Audio Transcript
We probably all feel something when we watch the news. We see wars and hear of rumors of war, famines, natural disasters all over the globe, corruption, arrests, and crimes. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by all the bad news. Or we just go completely numb to it all. But what if Jesus said not to do either of those things? Instead, see those things as signs, as ‘birth pains’ of the end times. Today on Ask Pastor John: our main calling in the end times.
Grace lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. She asks about it in this timely question: “Pastor John, thank you for this podcast! In our Matthew 24:3–14 reading today, Jesus describes signs of the end times, such as wars, famines, earthquakes, and false prophets. As you see events in the news, natural disasters, political unrest, or the spread of fake news and deception online, do you think of this passage and its warning? How does this text shape your understanding of world events? Jesus calls these ‘the beginning of the birth pains,’ reminding us that such troubles are part of the world’s history before his return. When you encounter these signs in the media, do they deepen your sense of urgency to live faithfully and share the gospel?”
Well, the short answer is yes, but let me preface what I have to say about the signs of the times with something I think is just as important — or probably more important — that caused me to write a whole book three years ago about the second coming.
“The great danger for Christians is not that we misread the signs but that we get drunk and dull.”
The biblical text that took hold of me and still captures my attention and my heart, especially as I come to the end of my life, is 2 Timothy 4:7–8, which Paul wrote at the end of his life. He said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day.” And then he adds, “and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” That’s amazing. The same crown that’s going to Paul is going to everybody.
Loving Jesus’s Appearing
Now, I don’t think that’s a reference to a select group of Christians. I think that’s Paul’s definition of a Christian. Remember, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16:22, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” Loving Jesus is not second-stage Christianity. It is Christianity. And for Paul, to love Jesus is to love his appearing. How could it not be? To want his fellowship is to want his fellowship face to face. My burden is that even more urgent than whether we are tuned in to the signs of the times is whether we love the appearing of the Lord Jesus. Does it have a prominent place in our affections? Do we want him to show up? Do we love him? That’s my chief concern.
Jesus said, “The Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father” (Matthew 16:27). He said, amazingly, “He will dress himself [on that day] for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them” (Luke 12:37). Unbelievable. Glorious. Paul said in Colossians 3:4, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” And Philippians 3:20–21 says, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Wow, what an expectancy Paul had. He just loved the thought of the Lord Jesus coming, and he had a very clear understanding of what the second coming would mean, both for those who are still alive and for those who had died.
He said, “The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord,” which is where it all ends (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). We love the Lord. We want to be with the Lord. What an amazing paragraph.
There are so many reasons to love the Lord and to love his appearing. That’s what we should be giving ourselves to every day. We should nurture our love for the Lord and our love for his appearing.
Signs of the Times
Grace is asking me if Jesus’s description — the end times in Matthew 24 — guides me toward a greater sense of urgency when I see those kinds of things happening today. And I said yes.
In that text which she refers to — namely, Matthew 24:3–14 — Jesus refers to signs like these: the appearance of false Christs, the appearance of false prophets, wars that we can hear firsthand and reports of wars that are at a distance, famines, earthquakes (and Luke adds “pestilences” — that is, plagues, pandemics, Luke 21:11), opposition to the gospel, martyrdom, lawlessness, Christians falling away from the faith, the love of many growing cold, the need to endure to the end, the gospel being proclaimed as a testimony to all the nations, and finally, the end of the age. Matthew 24:27 describes it like this: “As the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
“Loving Jesus is not second-stage Christianity. It is Christianity. And for Paul, to love Jesus is to love his appearing.”
It’s true, as Grace points out in her question, that most of these signs have been with us since the first century, which is why Jesus distinguished between being alarmed and being ready. He said in Matthew 24:6, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” But I think it would dishonor the Lord Jesus, I think it would be a mistake, if we became cynical and said, “Well, since the signs have been here all along, they can’t have any effect on making us feel a sense of expectancy or urgency.” I think that’s a mistake.
Spiritually Alert
Why would the Lord say these things if he did not intend for us to be alert spiritually? That’s why he says repeatedly, “stay awake,” “be ready,” “watch,” “be alert” (Matthew 24:42, 44). The great danger for Christians is not that we misread the signs but that we get drunk and dull — I mean spiritually, emotionally, personally dull, blind, and drunk so that we couldn’t see the Lord’s coming if it slapped us in the face. That’s the danger.
So, while the Lord doesn’t want us to be alarmed at the prospect of his coming, he does want us to have a sense of urgency to fight the spiritual battles that will keep us awake. That’s the issue: Keep us alert, fully engaged in doing his will so that we won’t be ashamed when he comes.
How often I have returned in my vocational urgency with, “Do Ask Pastor John with all your heart; preach with all your heart; witness with all your heart; write with all your heart.” Why? Because Matthew 24:46 says, “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” That’s the issue. Are you pouring your life out into God’s calling on your life with all your heart, or are you just coasting in life, wasting your life, while the Lord of glory, who is going to reward us for everything we do, shows up, and you don’t even care? What a crazy way to live.
The very fact that God has established a connection between the second coming and natural disasters like earthquakes and famines and pandemics and between the second coming and wars and apostasy and persecution — these social realities show that he intends for us to see a correlation between the staggering reality of the second coming and the great upheavals in the earth and in society.
So, I don’t think we have to become alarmist date-setters when we see the intensifying of such signs. Instead, we should be made sober-minded and prayerful and vigilant over our spiritual lives, earnest in all the will of God, and faithful in all our duties with the rising desire for the Lord’s coming.
