Season 5 Podcast 9 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 24 “The Destruction of the Temple.”

Season 5 Podcast 9 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 24 “The Destruction of the Temple.”Matthew 24 was given to his disciples on the Mount of Olives; therefore, it is sometimes referred to as the Olivet Sermon.  The Mount of Olives overlooks the temple of Jerusalem. The temple would have loomed huge and formidable before their eyes; therefore, it is the perfect of setting and perhaps the most startling of Christ’s predictions. Jesus opens his sermon by saying:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.Four of his disciples came to Jesus Privately and asked when this would occur.3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?In Mark 13 we learn the names of the four disciples: Peter, James, John, and Andrew. As shown above they ask two specific questions.1.     When will the temple be destroyed?2.     What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? It is helpful to read Matthew 24 in that context. In this podcast we shall cover scriptures relating to the destruction of the temple. Let’s begin with verses 4 & 5.4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.Clearly apostasy began very early in the church. Many Jews who rejected the true Messiah continued to look for another, thus opening the door for many, seeking glory, to claim to be Christ. It appears that even members of the church would be deceived by such claims, thus the Savior’s warning. The threat of apostasy from the true doctrines of Christ never ends.Now let’s consider verses 9-13—notice, of course, that there shall be overlap because many of the conditions that existed then will also exist in our day.9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.Historically we know that the early Christians suffered tremendous persecutions. Many of the apostles became martyrs.  Apparently it reached into the church itself where members of the church began to betray each other and even hate each other. In fact, many of the teachings of the apostles address the cause of dissension that is growing among the members of the church. In addition, false prophets arose. The Savior set up his organization. He chose twelve apostles to guide his church and of those Twelve he appointed Peter, James, and John to be the head. Those self-appointed prophets or apostles who worked outside of that system were false; however, they would deceive many. Notice that sin or iniquity is anathema to the pure love of Christ. Sin hardens men’s hearts and causes love to “wax cold.” The Savior’s admonition is universal, “He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.” Endurance is one of the saving virtues.