My Reflection on Jesus Preaching About the End of the World Days Before His Crucifixion
As today is Maundy Thursday, I want to think about the time of Jesus' remaining days before He would be crucified. Before that, He preached two doomsday chapters namely Matthew 24 which describes events on the last days and Matthew 25 which tells us of the parable of the virgins, the parable of the talents and the final judgment. This is a very grim picture which He left before He would be crucified. I believe this was done to get people ready because His earthly ministry was coming to an end. He didn't want His followers to be left unprepared to face the last days which was soon about to commence the moment after His ascension into Heaven.
Matthew 24 is a glimpse of the Book of Revelation
Daniel was already the glimpse of Revelation in the Old Testament. Jesus would give an idea what would happen in the last days. It's not a very good picture. We see the disciples with Jesus in the Olivet discourse where He discussed the very topic of the End of the World. I remembered how often I cried hearing that it could be the End of the World anytime soon. For the Christian, the end of the world should be a grand and glorious day because that is where Jesus will end all evil on Earth - which will be a day of weeping for them too because of unsaved friends and relatives.
There will be false christs. How many false christs are there now? You don't only have the Roman Catholic Jesus and many other Jesus imposters. There's the Mormon Jesus who is a god not God. There's the Jehovah's Witness Jesus who is but a created being. There's the Jesus who is merely a good prophet but not the eternal Son of God in Islam and deist cults. Some have even taught a false Jesus who is but an avatar of Vishnu or a Buddhist Jesus who is but another enlightened human. There are people who have claimed to be Jesus in one way or another.
There will be wars and rumors and wars. This is the reality that one can't deny. Wars are coming. Rumors of wars are coming. Every time I open the news - it's no surprise that there's going to be wars and rumors of wars. We can't deny how wars and rumors are going in and out. There are kingdoms going against kingdom. You can read today how often the world is at war. One can wonder when will it all end? Jesus said that all these things must first come to pass.
Famines and earthquakes are indeed signs of the times. There will be earthquakes in diverse places. How often do I open the news and there's famine in one place and earthquakes in another. I've felt massive shocks. A massive storm follows after a massive earthquake. This is the beginning of sorrows. This is a call from God for people to repent. Sadly, people would rather curse God for the calamities like repent. It's almost like the Pharaoh of the Exodus who refused to repent even after God sent ten multiple plagues in Egypt in Exodus 7-12!
The persecution of Christians is a huge reality. The great attack started in Acts. Jesus had just ascended and we see how Christians are persecuted. You can see Stephen was brought to the synagogue. The missionary work of the apostles was no walk in the park. Peter suffered so many times and some say that he eventually met his martyrdom with him getting crucified. Some say that he may have been crucified in Golgotha to where he requested to be crucified upside down - feeling he was not worthy to die as our Lord Jesus. Paul was full of bitter trials. The pattern has never changed that from the apostles to today - Christians will never be off the persecution list. Betrayal happens a lot as Christians can expect to be betrayed even by their closest friends. Many will experience what Noah went through - preaching the Gospel and getting ridiculed. Noah was pretty much left out by the sinful crowd and Christians will also be in that situation.
False prophets are indeed abounding. I don't deny how they are around. If possible, the very elect will be deceived. It reminded me of how someone backslid and momentarily joined a cult - until he ended up realizing he was misled. I remembered how I was newly saved and I almost joined a so-called miracle crusade called Jesus Miracle Crusade. At first, I thought its pastor Wilde Almeda was a man of God. He wasn't afraid to attack Rome on air. He was teaching a lot of important issues - until I realized he was having phony miracles. I remembered I used to listen to Joel Osteen and watched Trinity Broadcasting Network when I was newly saved - until I realized that the whole network was full of garbage doctrines such as the dangerous prosperity "gospel" or how often Osteen loved sugar-coating the truth.
Here's the truth now. Jesus warns that only those who endure to the end shall be saved. Is this a call of faith plus works. On the other hand, this is a test of true salvation. As much as I believe in once saved you're always saved - but there's a distinction. No one can be saved and still live the same - rotten and degenerate. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 shares the wonderful truth of redemption from a life of sin. 1 John 2:19 warns about false converts. True converts may fall away momentarily but not completely. Peter may have backslid but he was restored. Judas Iscariot is the picture of the false convert. He was with Jesus for 3.5 years yet he never gave his life to the Lord from within. He was there but his heart and life never belonged to Jesus. How often do we find people who are supposedly saved but later showed signs of false conversion such as living a wicked life and converting to another religion. How sad it is to read of some who grew up in a Christian family but were never saved. Such evidence can be seen of members in the Baptist and Protestant circles who are converting to Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism or any religion that's very contradictory to the truth.
It's also easy to be lost in looking at the signs of the times. Too many times one could look at the forecast for a solar or lunar eclipse. One could be too busy looking at earthquakes. One is too busy looking for false christs and false prophets. But one important sign that should never be ignored - the preaching of the Gospel is a sign of the times. I think Jesus gave this sign for one good reason. If there's any reason that Jesus may have not yet returned it's because He said, "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." This would be telling Christians to get themselves ready and preach. I even feel like Jesus is saying, "If you want me to return then preach the Gospel!" No wonder so many preachers in the past were so enthusiastic in doing so. Men of God who labored day and night in the ministry were most likely wishing Jesus would return any time soon! Just thinking about how soulwinning efforts are getting more and more intense should be a warning sign that Jesus will come any time soon!
