Matthew 24; Endure to the End

     Hello! Today I want to share some verses with you from Matthew 24. Please don't skim through just because you may have read this passage before! You can learn new things every time you read through scripture, even if you've read a section many times in the past. 

     I'm going to be putting the scripture in black, and my notes in lavender. After you finish, please comment and let me know your thoughts below!

     And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

     Jesus said "Be not troubled...these things must come to pass." Yes, there will be tribulation, but you shouldn't be afraid,

     "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, (pestilence means a "fatal epidemic disease") and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake. (People of all nations will hate us, it won't just be persecution in one town, city, or country.) And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, (Currently, people are being instructed to tell on their friends for gathering together) and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Right now friends aren't hugging, shaking hands, or even going near each other. I'm not saying this is what it means, but it really seems strange. Jesus touched lepers.) But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

     And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 

     When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, (the last three-and-a-half years of the tribulation) spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Great tribulation will come, whether we want it to or not, and we have to be ready. No, we don't know the hour or the day, but God did tell us there would be signs, and to keep watch.

     Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. When Jesus comes back, everyone will know. It won't be some man doing tricks that you see on the news. Jesus will come from the sky and all will see Him. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 

     Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

     Jesus said he that endures to the end will be saved. This doesn't mean they have to physically endure, or live. This means they have to not lose faith in God, they can't turn their backs on Him. If you were threatened, and told to disown Jesus as your Saviour, what would your answer be? Would you confess Him, or deny Him? In Matthew 10, Jesus says, "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." That's sobering. Imagine Jesus denying you before the Father. Imagine Him saying "I never knew you."

     Jesus doesn't say the future will be easy, He says quite the opposite. But He also says, "Do not be troubled. He that endureth unto the end will be saved."