We'll be making our way through this chapter concerning the days to come, the end times. And we're doing it largely without making too much specific application as far as time goes, because the Lord has said, no man knows the day or the hour. There are principles here that we intend to draw out that are going to give us good preparation for the end times, whenever they should be, if the Lord should tarry. We'll begin at verse 1 and read to verse 14 this evening. Matthew 24, verse 1, this is the word of God. And Jesus went out and departed from the temple. And His disciples came to Him, for to show Him the buildings of the temple. and another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed, that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars, see that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. 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. 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. Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. Read thus far in the word of the Lord, let us pray. Once again, O Lord, we approach with reverence Thy throne of grace and we thank Thee for Thy Holy Word. We thank Thee that it bears the message of life eternal through the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, that our eyes may be opened to behold wondrous things out of Thy law. We ask, Lord, that Thou be pleased to attend the preaching of Thy Word with the power of Thy Holy Spirit. We pray that we may hear what the Spirit says to the churches, that we may understand, that we may respond both by faith and faithful obedience, and we ask, Lord, that Thou wouldst enable us to be ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear our prayer, undertake for the preaching of Thy Word, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Beloved congregation, and a lot of times we just feel very uncomfortable even reading that. It may be something, even if you're reading through the scriptures, it might be one of the passages where you just kind of want to go through very quickly and not dwell too long because, first of all, there is a lot of things that are, seem to be uncertain, and you wonder exactly how they're going to be applied. but in the end, we receive this as the word of God. And even when the message is difficult to receive, when the Lord says that his church is going to go through tribulation, I certainly don't like to hear that. It's not something that I'm looking for, but it's something that the Lord Jesus says that everyone ought to be ready for. We have to prepare ourselves for that day. I think it's the prophet Jeremiah that says, if you can't keep up with men in their race, how are you going to keep up with horses? The things are going to get more difficult in the last days. And we need these calm days, these relatively calm days, to be equipped to be able to withstand when those people should come, if they should come. And calamity by its very nature comes very, very quickly, very suddenly upon a nation or upon an individual, upon perhaps a congregation. And so we can't be prepared for every eventuality. We can't be prepared for absolutely everything because we really don't know what it's going to look like when it comes, so the general principles are here that the Lord lays out. He says don't be concerned about wars, and it's one thing to be concerned about wars that are actually happening, but even rumors of wars, right, rumors of anything. We can become very, very anxious. Oh, I've heard that this is going to happen, or that this is happening over there, or this is going to happen over here, and you can become anxious. And people can become very anxious over things. In many cases, they don't even materialize. They actually don't even happen. And so you've wasted all that energy and anxiety when you could have been someplace else. If I woke up tomorrow and the way to fill up my tank was two dollars a liter, I think I'd be a little bit alarmed. It's going to change my budget. It's going to change a lot of things, isn't it, about your life. So it's just being ready for those things when they come. So the Lord does say, contrary to what many these days believe, that the church is going to go 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. So the word Jesus is very up front here about what's going to happen. And he says affliction is going to come, tribulation, trial. And he's not holding anything back here. Jesus did say in John 16, 33, in the world ye shall have tribulation. But he goes on to say, be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. So he says, by the very nature of the Holy Spirit indwelling his people, by the very nature of Christians being And they're going to notice that and it's going to be a change that is not very conducive to friendships in many cases. If you're going to be like that, if you're going to be a Christian, I don't want to be your friend. Christ says to his disciples that they will be delivered up, they're going to be handed over. all nations. And we've read how, or we can read, of how those things have already happened in church history. They've already happened. They didn't happen often before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. There have been times of persecution where Christians have been put to death. There are times when They have been killed, Jesus says and predicts this. He says it's not an alarming thing, alarming but not a thing to be amazed at. How would you feel about that if any one of us? killed. Pretty soon the church is meeting for a funeral service for someone who has died because, simply because they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus says that is going to happen. You'll be hated of all nations. And people are going to despise, and they generally do despise, Christianity because Christianity by its very nature is sake shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake so it's not just maybe you know people who have enemies because they're just not nice people and some people just seem to for being a Christian, for being somebody who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, is loved by the Lord Jesus Christ, and