Be Ready

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BE READY

Matt 24:36-44

36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

NIV

This could not be broken up into small bits because of the “therefore keep watch”. However, we still need to build up to what we are warned to be watchful. About this day or hour, no one knows. It is interesting that Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are God, that is they are one, three in one, a mystery of sorts because we kind of get it, but not entirely. These words of Jesus explaining the Father knows what day and hour that Jesus will return riding on the clouds with his great army, or to appear in the sky to call us all up to meet him but Jesus does not know. We know that Jesus is right there at the right hand of the Father and that because he ascended back to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to be here with us and within us. So there are three distinct persons who are God, each being omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. It would be inconceivable to believe that one of the three is not all-powerful, all-knowing, and is able to be everywhere. Although, for a time, Jesus came in the form of his creation, limiting himself for that time to the constraints of the flesh. Nevertheless, here we are with the fact that the Father knows something that neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit has that knowledge of. This poses us with the question of whether there is anything else that one of the three knows that the other two do not. Just a thought that we will not have an answer to, however, we do know the Father holds all the cards when it is time for Jesus to come back. We also know that as with Jesus and the Spirit, we too do not have that knowledge when the Father will say, “It is time”. So then how should we live? The people in the time of Noah did not even know what rain was, they were simply living life to their fullest, although bent toward the desires of the flesh rather than seeking after God. It would seem that Noah was the only righteous man among them, and God sought him out to be the way to save mankind. This is a great picture of the Cross, Noah in the ark, Jesus on the cross, saving mankind, Noah saving the flesh, Jesus, saving the soul. Because the people in the time of Noah were bent on living life according to their passions, we should be careful in what direction our lives are bent. We cannot be fence riders either. We cannot serve both God and money. We have to decide one or the other. True we must live in this life, and we must have someplace to live and work, for God instructed Adam that he would work all the days of his life, by the sweat of his brow he would work for his sustenance. We cannot just sit around and wait for Jesus to show up, we are to occupy until he comes. But that is the point, we are to be living life, with our eyes peeled for his return. Live to work as instructed until he comes, but ever watchful for his return. If we get so involved in the toil of our hands, thinking the purpose is to store up as much as we can so we can sit back relax and take life easy, but not keep our eyes focused on his return, we might well be deceiving ourselves. So then how should we live? It would seem the answer is simple, be ready! 

Truth of Lies

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

TRUTH OR LIES

Matt 24:32-35

32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

NIV

In other words, there are going to be enough of the right signs that everyone will be able to know the time of the end of all things seen and the beginning of all things unseen. What we also must understand is that Jesus was not talking about the group of people, a generation of people, who were living at the time He said this. The Greek word translated as generation carries the meaning of an age, a period of time. This could mean one hundred years, or a thousand years, or whatever amount of time God has set for this age of man living upon the earth to come to an end. Mankind will live on this earth during all of the things Jesus said would happen. Men will see the signs in the sun, moon, and stars. Men will see the seas tossed around, and the stars falling from the heavens. Men will see all that John described in the revelation he saw. What we do not know is will we believers see them before we are taken up to heaven, or will we be taken out of the earth before the end of this age comes to pass. It is inevitable and the only preparation that anyone can take is to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Other than that nothing anyone can do will either bring all these things, these signs, to come to pass or keep them from coming to pass. All that will happen is going to happen according to the perfect plan of God. The end of all things we know will pass away, except one thing, and that is the words of Jesus. This could also mean the word will not pass away, as Jesus is the Word who became flesh. However, in this context, it is most likely meant that Jesus said that what he as said, every word that he has spoken, which is all truth will never pass away, His words will stand throughout eternity. The truth will never fade away. All lies fade at some time, every word of man will fade at some time, our words are not eternal, even those we think we are immortalizing in preserved documentation or carved in stone or any other means we can think of. Every word of man will be forgotten, but the words of Jesus will last forever. Therefore, it would behoove us to live by words that last, rather than words that fade. The lasting words of Jesus are true, the fading words of man are not true, therefore they could be considered lies. Which would be best to base our life on? Truth or lies. 

Gathered

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

GATHERED

Matt 24:26-31

26 "So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 29 "Immediately after the distress of those days

"'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'  

