SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS LEAD US TO THE WORD
Prayer: As time ends and eternity begins, Lord Jesus, grant that we are found among those who confess You as Savior and Lord, that You may acknowledge us and receive us into the eternal mansions. Preserve us daily in Your grace. Make us watchful and prayerful. Add daily to those who are being saved. Cover the earth with Your Gospel of reconciliation, that peace may reign and hope abide in many hearts. Amen. (Alfred Doerffler, Meditations on the Gospels, p. 287)
Sermon Text, Matthew 24:15-28 (v. 22b-24). “But for the elect’s sake, those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us completely by the truth. Your Word is truth. By Your word of truth keep us in these last days. Amen.
Dear people loved by God in Christ: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (2 Thess. 3:18)
In these verses, Jesus speaks about the last days. People sometimes ask, “Are we living in the last days?” if they see things falling apart. Ironically these Bible readings always come after an election, as people either feel like a new golden age is coming, or else that the end of the world must be near.
Here in Matthew 24, these words of Jesus come after His own disciples ask: “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Jesus had just told them that the temple would be destroyed, and they reasoned that if the temple comes to an end, can the end of the world be far behind? The rest of this chapter in Matthew – 48 verses – is His answer to this question.
Jesus says, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Can this be the time, the “then” that Jesus was speaking of? That would be terrible, we think, to find out we’re living in the worst of times.
In the first part of Matthew 24, Jesus speaks about many of our world’s worst features: “wars and rumors of wars … famines, earthquakes, and pestilences … [that] many will betray one another, and hate one another … And the love of many will grow cold.” These are the things we dread and pray about: sickness and epidemics, devastations of war, being hated by others, etc. These are the signs of the last days that get our attention: chaos in the world, war, terrorism, pandemics, sexual depravity, and lawlessness.
But the portion of this chapter that the church many centuries ago chose to be read on this Sunday is where Jesus speaks of the attacks on His church, and surprisingly, it’s not characterized by physical violence. The devil does use that, as we see with the persecution of the Christians in Nigeria, where over 7,000 have been killed this year and 185,000 since 2009. But martyrdom actually causes the church to thrive and grow. Instead, this attack that Jesus singles out is doctrinal. It’s an attack on God’s Word and Truth.
Jesus says: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” This is at the center of Jesus’ signs of the end: false doctrine, false teaching.
That’s what He means by “false christs and false prophets.” To speak of “false christs” isn’t saying that someone will claim to be a new messiah. To speak of “false prophets” isn’t limited to those who make wild predictions about the future. “Prophet” in the Bible simply refers to those men God called to speak His word. This is about recognizing when the teaching departs from God’s Word, departs from the truth. We do believe you can know the truth. Jesus said not only “I am the Way … and the Life,” but also “I am the Truth.”
Included in our own church body’s statement of faith is this: “We confess that it is possible both to know the truth of God’s Word and to profess it, and that God requires [that we do this]. Taking one’s stand on the Word, in matters of doctrine, after diligent study of Scripture, is not an act of human pride but [an act] of humble submission to God’s authority.” This is based on Jesus’ own words, “You shall know the truth,” and His words to the Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth,” and the words of James 1:21, “receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.”
To listen to God’s Word in this way, that it will tell me what’s true and will form my faith, instead of coming at God’s Word as a judge over it, to only accept what makes sense to me, is an act of humility, receiving it with meekness. But in these last days, it’s also an act of survival.
When we think about the dangers of the last days, we’re focused on the outward, material things. But the devil is ahead of us, thinking of our faith and salvation. He uses fear, anxiety, sorrow and grief to get to our faith, to make you full of daily fears and worries and hide Christ from view.
The “false christs” are present in our lives. Where are they? The answer is in the purpose of the false teachers; Jesus says it’s “to deceive the elect.” The “elect” are those who have been “elected,” called by God in eternity, not due to anything good in you, but by grace alone. The elect are God’s children by faith. You can be certain that you are one of the elect if He made you His child in baptism, and has preserved you in the true faith so you hear the Gospel and believe it, if you trust in Jesus for your salvation. This is the truth.