in his providence and in his decree, perhaps have been singled out for, even for death, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Christ, then, who believed in the sovereignty of God, And it seems as though, and it has often in history, the more vigorous Satan attacks the Church, the more vigorously even, say, the Roman Empire attacked Christ's Church. The Lord somehow used that to increase His Church. Used that so that souls were brought into the Church. willing to maintain that testimony even unto death. And that's very remarkable. And there must be something about that, perhaps, on the basis of that they begin to investigate. Are these things so? Matthew Henry said, the consideration of the unchangeableness of the divine counsel that nothing happens to you, nothing happens to Christ's church apart from God's decree. So he not only knows it's happening, he decreed that it should happen from before the foundation of the world. And those are the things that often ask questions. If this is happening to me, if this is happening to the church, What purpose could God have in it? And we often ask those questions. We have no answers. At the time, sometimes we can look back and say, God used that in a very powerful way. Why did John Huss have to die at the stake? Why was he burned for his testimony of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ's uncompromising testimony? because the Lord didn't use it in a very powerful way throughout history. We can think of the connection with Martin Luther and how that reformation was just kind of a seed that was planted and it developed on. The Lord had his purposes in it. That seems very extreme to you and me, but the Lord does those things. So always we have to remember God had a purpose. Think of the of people being removed from our presence by death. And Isaiah says, the righteous perisheth, the righteous go to the grave, and no man lays it to heart. Nobody stops and thinks that they're being delivered from the evil to come. Now, why did this person die? He's a good man, he's righteous, he's faithful, and that's why he died. The Lord had a purpose for him. the death of that saint at that appointed time. So what Matthew Henry is saying, and the Lord Jesus says, don't become anxious, but know that these things are appointed, they're done for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the psalmist in Psalm 37, verse one, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Why do we fret ourselves and why do we become envious? Because they are the ones that often seem to prosper. Why are they advancing? Why are they having ascendancy over Christ's saints, over the righteousness of the Church, when they are righteous? They're saved. Why are they being persecuted? Why are they being afflicted? Why are we being killed all the day long? Why does the Lord allow this to happen? Well, it comes back to God's sovereignty. Threaten not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou envious of the workers of iniquity. So tribulation does come to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ from time to time. We haven't really known. I don't think tribulation or persecution in Canada may be coming. The Lord says don't rest on your laurels. Don't just rest on past histories, but be prepared at all times. He says furthermore that many will be offended in verse 10. And then many shall be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." There are people, then, who are offended, which Jesus has talked about in Matthew 13. It's been some months since we've been in Matthew 13. But remember the seed that fell on stony ground the parable of the sower. And there's different kinds of seed. The seed that fell on stony ground, there wasn't any depth. It couldn't really take root. And so it withered and died away. And Jesus said, those are the ones who rise up. There's great flowers that come up, great growth immediately. But because it didn't take root, Jesus says, that's the sign of those who are offended by the gospel. You see, if there's persecution involved, I'm out of here. I'm not going to stand for that. I'm not going to bear that. There's an easier life out there, and I choose that. I would rather have success and undercompromise than the persecution of faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. So these are people who like the blessings of the gospel, but not the trials. Then shall many be offended and shall betray one another. So then, you can picture that, can't you? Somebody leaves and says, you know, there's nothing that's gonna happen to that church. It's all gonna die out here pretty soon. And so they leave and then when the church continues by the power of God's spirit, And they say, well, maybe there was something there after all, but I don't want to look bad, so I'm going to undermine the work to the best of my ability. And that is what's done. When I came here almost 30 years ago, 29 years ago, there was a group of people that left. Some of them had already left. Others were on their way out, and when I arrived, And they made this prediction. They said, this church is not going to survive for 15 years. There'll be nothing in 15 years. So the Lord has blessed us, and now we live another 15. And that church, by the way, that they went for, dissolved a few years ago. And I don't say that with any glee or happiness. I'm just observing what happens. So their prophecies were wrong. And the Lord was pleased to bless the gospel ministry. All of this is the work of the Lord, the work of His Holy Spirit. The other side, brother. It's the other side. Thank you. Thank you for that. So here we have a church in which people begin to betray one another. and to hate one another. There's inward fighting and bickering and undermining the work. This is within those who are professing Christians. Again, Matthew Henry says, persecuting times are discovering times. Wolves in sheep's clothing will then throw off their disguise and appear wolves. They'll show themselves for who they really are. They just weren't interested in the gospel at all. In the first place, they were somehow interested in what they could gain, what they