30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

NIV

These words of Jesus are a continuation of all he has said about what is to come. Why those scholars of old wanted to say this was all about the Romans destroying Jerusalem is beyond our comprehension. Jesus is talking about the end of times which is also spoken of by Isaiah in the past, who Jesus quotes here, and by Jesus himself when he appears to John and tells him to write all that he sees, which John recorded for us in his revelation of Jesus when he was in the spirit in the Lord’s day and was taken up to heaven and shown all that was to come. Everything fits all together and what is to come, and God has not kept it a secret from us. He has made sure will know what to expect in the days to come. We, like many who lived before us, may not see this in our lifetime here on earth, but we will see it, as we observe it in the presence of our Lord. We might well be that army that appears with him in the sky. For we will all be gathered, the living from the for winds and those who have died and were resurrected and are at the ends of the heavens. What a day that will be! It is assuring, especially at this time of the year when we mourn the crucifixion, burial, and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. However, in the meantime, as Jesus warns us again, we need to be on guard against all those who claim to be the Christ. This may not happen in the sense of a man claiming he is God, yet men who claim to have power over the earth and its weather, climate, or environment are in essence saying they are greater than God. No, we are not to believe them, for when every eye shall see when the creator who created all things, the one whom nothing was created that he did not create, will appear in the sky and have complete authority over all the earth, sun, moon, and stars, as he has all along, will cause men to see how powerful and awesome Jesus is. We can also be sure the vultures are already circling because of all this chaos in the world. However, we need not worry about those vultures for they only feed on dead things and that would imply those who have refused the life that Jesus gives. We who are in Christ have life and life eternal, but the world is full of people who live in dead man's bones, or bodies and will be fed upon by the vultures unless they come to Jesus. It is going to be a day to see when all of us believers are gathered.

Happened, Happening, and Will Happen

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

HAPPENED HAPPENING AND WILL HAPPEN 

Matt 24:15-25

15 "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel — let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now — and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect — if that were possible. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

NIV

This is a rather perplexing statement of Jesus. It is said all this has already taken place when the Roman army invaded Jerusalem in an act of war and ultimately destroyed the temple in AD 70. This would conclude any sacrifices at all in the temple. The Romans, as Gentiles would be an abomination standing in the temple. It is said they first set up their emblems of war at the temple gates declaring their victory and dominance over the Jews God. All the warnings of Jesus about escaping were intended so many Jewish believers would be able to get out of Jerusalem ahead of the time of the siege and invasion. Jesus is quoting or referring to the prophecy of Daniel. What makes this a little baffling is Luke’s account of these words of Jesus including Jesus saying that as a culmination of these events they will see signs in the sun, moon, and stars. Jesus says that on the earth nations will be in anguish and perplexity because of the roaring and tossing of the sea. Luke also says that Jesus makes the point that men will faint in terror and be extremely apprehensive because of what is coming in the world. This does not sound like an invasion of the Romans into Jerusalem.  In Luke’s account, Jesus also says the heavenly bodies will be shaken. That could be the signs in the sun, moon, and stars. Jesus says that when these things take place, stand up, and lift your heads because your redemption is drawing near. This does not sound like it has already taken place with the desolation of the temple by the Romans. So, what are we to think? Maybe it is beyond our understanding. Maybe all we need to know is that at some time the world is going to come to an end, and it is going to be more in account with what John said in the revelation of Jesus given to him. Maybe these words of Jesus could have this double meaning of a first warning about the Roman army, and an invasion by the army of Satan upon the world. There could already be evidence of Satan standing as an abomination in the temple. If we considered ourselves, as God does, the temple of the Holy Spirit, then when we allow the influences of the world upon our hearts and minds, taking on certain patterns of thinking, or behavers, is the temple in desolation, in some sense? Is it an abomination for us to take on some of the ways of the world, investing in their schemes for the benefit of gold? Is it an abomination for us to take on some of their schemes for success? It would seem some of those false prophets have built marvelous temples, say like a great Crystal Cathedral or other edifices filled with gold and riches. Some have been great halls to house thousands of people to lift themselves up in high esteem and fleece the flock, so they are able to live in abundance. Jesus warns even believers will be deceived.  Is this not all an abomination? Therefore, these words are perplexing to us. We cannot see them finished as some scholars would. We see them as happened, and happening and going to happen until the end comes.  

Firm To The End

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

FIRM TO 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

It is almost certain that many of the disciples were put to death. We know that John was left and lived a full life, but in exile on the island of Patmos. It is also almost certain that we will not be put to death or handed over to be persecuted. Unfortunately, there are believers in other parts of the world who have been persecuted by faithless men and handed over to be put to death. However, in our slightly more civilized country, it is doubtful that we will be killed by unbelievers for our faith, however, we might well be seeing certain levels of persecution being exhibited here in this land of free speech and freedom of religion. At the same time, we are also seeing some, as we cannot be sure how many, turn away from the faith and betray each other. What we do know is that there are people who do not exhibit faith in God or Jesus and consequently cannot help themselves from betraying one another at some level. This is the way of life, to spend one’s energy on self-gratification, self-fulfillment, and self-advancement. There might be some people who display aspects of altruism in this world and that was truly the act of Christ, and we are told that is how we should live by the command of Jesus for us to love one another as he loves us. Therefore, it is so important to be ever vigilant against false prophets. It was obvious the Pharisees and teachers of the law did not have a selfless concern for the well-being of others. We also must be on guard against the increase of wickedness in this world, which is on course to being greater and more widespread as the years roll by. But our love, both for our Lord, and our neighbors must not go cold. Jesus is speaking specifically about our love for him growing cold. The problem we need to be watchful against is growing cold. This is not being ice cold, nor is it being boiling hot, but as we once were hot, if we start cooling we might just settle on being lukewarm and we know full well that if that occurs, Jesus will spit the lukewarm out of his mouth. Thus, standing firm means to remain hot, to remain sold out for Jesus, boiling over with both the fruit of the Spirit and the His gifts along as being completely dressed in the full armor of God. We are told within the description of God’s armor to stand firm, to stand our ground, to continue to stand and Jesus tells us here that if we stand firm until the end we will be saved. This would imply there is a cost of salvation, although it is free, it does require that we do not grow cold, becoming lukewarm, but that we stand firm, remain firm in our faith, full of faith and love enduring to the end. 

