Dave's Diary

Prayer

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 56:3-4.

Lord, I put my trust in you.
and in Your holy Word.
I will live by Your Word and not be afraid.
Mere mortals can do nothing to me.
Amen.

Reading

Matthew 24:1-8

Alone with His disciples again, Jesus spoke openly about the fact that God’s judgment on the unrepentant Jewish authorities in Jerusalem would lead to the destruction of the Temple. This happened historically in AD70 when the Roman General Titus (who would later become Caesar) conquered Jerusalem and utterly destroyed both the city and its Temple. To destroy Jewish resistance once and for all, the Roman forces set the Temple ablaze. The great heat of the blaze melted the gold of the Temple into the cracks in its great stones, and so the Romans quite literally broke the walls apart to remove the seams of gold. Just as Jesus had prophesied, no stone of the Temple was left on top of another.

In the context of warning His disciples about what was to come, Jesus gave this cammand which is vitally important for us today too:

“Watch out that no one deceives you.“

There is probably no area of Christian teaching and theology that has led to more confusion and deception than what is called “eschatology” – the study of the end. The fact of the matter is that Jesus did not give us a detailed roadmap of the final days of this Age. In Acts 1 He refused to be drawn by His disciples, telling them instead that it was not for them to know “times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” And here in Matthew 24, instead of laying out a timetable, He warns the disciples against false teaching and only gives them a broad description of what the season between His resurrection and the End of the Age will be like.

The Age we currently live in (between Jesus’ resurrection and return) is often referred to as the Age of Grace or the Age of the Church. That’s because now is the time for people to repent and believe in Christ, be saved by grace and be adopted into His Kingdom Family – represented on earth by the Church. According to Jesus, we should expect that this long season of history will be a time of wars, famines and natural disasters like earthquakes. Like birthpains, these painful realities will, grow more intense and more frequent as the time of His return draws near.

But for us who live through this age, the greatest danger is not physical. The greatest danger is that these things will cause us to look to someone or something other than Jesus to save us! As Jesus said, Throughout human history we see this playing out as great human leaders arise and claim to be the next great saviour. Then, instead of trusting in Jesus as the only Saviour and Deliverer, people idolise human leaders and put their faith in them instead.

So let’s heed Jesus’ warning. Let’s live with our eyes open to the spiritual reality. Let’s not be deceived into putting our trust in anyone but Jesus to lead us safely home!

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn one or more of these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ:

• I will trust in Jesus alone for my salvation.
• I will not be fooled by those teaching a detailed timeline for the End, despite what Jesus Himself said.
• I will not be fooled into idolising human leaders.

Lord Jesus, thank You for being my one and only Saviour. Holy Spirit, keep me focussed and faithful to Jesus. Amen.