could get for themselves, but they weren't really interested in Christ. They weren't genuinely saved. They didn't have a conversion of heart, perhaps a conversion of mind, but not a conversion that began in the heart. And so it's not a pleasant thing to think about a church in which Christians betray one another and hate one another. So as sin prevails, as it does in our land, as we move more and more away from God's Word and God's Law, particularly summarized in the Ten Commandments, we have iniquity about it. As we have left the Ten Commandments in the laws of our land, have we We're all more pleasant even with one another. Iniquity abounds. We have more and more crime, and we try to make statistics, make it look as if we have less and less crime. But we have probably less reported crime. And I won't point to all that. It's a very annoying thing, less reported crime. But we don't really have the means to fix that or address that. of the world around us says, what is its starting point? Its starting point is, man is really basically good. Man is basically good. So, do you believe that? Did you lock your car before you came in here? Did you lock your doors before you came in here? and break in, apart from the mercy of the Lord. But iniquity is abounding. Evil is abounding. And we often change our definition of evil, but when you look at God's Word, what is sin? Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God. If you're going to transgress God's law, you're going to be evil. You're going to be a person of sin and iniquity. Jesus says iniquity is going to abound. The lawlessness will prevail. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul says that's one of the marks of the end times as well. There's lawlessness. Everybody doing what's right in their own eyes. We don't stand, or people don't stand for what is right, then sin is going to take over. Isn't it true that sin has taken over our own land? We don't have to look way back into history. We can see that right now. Iniquity is prevailing. It doesn't mean that the gospel is wrong, does it? It means that the gospel is right, and that the Lord has left a remnant to testify of his saving grace. The hope of the gospel is there. for every sinner in Canada. But as a result of that, Jesus says, the love of many will wax cold. Because evil escalates, evil increases, iniquity abounds, therefore the love of many will wax cold. Do you see that? In our own nation, your own world will not grow very very far from the other end of Canada, but in your own world, you see that the love of many waxes cold. And the word here that's used is like a wind that's blowing over a soup. You put hot soup out on the windowsill, and the wind comes by and just cools it off after a while. There was something there, the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2, they've left their first And they were, by the time of 95 AD when Revelation was written, the Lord Jesus says, you're good, you're still doing good, you're doing good things, but you left your first love. When iniquity abounds, that's one of the reasons that we ought to be diligent in church discipline. If we allow iniquity even within the church, the love of many is one to wax cold. We can see it on many places around us. First of all, it begins with a love, a lot of love. We have our own ways. Why should we be governed by a book that's so old? We want something modern. We want something relevant. And yet, what is more relevant than the Word of God that So it becomes very upfront, up close and personal. And then the Lord says, you need a Savior. You're a sinner, you're a sinner that needs a Savior. And that Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved you and gave his life for you. So there is, and it's a little more abstract, right? We don't think about God so much. We take him out of our classroom, we take him out of science. We take them out of history and so we're just a people who end up being very fatalistic. And that's not as identifiable. But because you and I are human beings, We said everybody should be loved and we never told them what love was. This happens in our day. This is how you do it. You just kind of become a machine. The love of many wax cold. This is the mark of humanity. Love towards one another. Love towards our fellow man. Care and compassion. And it's easy then So we live in a day when we have made a change in the definition of the word love. And we tend to use, instead of the word love, we use the word sex. As if those two are the same thing. They're related. They're very related in the relationship between a husband and a wife. But because we live in an over-sexualized society, everything today is about sex. really contain sex within the confines of marriage, where it belongs. We've opened it up in the 60s, we've opened it up. Just, if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with, said Neil Young. So, you just make love. Make love, not war. That was the mantra. And we started with that, and then we, you know, just mushroomed it to homosexuality and now each other really just as animals anymore, not as human beings. attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. 3,000 people died in that day. 3,000 people. Over 3,000 people died in that day. Very, very tragic thing. But who stops to think that every That happened once, 20 years ago, whatever it was. Every day. Because we've become complacent about abortion. Because the love of many is waxing cold today. Isaiah says, can a mother forget her second child? This is a second child outside of the womb. Can a mother forget her second child? Can such a thing be? We don't expect it. It's not a very good thing. But you know, we're going to be happier if he's out of the way. Isn't that the way they think? Why shouldn't we have that man? He's just troubling everybody. He needs nurses all day long, and doctors, and maybe surgeries. And it's expensive to have Medicare. We can't afford all of this. Let's just put him to death. Because nobody thinks about what's on the other side of death anyway. Let's just put him to death. Jesus said, the love of many shall wax cold. Legalized abortion. Christians