Do Not Be Alarmed

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

DO NOT BE ALARMED

Matt 24:4-8

4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

NIV

Having considered how many deceivers there were and still are today, we should also ponder on these words of Jesus that have to do with wars and rumors of wars. We should not be alarmed about how many wars have raged through the ages of time since Jesus spoke these words. A simple fact is that in the last 3400 years of history the human race has been at peace for a total of 268 of those years. This would imply there have always been, at least for the most part wars or rumors of wars since Jesus said these words. In America alone since 1776 we have been at war 93% of the time, that is 222 years out of 239 years up to 2017. So, we should not get too excited about this being the end times or try to determine when the end times are based on wars and rumors of wars. Jesus said such things must happen, but the end is still to come. It is interesting that Jesus knows the hearts of all men, that he knew wars must happen. The heart of man that is void of the love of God will always find a way to war, for the void of God in a man’s heart leaves only hatred, which is one of the main suppliers of war. This is why Jesus said that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind soul, and spirit and love our neighbor as ourselves. How can we engage in war if we love each other?  The problem is that in many cases of war, we as an individual, especially a follower of Christ, have little to no say in nations rising up against nations. We have found ourselves, as citizens of this country, in the middle of wars within our lifetime. If we personalize this truth then we must make sure that we are always at peace with each other. This would mean we cannot allow feelings that would hinder a peaceful and harmonious relationship with all believers. Therefore, all evidence of jealousy, envy, rage, bitterness, unforgiveness, criticism, judgmentalism, prejudices, or any other ill feelings would have to be put aside for the greater good of living in peace and love with each other. Again, although the earth does experience many famines and earthquakes in various places, we can again, personalize these in the sense that we can experience a famine with respect to our union with God. There are times when we might have dry bones, so to speak, or have feelings of separation from God. We might cause this ourselves through the feelings of guilt and shame over a recurring sin problem we are struggling with overcoming. Guilt and shame are a result of not feeling forgiven, and we know that is not true for God forgives us all our sins, past, present, and future because of the blood of Jesus. Guilt and shame can cause an internal earthquake as well, shaking us to the core because we can feel that we will never overcome some areas in our life. But we must remember, as with the earth having wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes, it is only the beginning of birth pains. This can also apply to us as well. It is not the end, but only the journey of life that will have some struggles, some wars that wage within us, sometimes of feeling forsaken, because of guilt and shame. But, praise God, we are not stuck in this situation, for another time is coming. So we do not need to be alarmed.

 

 

Warning Against Deceivers

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

WARNING AGAINST DECEIVERS

Matt 24:3-8

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

NIV

Jesus has more to say about what will need to happen before the end of the age, but for now, we have much to consider in these first words he spoke about it. Jesus’s first concern is that we do not allow ourselves to be deceived by anyone. That would imply a very large list of people; indeed, no one means everyone could be a deceiver that we need to be careful not to be sucked into their deceptive ideologies or theologies. Although Jesus says there will be many, we have no idea just how many, so again we should be watchful. We do have the Spirit dwelling within us and one of His gifts that he manifests in us is that of discernment. Certainly, the disciples would have this gift being manifested in them after the day of Pentecost. But the problem is that Jesus is saying that some of those deceivers will, in fact, deceive many. We see that today, with some of these so-called preachers with silver tongues who have all the smooth words that tickle the fancy of many so-called believers, people who have succumbed to being deceived. We cannot afford to listen to those who would employ those deceptive practices to gain a following to support their lavish lifestyle. In fact, if we hear them begin to expound, we turn them off, either from the radio, television, or simply in our minds, if we cannot escape from their physical presence should they be invited for whatever reason to a church we attend. On the other hand, we also have the responsibility to make sure that we do not inadvertently say something that would be deceptive, or misleading in any way. This is not to say that we cannot voice the truth or speak up and give a corrective word when we hear something that might not be the truth or is even slightly misleading. However, we also should avoid or not be the cause of dissension, however, the truth must prevail. That is the point Jesus is making when he warns against not being deceived by anyone.