Matthew 24:23-28
Then if anyone should say to you, “Behold, here is the
Christ,” or “Here!” you all should not believe.
For false christs and false prophets will rise up and they will give
great signs and portents in order to cause people to wander off the path – if powerful
enough – also the chosen ones.
Behold! I have warned you
all. Therefore, if they should say to
you all, “Behold, He is in the wilderness” you all should not go out. If “Behold, He is in the inner room” you all
should not believe. For just as the
lightning comes from the east and while shining as far as the west, in this way
will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Wherever a corpse should be, there the eagles will be gathered.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Here is a scary thought.
The fact that a person performs incredible signs and portents is no
indication that they are from God. Think about that for a moment. If a person came to town and you saw them
raise someone from the dead, would you not be more inclined to believe them
when they claimed to be close to God? Or
if a person came and was able to tell you great things about yourself – things you’ve
never confided in anyone else – would you not be inclined to think that they
were from God? The truth is that Jesus
often calls Satan the “prince of this world.”
Satan is not without His power.
Jesus is careful to make sure that His disciples understand that outward
appearances are a horrible means for judging a person and their relationship
with God. We should listen to them. We should weigh their teaching with the Word
of God. We should be in the habit of
evaluating people by their person and their character, not by what they can accomplish
and who they can impress.
Do you ever get caught up in the show and forget to look at
the person? How is this actually related
to the common attributes of common thieves?
Why is it dangerous to become infatuated by people who can do incredible
and unbelievable things?
Second Thought:
Once more that we are warned that those who come to deceive
will target people who confess to know God.
The most powerful of the false christs and the false prophets will be
able to pull people away from God if we are not careful. It is foolish to think that we are above such
a fate. The prudent man hears this
warning and prepares for it – just in case it comes during his time. Jesus tells us purposefully that we have been
warned! He does not warn us for our
knowledge. He warns us so that we may be
prepared and stand firm in our faith.
How prepared are you to stand firm? How might you be deceived into wandering off
of the path? What benefit might there be
in knowing your temptations?
Third Thought:
So how are we to know the coming of
Christ? Jesus tells us that His coming
will be like lightning. It will be
sudden. It will be flashed across the
planet from horizon to horizon, much like lightning covers the sky. Jesus is basically telling us that He is not
coming again in the manner that He came the first time. He came as a human in order to die on the cross
and be the perfect sacrifice that we as regular humans can never be. But having died, there is no reason for Jesus
to come again as a man. He will come
like lightning: suddenly and unexpectedly and with an impossibility to predict.
Are you prepared for the coming of
Christ? If He were to come 3 minutes
from now, would those three minutes be filled with anticipation or panic? How does knowing how Jesus will return actually
help us avoid being trapped by charlatans?
Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 24:29-31
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