As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. 

Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus, here, shares with disciples about the end times. He tells them to watch out for false prophets and false signs that are not signs of the end times. This is a very important passage for them and for us.  

Of particular note, Jesus quotes a part of Daniel and references it. This is evidence that the God of Daniel in the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament. He does not change.  

When living in times that feel like the end times, with religious persecution, we are to remember the following things:

1. Famines, earthquakes, wars, and other worldwide events are not necessarily indicators of the end times. Here they are called just the start of birth pains.
2. After these things happen, Jesus says Christ-followers will be handed over to the authorities and persecuted and put to death. They will be hated by all nations.
3. Another sign of the end times will be that many turn away from the faith. And in turning away, they will betray and persecute their Christian brothers and sisters.
4. Another sign of the end times is that the love of many will grow cold. What does this look like? It looks like people caring only about themselves, no value for the lives of others. “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.” (Romans 1:29-30) Corruption abounding, deception common practice, and huge pride.
5. Finally, one of the signs of the end times is that the gospel will be preached to every nation. And those who stand firm until the end will be saved.

This last sign stands in direct conflict to those who say, “As long as you acknowledge Jesus with your mouth only then you are saved.” Faith must be active or it is worthless.. It requires perseverance, truth, honesty, dedication, repentance, and a belief in God that he will come through in the end. Without this active faith, there is no Christian, there is no Christ-follower.

Many try to find a path to God around Jesus, though the only path to him is through Jesus.  “For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’  Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and, ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.” (‭‭I Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭8‬)

Either we build our life on Jesus with complete surrender and obedience, as the cornerstone, or we will stumble and fall in a world of evil.  Disobedience leads to destruction.

Lord, thank you for this passage that makes it clear that while we are to pay attention to the end times, we are to be alert and in how we live out our faith today. If we build on you as the cornerstone, we have nothing to worry about. But we need to pay attention and look at when we should follow your lead as the times come to an end. I have confidence in you because I spend time with you, trust you, and do your work. Help me to share my active faith with others.