Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many […] And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:3-14).
“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). Christians have debated this question over two millennia. We want to know what the sign will be of Christ’s coming again and the end of the age. In this time of reset and revealing, the scriptural clarity of Jesus’ words are more evident than ever before. In every generation, we have seen these signs, but never have we seen all of them come to pass simultaneously and with such rapidity. Satan’s greatest weapon is deception. Therefore, Jesus warns His disciples not to be deceived! They must at all times guard their hearts. I find in our day, that that level of deception has gained greater momentum than ever due to the invention of the internet. The internet is fertile ground for error and is rife with falsehoods and false prophets who are deceiving many.
Jesus told His disciples that many would come in His name saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will deceive many (Matthew 24:5). It is difficult to imagine how this could happen, but it will happen because Christ said it would and because the unrighteous by rejecting the truth will believe the lie. Lying has become an internet pastime. I have been shocked that many who say they name the name of Christ, who is God’s truth, cannot discern truth from lies and even promote lies while thinking they are doing God’s work! In addition to these signs, there are wars and skirmishes all over the globe. One might think, “why is this happening? Why are men so incorrigible and inept at resolving problems? Why will they not sit down at the peace table and work out their differences?” It is because they do not know Jesus Christ. It is because everyone who is not in Christ is in some way under the sway of the wicked one! They live to do the devil’s work. To be truly in Christ is to be protected from satan’s deception. Being in Christ Jesus means that we feed on Him and not the words of those who are outside of Himself!
Jesus comforts the end time believers saying, “see that you are not troubled […] and he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:6,13). Our ability to not be troubled in the midst of overwhelming chaos and to endure until He comes is through Christ! All our victory is through Him!