Saturday, September 24, 2011

Daily Gospel Devotional: September 24

Matthew 24:3-8 / Mark 13:3-8 / Luke 21:7-11…

Just the beginning…

Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age? There is a wide diversity of interpretations offered for what is often called the “Olivet Discourse”. Some say that it is entirely about events related to the second coming of Christ. Others say that it is entirely about events related to the destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in 70 A.D. Still others believe it contains reference to both of these events. In any event, it is scripture, and therefore profitable for us to examine (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

See that no one leads you astray. Before Jesus gives the sign of His coming, He points to several happenings to be looking for. These things are important to understand no matter what era of time we are in. The main point that Jesus is teaching the disciples, all disciples, is the same thing, in essence. The point of all these prophecies and warnings is that we may not be lead astray and away from truth and into error. The key in all of this is to be anchored to the true, living Christ.

Jesus paints a prophetic picture, where these trends and troubles would run concurrently and crescendo like the pains of a woman giving birth. False teachers and fearsome events will bring temptations to apostasy. There will be many who claim to be of Christ or claim they are the Christ, and will lead many away from the One True God. There will be an increase in deception and destruction, war, famine and death.

Still, the end is not yet… All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. We can be on the lookout for such things and still be looking away from Jesus. That is the nature of deception: we don’t know it. The question is, are you growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), or are you carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability (2 Peter 3:17)?

3 comments:

Even So... said...

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mark pierson said...

"The question is, are you growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18),"
Yes, that is where our eyes should be, JD!
Mark

Even So... said...

Whoo Hoo! It's Blue!

Nice to hear from you, my brother.