said, you know something? In a few years, we're going to be killing old people. And people said, don't be silly. You're crazy. That's a ridiculous argument. Just because we're allowing a woman to have right over her body doesn't mean we're going to kill old people. Well, here we are. We're killing old people. We're killing weak people. We're killing people in our society who we Somehow, not we, but our nation has determined we are not worthy of living. Who makes that decision? People haven't been making that decision since it's come into law. Beloved, be careful that these things are not forming your own way of thinking. The Lord Jesus says, Word, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." So all of these things are going to happen. It's going to be hard, it's going to be difficult to watch these things, to hear about these things, but press on. He that endureth to the end shall be saved. He who trusts that the Lord's Word is truth, he that trusts that his soul is secure, he This is, I still have to do what's right, even though what's right is being changed by those around me. Again, Isaiah says, woe to them that call good evil and evil good. And that's what's happening in our own nation. We're changing the idea of what's right. Because now it's right to kill somebody in the womb. or before, in Dara as they approach death, Jesus says, he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. How is that going to happen if you're not trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to keep you? First of all, you have to acknowledge that those things are equal, as we read in Psalm 101. There's a divide between the righteous and the unrighteous, the godly and the ungodly. and to recognize that this action is ungodly, these laws are ungodly, these people are ungodly, is going to help you to know then what is godly, what is righteousness. It's found in the word of God. It's coming back to trusting in God's revealed word. They that shall endure unto the end the same shall going to press on, aren't you? With the help of the Lord. I'm not asking you to short up and say, just get tough. When things get tough, the tough get going. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. No, that's not what we're saying. The Lord is the only one who can make you persevere. to those trying times. You need the Lord more than ever to remind you what's right and wrong, to remind you of his mercy and his grace. He says, the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. So even the prevailing of the church in the midst of opposition is a testimony to those around them. Again, that saying, the blood of the martyrs to see the Lord use his persecution Jesus said, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone must hear the gospel. And gospel preaching, really, is going to hasten the return of the Lord, isn't it? Jesus says that. As the word goes out, the end is drawing nigh. And Jesus says, then shall the end come. So there is a reference here, I think, some reference to the destruction of the temple. he understood as referring to the end and renovation of the world. So he applies these also to the end time. In fact, John Calvin paraphrases the words of the Lord Jesus as if he was saying, the end of the world will not come before I have tried my church for a long period by severe and painful temptations. So the Lord who disciplines his church, who disciplines his people, so that you will trust in the Lord, so that you will know that His truth is going to prevail in your life and in all of history. So, beloved, don't take your cue from the world and its behavior. They're called towards Christ, called towards the Gospel. That's the time when you must warm your heart with Gospel promises, Gospel meditations. That's the time when you need to Be still and know that I am God, says the Lord. You're going to withdraw yourself from the world. You're going to take up those gospel promises and meditate upon them in a way that's going to set you upon God's sovereignty and God's goodness and His grace. And beloved, there may be a day coming, even within the church, when you will be betrayed and delivered. It's a grievous thing. I spoke of an exodus here almost 30 years ago. You know, it's an interesting thing. When you have troublemakers in the church, people stirring things up, you just kind of say, why don't you just go away? We're at Loggerhead's here. It was really sad. You think, just go. When they're actually out of your hair, you miss them. There's something not right about it. And that is, I think, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's there. You didn't want them really to leave. You wanted them to repent. You wanted them to stay. You wanted them to labor on with you in the Word and in the work. And the Lord saw fit to do what he did and do a little glory in divisions in the church. But we look back and we say, well, the Lord used those sins for good. And by his grace, we've endured to today. And it's presumptuous of us to say we're going to be here another 20 or 30 or 40 years. We're the people, and wisdom shall die with us and all. We come here week by week. Just trusting the Lord, trusting in His truth, being sanctified one sermon at a time, one fellowship at a time, one Sabbath day at a time, according to the Lord's good means. So, beloved, look to the Lord, endure to the end. the author and the finisher of your faith. Let us pray. Our Lord and our God, we come before Thee, we thank Thee. We thank Thee even for the warning that the Lord Jesus gives unto us in this day, that things may become very difficult. And Lord, we don't receive these words with great joy or anticipation, but if these things should befall us, Lord, will Thou prepare us now? Will Thou ready us? O Thou make us to take Thy word seriously as we read and study all of it, that we may know the truth, and that it shall set us free by the power of Thy Holy Spirit. Lord, we know that the Lord Jesus Christ will return, and we look forward to that day. We long for it, desire it earnestly. We ask, Lord, that in the meantime we may occupy until He comes. by the power of Thy Spirit, we pray in Jesus' name.