Deciphering Matthew 10:22

[00:00:00] All right, let's go to Matthew 10 as well as Matthew 24. [00:00:07] So we'll go to both passages, do a little bit of flipping between them to get started. [00:00:13] Matthew, chapter 10 and Matthew chapter number 24. [00:00:24] The Lord will help us. This evening, I'm going to attempt to. To deal with what might be considered to be a problem verse, a problem verse in the book of Matthew. [00:00:43] And that verse is found in verse number 22. [00:00:48] Well, at least I know one of us is keyed in on this. Ms. Pam was mouthing the reference out as I was saying it. I happened to look at her. And so at least I know one person has come across this verse and been like, I don't really know what to say about that. I don't know that I'm going to be able to answer all the questions. I still probably, I no doubt have some lingering questions about it, but we're going to make an attempt at it. All right. We're going to address it a little bit. [00:01:16] It's important, though, that we understand and have the foundation that hopefully we have of Matthew chapter 10 verses, especially verses 16, down through number 25 about the context of this verse. Now, remember, there are three layers of this passage that are evident. Okay. [00:01:41] You can't, and I can't look at these verses and say any one of the three layers stands alone. [00:01:51] If you say that, or if I say that, we are going. [00:01:55] You're going to run into a wall. Right? All right. Number one, this is referring to. This is a statement that is meant for the 12 disciples in reference to their preaching ministry at this time, which is a temporary thing. That's what this context is. Okay, well, that doesn't if it includes that. But it's not only that, okay? Because as we saw this morning and before, these things did not happen to the disciples on this preaching excursion. That's number one. Number two, that this is a reference to something like we saw this morning. This is a general admonitions and things they're put in remembrance of regarding persecution in a general sense. And that's what we looked at this morning. Okay, but it can't just be that either because there's very specific things here regarding the coming of the Lord, specifically in verse 23. [00:02:54] So in other words, it's specific enough that it can't just be this generalized view. Okay. Although that's included. [00:03:02] Aren't you glad that the Bible is. There's more to it than just the. Just the immediate kind of superficial things. You keep digging and there's more and more and more. Okay, and then number three, which is what we're going to look at tonight, which is this passage refers to a time in the distant future, especially compared to where they are now in the ministry of Christ. [00:03:27] To them this is far distant into the future to us, even still future. [00:03:34] And that is indicated by also by verse number 23 and the mention of the coming of the Son of man, but also of the mention of the various circumstances of affliction, oppression and persecution that we read this morning in the passage. So let's pray and then we'll dive in. Our Father in heaven, thank you for the opportunity to look in your word. Lord, help me to just make these truths, this passage as clear as I can. Lord, I pray especially forget about what I might do, but I pray that your spirit will would be the teacher and would help us to understand the word of God in the way, in the proper, the proper understanding as you intended it when you wrote the scripture and you gave it to brother Matthew. And so Lord, we pray that you would guide our study tonight, that your name might be glorified, that we might grow from it and you might help us in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. [00:04:33] So the verse in question is verse number 22. [00:04:36] It says this and let's just read the verse. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Now forget about the rest of the verse and just look at the second part. They call it be right, verse 22, be he that endureth to the end shall be saved. [00:05:00] Okay, that's the problem part right there. That's the problem part. [00:05:05] Now if you read this verse in isolation, and I warn you, I warn you against reading verses in isolation because you and I can quickly, can quickly misunderstand what a verse is saying by just reading it in isolation. Why is that? Because just like in everything, everything in our life, any bit of information, a statement from a news article, I mean, you know, social media is full of memes and statements, one liners right Is full of this kind of thing these days. But when you do that and there's no context to what it's saying, what you do, in essence, what I do is we bring own context into it. Okay, so when we read, when we read verse number 22, he that endureth to the end shall be saved. We see that word saved immediately. What do we think of Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Acts 4:12, that's Acts 16:30. 