On This Day: When a Sign is Not a Sign

 

Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (Matthew 24:23-28)

 

   It is fascinating to me how this journey through Matthew 24 is both teaching me things I haven’t noticed before in previous travels through this gospel account, and discipling me in my present experiences in ways that are exactly what I need to wait on the Lord in patient expectation.

   I’m mesmerized by the way Jesus replies to the disciples’ three-part question, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” He has just described some things the disciples need to know about the first part of their question (when Jerusalem will be destroyed), and now he addresses the second part with a bigger answer than his apostles had asked.

   The way Jesus replied to them (as in the Scripture above) was to help them with his very first statement, “See that no one leads you astray” (vs 4). And one way Satan WILL lead many astray is by sending all kinds of false apostles and prophets who will perform amazing signs and wonders that if it were possible for the elect to be deceived, even they would fall for the deceptions.

   Not only will the elect not be deceived because they are the elect, but Jesus shows how relational his “keeping” of the elect will be by showing us how we are going to respond to the false signs and wonders. He puts in his word what all the elect will be able to read, understand, and believe. THERE… WILL… BE… NO… SIGNS… PRIOR… TO… HIS… COMING!!! NONE!!!!

   This means we will NEVER need to sift through stories we hear about Jesus being seen here, or heard there, or doing a miracle in that place just like the good ol’ days, or doing a sign on the Mount of Olives to get everyone over to Israel and tilt the planet in the wrong direction (allegory but for real as well!).

   In a sense, we can say that Jesus is making this VERY EASY! Any “signs” of what Paul called “another Jesus” that comes with “a different spirit” proclaimed through “a different gospel” (II Corinthians 11:4) will NEVER be true. They will ALWAYS be false. Lies. Deception.

   Yesterday, our home church viewed a sermon on Matthew 24 as part of our “church prep” time (what we all do on our own to get ready for church-time). We then had a good discussion on the first part of Matthew 24, considering how it is far more important to make sure we are NOT led astray than to agree with someone on a viewpoint that can’t be proved from Scripture.

   To have that followed today by Jesus’ warning that there are never going to be any preliminary signs of his coming helps us to stay focused on what really matters. While we wait for our Savior to return, we must do all we can to share the “good news of great joy” with others, to keep seeking to be filled with the Spirit as we use our spiritual gifts to serve one another in love, and to maintain our walk with God by meeting with him each morning in his word and prayer so we can always answer these three questions: “Father, what are you saying to me through your word today?” “Father, what are you doing in me and around me?” And, “Father, how do you want me to join you in your work so I am doing the good works you have prepared for me to do today?”

   And here’s what we will come to next: that as we keep living out our place in the body of Christ with the fullest attachment of faith and love, we will ABSOLUTELY KNOW when Jesus appears because NO ONE will be able to miss it!

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)