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This week my personal devotions are in Matthew 24. And I have been struck by a number of things that Jesus said in this chapter about the last days. I am aware that what I am writing may be disturbing to some of us. And that is not my intent. God is in control no matter what we face in these times. I have joked in the past that in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 where Paul says, “Comfort one another with these words,” we misread it, “Scare the life out of one another with these words.” However, these things need to be taken seriously.

Matthew 24 begins with Jesus caught up in His sadness over the destruction that was going to come upon Jerusalem because His own people rejected Him. Like excited tourist the disciples point out to Jesus the wonderful buildings of the temple. And Jesus shoots back at them, “Do you see these stones? I tell you that there will not be left one stone upon another here that will not be cast down.”

Now, this was shocking to the disciples of Jesus. The Temple was the largest building in the Eastern Mediterranean. It had taken 46 years to build. So the disciples came to Jesus asking when this would happen, and what would be the sign of the second coming of Jesus, and the end of the age. They could not imagine that the destruction of the Temple would not mean the end of the world. From our perspective, we know that the Temple and the entire city were destroyed by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD. That was a terrible time for the people of Jerusalem. Thousands and thousands died at the hands of the Romans.

Interestingly enough Jesus did not correct His disciple’s misconception. He rather used the comparison of the two events to teach about the end times and His return. Let's look at this passage beginning with verse 3. I have emboldened the text in three places to highlight what Jesus gives us to do in these days.

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

The first thing that Jesus tells us to do is, “See that no one leads you astray.” The point and purpose of all the false rescuers, false teachers, and false teachings is to lead astray those who will and can be led away from Christ. Later in this chapter Jesus said that the false teachers and christs will perform signs and wonders that would, “if it were possible, deceive even the elect.” Not being led astray depends upon God keeping us safe. Relationship with God is crucial to endurance to the end. We must depend upon Him. Only God can keep us safe.

The second of these assignments is, “See that you are not alarmed.” Jesus’ words should disabuse us of the notion that everything will get better and better, possibly more and more Christian, right up to the end. I do believe more and more people will probably continue to come to faith in Christ right up to His return. But I also believe it will cost us more and more to follow Him. The Bible does not teach that it will be easy for us. Jesus says, “See that you are not alarmed when you see all the things happening on the Earth.” How do we keep from being alarmed? Well, we need to recognize that God is sovereign in the midst of school shootings, airplanes being flown into buildings, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, floods, famines, climate change, and pestilence. Jesus told us ahead of time that these things would happen. And He has told us that He will be with us to the very end. We need to focus on Him. And He will minister through us to the world that He still loves and weeps over.

The final assignment is not given here as an admonition, but as an assumption. This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all peoples. But make no mistake. We are the ones who must carry this out in the power of God. Elsewhere Jesus gives this to us as a command. And if you are anxious for Jesus to return in His glory, tell people that Jesus died for their sins, and rose again to give them new life. And pray for His power to break their hearts and transform their lives through the gospel.

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I have been alarmed over the recent disasters like earthquakes in Nepal and the Philippines. I have also been concerned about potential disaster closer to my home. On the west coast we are in the midst of a multi-year drought. We are coming into summer with the least mountain snow pack ever recorded. And Texas and Oklahoma have come out of a four year drought with tornadoes and deadly flooding. Have you noticed the price of eggs? Eggs have doubled and tripled in cost is because millions of tons of chickens as well as turkeys have been slaughtered and buried because of an epidemic of bird flu. My brother kept bees for many years. He finally had to stop because so many colonies were disappearing. I heard now that 40% of bee colonies died in the past year. I noticed a display in the grocery store this week with “local honey” being sold for about $20/lb. This is also a crisis for farmers and gardeners and all of us who need to eat what grows from the ground. Without bees, fruits and vegetables will not be able to pollinate and produce.

Frankly this is a lot like Biblical predictions of the last days. I can hear the seals of Revelation 6 being broken. Doesn’t this sound like Revelation 6:6?

“And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying,

‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius,

and do not harm the oil and wine!’”

Of course anytime you bring such passages up in scholarly circles you find someone who will point out that such things have always happened. And that is right. But pardon me if I believe those passages are still true and will certainly be fulfilled.

However, a more important question is how should we pray, how will we pray in days of disaster? The Lord intentionally led Abraham to pray as He was preparing to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because He was going to bless all nations through him. Make no mistake. Even in days of disaster God intends to use you to share the blessing of the gospel with all the earth. In light of this I have several suggestions for how we should pray.

First, pray together and pray fervently. The first chapter of Joel calls us to call a sacred assembly and cry out to the Lord. Are things not serious enough for us to call people to come together in earnest prayer?

Second, pray that we will not fall into temptation. As Jesus warned, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Pray that you will not sin because things are tough. As with Job, God will glorify His name by our obedience in the midst of trials. We also need to pray for each other to stand strong in the face of temptation.

Third, we need to pray for hurting people as we seek to minister to them in times of crisis and judgment on the earth. When we obediently minister to hurting people in these days, we also bring supernatural power into their lives as we pray for them.

And fourth, but certainly not finally, Pray for people to repent and turn to God in the face of judgment that is coming on the earth. If you pray about this, I strongly suspect God will lay on your heart other ways to pray in the face of disaster.

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