The End

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

THE END

Matt 24:9-14

9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 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.

NIV

Jesus had just told them about the wars and rumors of wars, nations rising up against nations and about earthquakes all over the earth. He said those were but birth pains but the end would not come yet. Now he focuses on their future lives of being handed over to be persecuted and put to death. Historically we know this to be true, except for John who must have died of old age on the island of Patmos. Yet these words of Jesus are not just prophetic about his disciples, but about Christians throughout the ages. Again because of the accounts of historians we know many empires, such as the Roman Empire put many Christians to death. There have been many religious wars over the course of humankind with believers being killed because of their faith. Jesus said that many will lose their first love and grow cold. This is due to the wickedness in the world. How does wickedness in the world cause believers to grow cold? It would seem that we could get entrapped by the wickedness of the world. That is we succumb to the ungodly desires of the world, the want of things, greed, lust, envy and jealously, to name a few. We might even in an attempt to justify ourselves departmentalize our lives into two areas, the material or physical and the spiritual. We might get caught up in the idea that as long as we attend church, even becomes members and do good works, being involved in some aspect of church things, we can live in a physical manner, wanting and working for all the material pleasures of the world. Can we really live like that? Is that acceptable? God knows we need things, he is more than aware of our daily needs, in fact all our needs, spiritual, material, emotional, or mental. He has told us that if we seek first his kingdom all these things will be added onto as well. But the purpose of our being is to seek first his kingdom, anything else would fall under the category of growing cold. So what does it mean to seek first his kingdom? What does that look like in the world we live in today? Is it just church and all the activities associated with church? It appears that may not be it. Church is the place false prophets appear and deceive many people. So many false prophets have built their own churches, large empires, on the money of those they deceive. No seeking first the kingdom of God has to be a heart issue. We talk of Jesus coming into our heart. He said:

Rev 3:20

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

NIV

The implication here is the door of our heart. Then what is the desire of our heart? What is it that is the most driving force of our heart and thus our life? We need to be careful how we answer that question. If we think that attending church, even doing the church stuff, being involved in some area, we might want to consider why. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes church people give applause to one another for some deed, or service. We have even seen congregations give applause to a choir for singing. It would seem applause is appropriate for entertainment, but not for service. Then we might get entrapped by the desire of praise from men, rather than God. It seems that is the way of the world rather than the way of God. Then would we truly be seeking first his kingdom? What is the desire of our heart? What do we focus our life on? It is God or is it doing good deeds, or serving God? If we are focused at all on us then we may have missed the point of seeking first his kingdom. Sure we can enjoy our lives, the taste of a good cup of coffee, or a fine meal. Yes, we have the joy of being with another person to love and be loved. True, we have many nice things and even excess enough time to enjoy some form of entertainment, or relaxation. In general, life is good, but it is all due to the magnificent pleasure of our Lord. He desires to bless our life and to bless it abundantly. Surely in the spiritual with eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. How more abundant can anything else be? Yet if we put him first, he makes our physical life abundant as well. But it still comes to not growing cold. What is even worse is merely being lukewarm. No we need to be on fire for Jesus. Again this is not about how much we do at church, but how much we do in our heart. Being on fire for Jesus is a twenty-four, seven thing. It is always being in tune with Jesus, in our thoughts and in our activities. We are to praise the Lord in all things, all situations in life, all our good times and not so good times. We need to always be connected to Jesus, not just at church, but at home, at work, and at play. How do we expect to end to come if we are not fulfilling the great commission? He said the end would not come until the gospel was preached to the whole world. If we simply think a few offerings for missionaries cuts it, we are sadly mistaken. No, the great commission is for us. We are to go into all the world and preach the good news. This might just look like the world of medicine, the world of science, the world of finance the world of manufacturing, the world of engineering, the world of construction, the world of retail, and on the list of worlds go. We are the kingdom of God. We are the ambassadors in a foreign land who speaks for our Sovereign King. So then are we the reason the end has not yet come? Just a thought to ponder on.