The hard part of what Jesus says is the part about the false christs working to deceive the elect: that you’re a target. The devil wants to use the dangers of these last days to lie to you and deceive you in God’s name. Jesus says the false christs, that is, false-teaching churches, “show great signs and wonders” to deceive you. Ultimately, this is about impressing people, but it’s not Christ-centered. Bragging about a superior form of Christianity, judging the church to be a “success” by outward results.
We’re susceptible to this. We don’t want the church to fail. We want to have an influence in the world and not be considered irrelevant, ignored, or looked down on. But notice what this talk is lacking: any emphasis on faithfulness – being faithful to the Lord, especially faithful to His Word. It’s listening to the priorities set by others, not the priorities set by our Lord.
It’s hearing His Word that will guard and keep you from being deceived. When you don’t hear His Word, when His Word and Truth are not your regular companion, that’s when you’re vulnerable.
The good part, the comforting part of what Jesus says, is where He adds two little words: “if possible” – “to deceive, if possible, even the elect” – which make it a great promise that we won’t be deceived. This is Jesus saying: “I won’t let the devil win!” It’s the same as when He says: “My sheep hear My voice. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (Jn 10:27-28). He gives to His elect, the children of God by faith in Jesus, this promise and certainty: that the hearing of His Word and truth will keep you in the true faith by grace.
False doctrine is a sign of the last days, and also a sign that Jesus is coming soon. But true doctrine – teaching God’s Word in its truth and purity – and listening to it, believing it, is a sign that this coming Lord is also protecting us and keeping His promises to preserve us in His truth.
Even if you struggle to believe, or sometimes feel your faith is weak, remember: weak faith is still saving faith, and it’s by God’s doing. He cares for you so much, to keep working through His saving Word to preserve you in the true faith. To keep you connected to Jesus, who is the Truth.
What we look for in a church are the true marks of the church: where God’s Word is purely preached, and where the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are given out faithfully, in accordance with Jesus’ institution, by which He totally cleanses a person of all impurity in His sight.
So the important thing is: regularly listening to our Lord. The signs of the last days are signs of His second coming. That’s how we look at it. The purpose of these signs, and Jesus telling them to us, is to drive us to His means of saving us: His Word. In so doing, it drives us to Jesus.
Don’t miss how personal this is. This emphasis on His Word and truth is not disconnected from Jesus. In fact, it’s about Him. The Truth is a Person: Jesus. If you come to Jesus, by the gift of faith, you come to the Truth. And the way to come to Him, the way He comes to you, is in His Word, period.
This is where you bring your anxiety, where you bring your sadness about the world and how things go, where you bring all that’s wrong in life. You bring it to Jesus, where He says He is to be found: in His Word, in the Supper.
As we’re faced with dangers, we turn to the Lord who is near to you, who is present with His Church, who, where two or three are gathered in His name – is in our midst. We pray to Him. We ask Him to come. We say, “Come, Lord Jesus!” And He does come. He comes now in grace, in His means of grace, Word and Sacrament. We get used to His coming to us in this ordinary way. Then the extraordinary things around His second coming, when He will come in glory, won’t fill us with fear.
It’s the second coming, after all. There was a first coming, when He came not to accuse us for our sins – but to carry the sins and be punished for them all, instead of us. It was the most friendly coming ever. The second coming isn’t different. It’s a “Gospel” coming, still friendly. He won’t come to carry sins – that’s done – but to give you all that He’s redeemed you for.
What He does in His church is prepare you for this. It’s what the church service is for: His coming, to you, to make you glad, not sad; to forgive you, not condemn. He comes in just as real a way now as He will then. We get used to Jesus coming in such a friendly way, so on that day we’re confident He comes to us in a friendly way, to take us home.
He is teaching you not to be afraid. He is showing you that all is in His hands. He makes sure that you are in His hands, now and for eternity. Amen!