I believe that this is talking about the Rapture and why it must come soon. Some think of a post-Tribulation Rapture. For one, I believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture. True, Christians will have tribulation in this world but they will not go through the Tribulation after the Rapture. The Church itself is a huge boulder for the New World Order. Christianity getting persecuted didn't crush it. I think of how often persecution only made it stronger. I read of how the Roman Empire, Islam, the Roman Catholic institution, Communism, Nazism and various anti-Christian forces tried to crush Christianity. The result was that Christianity grew and grew instead as many boldly faced various tortures and even death. It only made Christianity grow stronger to persecute it one way or another.
It's also easy to be lost in looking at the signs of the times. Too many times one could look at the forecast for a solar or lunar eclipse. One could be too busy looking at earthquakes. One is too busy looking for false christs and false prophets. But one important sign that should never be ignored - the preaching of the Gospel is a sign of the times. I think Jesus gave this sign for one good reason. If there's any reason that Jesus may have not yet returned it's because He said, "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." This would be telling Christians to get themselves ready and preach. I even feel like Jesus is saying, "If you want me to return then preach the Gospel!" No wonder so many preachers in the past were so enthusiastic in doing so. Men of God who labored day and night in the ministry were most likely wishing Jesus would return any time soon! Just thinking about how soulwinning efforts are getting more and more intense should be a warning sign that Jesus will come any time soon!
I believe that this is talking about the Rapture and why it must come soon. Some think of a post-Tribulation Rapture. For one, I believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture. True, Christians will have tribulation in this world but they will not go through the Tribulation after the Rapture. The Church itself is a huge boulder for the New World Order. Christianity getting persecuted didn't crush it. I think of how often persecution only made it stronger. I read of how the Roman Empire, Islam, the Roman Catholic institution, Communism, Nazism and various anti-Christian forces tried to crush Christianity. The result was that Christianity grew and grew instead as many boldly faced various tortures and even death. It only made Christianity grow stronger to persecute it one way or another.
There's one important reminder. Jesus also warned that no one but the Father only knows the date of His return. Jesus at this point had voluntarily suspended His divine power while maintaining His status as the eternal Son of God. It's crazy how some people attempt to predict the doomsday dates even when Jesus already warned that no man knows. Some went to try and get the Mayan Calendar. Harold Camping predicted a lot of dates that were all dated on a 21 before 2012. This should be a reminder too that Jesus could come any time soon!
Matthew 25 - the parable of the virgins, the talents and the last judgment
Jesus was using some symbolism in this chapter. We have the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents and the last judgment. This would be a very frightful chapter warning false converts to examine themselves.
The parable of the virgins shows who was a true and a false convert. The wise virgins are true converts. The foolish virgins are false converts. We can see the illustration here that the foolish virgins were in fact - not saved. The very evidence is that they were not ready. They had no oil in their lamps. This was probably proof that they weren't even real participants in the wedding. The wise virgins were the real participants. Try to notice that at the end of the story - we can read that the Bridegroom said, "Verily I say unto you, I know you not." Doesn't that remind anyone of Jesus' words in Matthew 7:23 when He dismisses such people as never saved to begin with?
The next parable tells us about the parable of the talents. We can see more illustrations of true and false converts. This story doesn't talk about a loss of salvation but about a test of true and false conversion. It's almost like the Master was weeding out the impostor by just giving him one talent. A true convert could care less about one talent, five talents or ten talents. The purpose of the Christian life is to glorify God. John Gill in his commentary had highlighted this servant to be a false servant. It looks like the Master was also revealing to his servants that someone was a fake servant by giving just one talent. Any true convert could care less what God has given them. They may not always be fruitful but they bear fruit. But here we have a man who is not a true convert. Verse 26 has the Master revealing the true nature of the false servant. The false servant made up a story that wasn't true further revealing the imposter in their midst. This may be a false servant sent to spy on someone's estate and now the fraud has been exposed. Many likewise will end up like this false servant - cast into the outer darkness which represents Hell.
The last one illustrates the sheep and the goats. This would be where the proof of salvation shows whether one's salvation is genuine or fake. Some may think this is the Great White Throne judgment. We can see the separation of the saved from the unsaved. This is not the Great White Throne Judgment but the Judgment of the Nations. We can take a look at the right hand - the Christians. This is not a call for salvation by works but rather proof that salvation results in works. This would better fit in after the Tribulation Period ends. There will be survivors. Those who are saved and survived will be on the right hand. The saved will be prepared to enter the Millennial Kingdom where they will marry and reproduce under that temporal kingdom. Meanwhile, all the unsaved who survived after the Tribulation will be sent to Hell (presumably alive) because of the way they treated the Tribulation saints during that period.