Matthew 24:9-14

Matthew 24:9-14

At that time, they will hand you over into persecution and they will kill you.  And you all will be hated by all the nations for the sake of my name.  And at that time many will be caused to stumble and they will hand over one another and hate one another.  And many false prophets will be rising up and they will cause many to wander of the path.  And the love of many will diminish in intensity because of the multiplication of lawlessness.  But the one who holds his ground into the end – this one will be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole of the inhabited world into a witness to all the nations.  And at that time the end will come. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Persecution will come.  There’s truth in that.  People will hate Christians because of what we believe.  People will hate our ethic.  People will hate our morality.  People will hate our need to cling to absolute truth – an absolute truth that we do not set, even!  People will not understand our choices and some will despise us for it.  Of course, not all the world will despise us.  The world is not full of angry monsters.  But there are people in the world who will hate us for what we believe.  It is a reality, and it is a none-too-pleasant one at that.  And as Jesus teaches here in these verses, as lawlessness increases, it will only get worse.

How have you seen people hate those who profess God’s truth?  What is the motivation for the hate in the instances that you have seen?

Second Thought:

There is an even darker story here, though.  People will be led astray.  People will be led away from the path of truth and righteousness.  People who are led astray will even turn on those who remain loyal to truth and righteousness.  People will be caused to stumble and after they’ve stumbled they will turn on and hate those who remain in the truth.  It is a truly sad and bleak moment in life when a person who confesses to know God turns away from Him and begins to persecute those who remain in relationship with God.  But it happens, and it will continue to happen.

Have you ever seen a person stumble in their faith and fall away from knowing God?  What was the impetus for such an action?  How can you prevent yourself from being in the situation of stumbling yourself?

Third Thought:

In a final analysis of this section, these words of Jesus are some of the strongest words for understanding what will happen to Christians at the end of the age.  Yes, as I spoke of earlier we will be hated and killed and handed over because of what we believe.  But the gospel will be proclaimed into the whole world and then the end will come.  How is the Gospel to be proclaimed if there are no Christians to proclaim it?  In this is both a promise and a warning.  The warning we’ve already discussed.  Persecution will come.  But the promise is really neat.  Until Christ comes back, there will be a genuine presence of God’s kingdom – a fellowship of believers – upon this earth.  There will always be those who believe.

How does this promise help you wrestle with the fact that persecution may come?  How does this promise help you deal with the fact that the world around you may appear to be diverging from a Christian ethic?  Why is this a powerful promise to hold onto?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 24:15-28