Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Day 273, Matthew 24:13 — The End Times: Second Coming Signs Matthew 24:13 (NASB1995) “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” Context Matthew 24 contains Jesus’ lengthy, detailed discourse about the end times and His second coming. It comes just after a debate with the religious leaders (21:23-22:46) and His seven woes of judgment against them for their unbelief and hypocrisy (23:1-33). Following a final lament over Jerusalem that includes God’s abandonment and judgment for their rejection of Christ (23:37-39), Jesus leaves the temple with the twelve. They then ask Him when the end will come and what sign to look for regarding the end and His coming, leading to His lengthy reply. Review Yesterday, we continued Jesus’ end times discourse and read about the growth of wickedness and loveless hate. Toward the end of the age, lawlessness will compound to its eschatological climax. The immense wickedness that will consume the hearts of many will lead to increased persecution, betrayal, apostasy, and hate throughout the world. Not only will this lawlessness increase, but the love of many will grow cold, leaving no room for mercy or affection of any kind. This heartless sin juxtaposes the radical love God intends for people to have for each other, which will cause a love that ceases into nothingness. The further society moves away from God and His moral standard, the further dead and decayed it will become, resulting in loveless hate. The contrasting ideas of love and hate illuminate God’s most important commands: to love Him and love others. There is no greater moral standard than this. Thus, it is unsurprising that hate for God and hate for others will grow as the world draws closer to the end. Discussion Today, we continue Jesus’ end times discourse and read about the endurance needed to find salvation. Jesus warns that those who choose to follow Him will face persecution, oppression, death, apostasy, betrayal, and hate among their brothers for their continued faith in Christ (vs. 9-10). They will also need to have discernment against false prophets who will lead many astray (v. 11) and remain rooted in Christlike love against an immense rise in wickedness (v. 12). This wickedness and hate against God and fellow man will affect all people, including Christians. While Christians will be affected and tempted to give in to wickedness and apostasy to avoid persecution and death, Jesus gives His most important command to the twelve about how to avoid such sins. He says, “13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” The Greek word for endure here is hypoménō, which means ‘to stand firm’, ‘to persevere’, ‘to suffer patiently’, ‘to continue firmly’, and ‘to remain’, contrasting those who depart. Notably, Jesus stated this verbatim within the same context during His missional instructions (Mt. 10:22). In that passage, Jesus warns of the severe dangers that will follow the disciples as they follow Him. In most cases, practical wisdom suggests one should abandon their faith when faced with persecution and threats of death, but these passages imply the opposite. Enduring escalating opposition to the end describes the faithfulness that the LORD expects from those who profess faith in Him. Professing Christians must not allow themselves to get caught up in their circumstances, but remain faithful to Christ, regardless of the consequence. In doing so, they will find salvation and eternal life. Sadly, many will choose to walk away from Jesus, which is why the LORD says that only those who ‘endure’ will be saved. In a sense, spiritual endurance is the cornerstone of survival—even when it results in physical death. The one who endures to the end finds eternal life, while those who cannot avoid apostasy lose it. Notably, nearly every mention of avoiding apostasy is associated with end-time sufferings.[1] However, it is important to remember that these statements in vs. 9-13 do not signal the end or its nearness.[2] These are the common sufferings and birthing pangs that the earth and devoted Christ followers will suffer until finding relief in Jesus’ return.[3] Let’s answer two pushback statements to this idea of endurance resulting in salvation. Does this endurance mean we are ‘earning’ our salvation? It may seem like our salvation is up to us if we must ‘endure’ to keep it. Some argue that Jesus is not making a comparison between salvation and endurance. However, Jesus’ words seem to support the idea that enduring does result in salvation. Notably, Hare agrees, saying, “To share in the age of salvation, one must endure. This involves not only enduring persecution and other trials without giving up one’s faith but also persisting in love despite all the hostility love encounters.”[4] There are many Scriptures that further support the reality that we must endure in our faith. The author of Hebrews states the LORD has no pleasure in those who revert from their faith and that enduring equates to ‘preserving the soul’. Hebrews 10:38-39 says, “BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” Thus, God supports the idea that endurance in faith leads to soul-saving. Which means that the latter would be… apostasy and death? Endurance does matter. Does this endurance really concern eternal life? This question presents a contrasting principle that argues Jesus’ words do not have an eternal variable. It says that Jesus simply seeks for His followers to endure and prove their faith as a testimony for others. It does not mean that one can lose their salvation, but that endurance in the faith is an honorable trait to be sought. However, Luke’s account of Jesus’ end times discourse says otherwise. Luke 21:18-19 says, “18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.” Jesus confirms here that enduring leads to eternal life. If v. 18 is true in an earthly sense, then that makes Jesus a liar, as each of the twelve faced severe persecution and lost more than their hair. But what resulted from their faithful endurance? They gained their eternal salvation, as not one of their hairs on their heads will perish in eternity. Thus, it is obviously untrue that Christians can avoid all persecution if they remain faithful. These troubles will come and the temptation to escape them through apostasy might seem practical. However, Jesus commands we must endure to the end. As He says in Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” We will continue Jesus’ end times discourse tomorrow. Application Endurance in faith is not a topic that gets talked about enough in the American church. Understandably, this is because most Americans believe the doctrine of ‘once saved, always saved.’ But there is no way this idea can be true, lest Jesus’ words are untrue. He states we must endure to find life. Otherwise, we condemn ourselves as we shrink back into destruction. While it is easy to concentrate solely on having endurance in end times persecutions, we must remember to employ this endurance in our everyday lives as well. With this mindset, a question arises. Are we faithfully enduring in every facet of our lives? Are we faithful in our everyday troubles, enduring the temptations of sin with holy living? Avoiding gossiping about our coworkers and bosses? Avoiding sexual perversion? Avoiding drunkenness? Avoiding greed and pride that suffocates the self-sacrificial living God intends? Avoiding cowardice regarding an active faith? There are infinite examples. However, the question remains. Are you enduring? Are you remaining faithful? Or are you cowering in your faith? While many of us will not face severe persecution or threats of death for our faith, we must reflect and make sure we are even in the faith. If such troubles do arise, would we truly endure them? Would we proclaim Christ to the end? Or would we cower and fall away as many will? This is a heavy topic that leaves me needing to answer as well. There are multiple areas where I need to change and become more faithful. I always ask myself this question. If we cannot remain faithful in the small trials we face now, how do we expect to endure end times trials? Regardless of your answer, Jesus provides a way for us to endure in our faith. We need only ask and then submit our lives to Him. In doing so, the Holy Spirit will help us endure all things. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Next, we read Matthew 24:14. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together. References [1] Craig Keener, “IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition.” [2] Doug O’Donnell, “New International Greek Testament Commentary.” [3] Ibid. [4] Douglas R. A. Hare, “Interpretation Commentary.”
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