The Olivet Discourse, Part 4: What shall be the signs of the completion of the age (end of time/world)?

Matthew 24:9a “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted”

Verse 9 is a transitional verse. Then is a conditional verse indicating a chain of events. Those chain of events begin when the Church Age ends.

Now, I know most of you understand this, but this is essential to your understanding Matt. Chap 24.

You and I live in the Church Age. Some even call it the Age of the Holy Spirit.

You and I are Christ’s peculiar people. We are different from the Jews.

1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

The entire world today is divided into three groups of people:

Jews

Gentiles

The Church (Truly saved).

Would you like a scriptural reference for that?

1 Corinthians 10:32 “Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:”

I promise you this is the biblical truth. The Church, the Jews, and the Lost are three different groups of people, and God will deal with each differently. That’s why you must be able to separate what God is saying to the Jews and what He is saying to the Church.

In this Age, the Church is being called by God. It is the chosen bride of Christ consisting of both Jews, but mainly of Gentiles.

It is the Church that will be taken out of this world at the Rapture.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Then, the Tribulation begins. That is why verse 9 begins with “THEN.” “THEN” is referring to the beginning of the Tribulation.

With that as essential background, let’s see what Jesus tells His disciples about the Tribulation.

1. Who is the you of verse 9?

Matthew 24:9 “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.”

You is referring to Israel and not the Church.

All Christians will experience trials and tribulations in this life, but those are not the Tribulation.

What is the affliction Jesus is describing in verse 9? The afflictions is global anti-Semitism.

Do you know what the best thing for Israel is today?

The best thing for Israel is that the true Church is still on planet earth.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.”

There is much anti-Semitism in the world today, but it is not global because of the church and the restraining power of the Holy Spirit.

The true Church will always stand against anti-Semitism, and I believe it was that stand against anti-Semitism by Christians that helped Donald Trump to be elected the 47th President of the United States of America.

The true Church will always stand with Israel. No genuine believer hates the Jews. The true Church will never turn against the Jews, but the false apostate church left on earth after the Rapture will hate the Jews.

Man, could we do a history lesson here.

What Hitler did to the Jews will be the tip of the iceberg of what is coming to the Jews. Many books of the Bible gives prophecies concerning the coming global anti-Semitism. Sadly, that is what it takes to save the Jews.

The true church will never church turn against Israel, but the Tribulation will be like Hitler’s Final Solution on steroids.

2. Is there a difference between false teachers and false prophets?

Matthew 24:10–11 “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”

To answer my question, yes, there is a major difference between false teachers and false prophets in the Bible.

Prophets always had a message for Israel. The office of teacher is an office of the church.

Prophets in the Bible are people like Daniel, Elijah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah, but teachers are found in the New Testament.

2 Peter 2:1 “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

2 Timothy 4:3–4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

The church is told to be on guard for false teachers. It was important to both Peter and Paul to warn the church against being deceived by false teachers.

Verses 10 and 11 of att. 24 do not mention false teachers. Those verses talk about false prophets.

Since prophets always had messages for Israel, verses 10 and 11 are describing the false prophets that will be on earth after the church is removed from the earth.

There will be in the future a prophet that comes out of Israel that will be worthy of this worthy of this warning.

Revelation 13:11–12 “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”

Revelation 13:13–14 “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.”

The false prophet will appear as a lamb but speaking in the power of the dragon, Satan.

He will be a false prophet because he will lead the world in worshipping the Antichrist. He will do miracles. He will appear to be godly, but only Jesus Christ is worthy to be worshipped.

Many Christians underestimate this, but the False Prophet of the future will cause people to worship the Antichrist as if he were the Messiah. He will deceive the world through miracles. Almost 2,000 year ago, Jesus Christ warned His disciples about this False Prophet and all false prophets throughout the age.

3. Is salvation really eternal?

Matthew 24:12–13 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

Let me begin these verses by answering my question.

Salvation is eternal. If you are saved, you will always be saved.

Ephesians 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

It is God who saves you, and it is God who seals you. No one can take from you nor can you lose what God has given you which is the gift of salvation. The only way you could ever lose your salvation is for Jesus to stop being the Son of God, and that is never going to happen.

If you are truly saved, God will never lose you, and you will never lose your salvation.

Now, let’s look at the two verses.

Matthew 24:12 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

This is really a sad verse, and even though it is written or spoken to Israel, it has an incredible application for the church.

What is Jesus saying? He is saying that sin will choke out the fire of one’s love for Christ.

The Church at Ephesus is the perfect example of this, and it is the perfect warning for all of us.

When founded, the Church at Ephesus was on fire for the Lord; yet, by the time John wrote a letter to them, their love for Christ had started to wax cold.

Revelation 2:4–5 “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

I have said it time and time again. You can do until you cannot do anymore, but it means nothing if your love for Christ is not center stage.

That is why it is important for everyone to be involved. Churches depend way too much on a small group of people to do everything. These people wear out, and then they start doing just to be doing, and their love for Christ begins to wax cold.

If everyone loved Christ as they should if everyone were involved, Christ will be loved as He should be, and no one will wear out.

I do not care what we do, but our love for Christ must not wax cold. When it does, sin becomes acceptable.

If we love Christ as we should, that love produces obedience.

Now to the verse that disturbs many.

Matthew 24:13 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

Once again, I point out the use of the word shall. Shall means a determined outcome.

An incredible example of what Jesus is saying can be found in the narrative of the Samaritan woman at the well.

Who endures to the end?

Endurance to the end has nothing to do with what you do or not do.

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

So, what is Jesus saying in verse 13?

Remember, Matthew is written with the kingship of Jesus at the forefront. Those who endure to the end will not taste death during the Great Tribulation.

Those who endure to the end are the 144,000 Jews sealed at the beginning of the Tribulation.

Revelation 7:1–2 “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,”

Revelation 7:3–4 “Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”

I will go ahead and tell you this. It is not a mystery. Those 144,000 are already sealed.

There is an interesting verse in Romans that describes God’s sealing.

Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

“Those whom He did foreknow.”

God exists outside of time. He knows all things. He knew Billy Binkley was going to get saved because He has foreknowledge. He did not make Billy get saved, but He knew Billy would. As a result, Billy was predestined or determined to be in the image of Christ.

Those who endure to the end are those 144,000 who God has foreknowledge of even today.

Now, there will be a great revival during the Tribulation. Both Jew and Gentile will be saved by the millions, but only those 144,000 are sealed to survive execution and the Tribulation.