyrs were
buried in the catacombs of St. Sebastian in Rome.
Ø From AD 313- 800 (Constantine to Charlemagne) the
gospel continued to spread into Europe
by missionaries such as Ulfilas
(missionary to the Goths- translated
the Bible into Gothic in ca. 350 AD); Patrick (b. 400 AD in
Britain, the missionary to the
Irish); Columba (b. 543 AD) from Ireland
planted churches in Scotland; Augustine of Canterbury (b. +/- 530 AD) from Rome
– founder of the church in England); Willibrord (b. 658
AD) in Britain, missionary to the Frisians and Franks); Boniface (b. 672 AD in Britain,
missionary to the Germans)
Ø From AD 800 - 1517
(Charlemagne to Luther). In this time Norway, Iceland and Greenland are
evangelized. The eastern Slavs turn to Christ. The Crusades originally intended
to curb the spread of Islam prove to be both, a hindrance and a help to the
gospel. Sadly many countries in the East
and in North Africa are lost to the gospel
at this time under the advance of Islam.
Ø From AD 1517 – 1792 (Reformation - French Revolution) the heart of the gospel is rediscovered by Luther, Calvin, Zwingli etc. igniting Europe and sending many Protestant missionaries into the world. (e.g the Moravians)
Ø From AD 1792 to the present - The golden age of Protestant missions. Many unreached people groups are reached with the gospel e.g. William Carey (1761 -1834) – India; Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) – Burma; Robert Moffat (1795-1883) – South Africa; Johan Heinrich Schmelen (1777), Namibia.
 |
| Adoniram Judson |
 |
| William Carey |
 |
| Robert Moffat |
 |
| Johan Heinrich Schmelen |
As we try to understand what Jesus says here and as we try to understand
the prophetic time table of the world, it would be reasonable to say that
we live in the time of Matthew
24:4- 14. More specifically
we can say that we are not very far from the fulfillment of v.14. The conclusion of world missions
will usher in the end of the age. … “And then the end will come“.
It is wonderful to note that there is a great note of divine authority and certainty in these words spoken by Jesus: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world. “
But the cost will be real. Jesus says in Matthew 24:9: "You will be hated by all the nations because of my name." We have seen this in church history. We see some of that today, and it seems to increase.
Take note of the prophetic time table, and take heart.
These things must be. Do not be alarmed. Keep your focus on Jesus. Persevere in Him. And all shall be well! Very well! Heaven is waiting.
Amen.
[2] William Hendriksen : Matthew , p. 852 . This commentary was written in 1973.
Since then a further number
of wars
have been fought in Europe e.g.
Yugoslavia
[4] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ As
of today (16/01/2021 ) 280 people have died of Covid in Namibia. 30 are in a
critical state.
[5] E.g. 2 Peter 3:8-13 ; Revelation 21
[6] Matthew 24:22,24,31)
[7] For this research: see
William Hendriksen, Gospel of Matthew p. 858
; AH Newman: A Manual of Church History
, p.
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