Matthew 24:4-8- What the Sign Isn’t: Three Distractions the Disciples Must Avoid

https://www.maynardvillefellowship.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Cooke-7-12-26.mp3 Wars. False messiahs. Famines. Pestilences. Earthquakes. For generations, Christians have pointed to these events as signs that the end of the world must be near. But Jesus says something very different: “See that you are not frightened…that is not yet the end.” Before telling His disciples what the sign would be, Jesus first warned them what the sign was not. False christs would attempt to lead them astray. Fighting nations would threaten to frighten them. Frightening disasters would shake the world around them. But these events were not the decisive sign. They were only “the beginning of birth pangs.” In this message, we examine the biblical and historical evidence surrounding the years between Christ’s resurrection and Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70—and discover why these upheavals were not evidence that Christ’s kingdom had failed, but that the old covenant order was passing away and the reign of the true Messiah was advancing. Join us as we consider three distractions the disciples had to avoid—and why Matthew 24:4–8 is not describing the end of the world.