1, but Acts 4:12 talks about believing on Christ, trusting in him being saved. [00:06:19] So we read into this, we come at the passage, and we say, this is what saved. This has to refer to this saved that I'm familiar with. But remember, this was not spoken to us. This is a narrative that the Lord spoke to the disciples at this point in history. [00:06:41] Okay? So it has to be looked at in that context. Not only that, but the word end. [00:06:47] Word end. How many definitions of the word end can you think of? [00:06:52] End. That's not exactly clear. If you just read this one verse, it's not exactly clear. [00:06:59] So some people have said this refers to various things. [00:07:02] The most common explanation is that end refers to the end of one's life. [00:07:08] I think of all the explanations, that is the worst one, and I'll show you in a minute. [00:07:15] So these are the ways that we approach a verse, and we bring our own interpretation to it and interpret it that way. And to be honest with you, this is how most interpreters have interpreted it. And this is the source of so much trouble. [00:07:32] It's the source of so much trouble. Now, what we need to do is we need to do a short comparison between Matthew 10 and Matthew 24, because some things in Matthew chapter 10 are repeated in Matthew 24, so there's overlap. Okay? So let's look at the ways that these are common. So I hope you have one hand open to Matthew 10 and the other hand open to Matthew 24 so that we can flip back and forth and see the common parts and verses between the two. First of all, Matthew chapter 10, verse 17 says this, but beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. [00:08:14] And then in verse 21 says, and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father, the child, and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. [00:08:24] Then you flip to Matthew 24, verse 9. Note the similarity. [00:08:30] Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. The idea of being delivered up, Christians, saints, being delivered up to affliction and being killed. Now, let me clarify. While we're in 24, let me clarify the context of chapter 24. Look at verse number two. [00:08:54] 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. [00:09:05] And as he sat upon the mount of Olives. The disciples came unto him privately saying, tell us, when shall these things be? Notice the question, when shall these things be? [00:09:20] And what shall be the sign of thy coming? And of the. What's that word? [00:09:26] Oh, that's an interesting word. End of the world. [00:09:30] So the. And then the Lord goes into the Olivet discourse, which is what this is called, and he describes this. He answers these questions when they will be. What are the signs of his coming which marks the end of the world? That he's answering the question in chapters 24 and 5. Okay, there is no ambiguity, at least as far as we're concerned about what chapter 24 and 5 refer to. It refers to a future literal, personal coming of Christ. Right? [00:10:03] He only comes twice. He came the first time, he's returning the second time. Okay, so now I understand that there are people that read Matthew 24:5 and they do not interpret it like that. They say that 24 and 5 refer only to. To the destruction of Jerusalem which happened in A.D. 70. [00:10:23] But I don't think you can prove that from this passage. But we'll get into that in a minute maybe. Alright, go back to Matthew 10. [00:10:31] Another common feature between the two is in verse number 22 it says, and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, which is hatred of all, hatred by all nations for Christ's sake. Look at 24, verse 9 once again it says in the second part, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my sake. We might call this universal hatred of the saints. Okay, then back in 10, verse number 21, betraying of one another, the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, the father, the child. [00:11:12] Children rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. In 24, verse 10, note. [00:11:18] And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. [00:11:26] Then of course, in our verse in question, Matthew 10:22, he that endureth to the end shall be saved. That's also found in Matthew 24. Verse 13 says this, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. [00:11:45] And that's really the key of what we're getting at. But we need to cover these bases first. Okay, look at 10, verse 23. [00:11:53] In both 10 and 24 there is. There is a mention of flights or fleeing. I mentioned that this morning. [00:12:00] Verse number 23 of Matthew 10 says, but when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another. [00:12:07] Got that? There's a flight as a result of persecution. Back to 24, look at verse number 16. [00:12:17] Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. [00:12:22] Verse 20. But pray ye that your flight be not in winter, neither on the Sabbath day. [00:12:28] Now, you'll notice both of them have the idea of a flat flight, but the flight is different. Do you notice that in Matthew 10, the flight is from city to city from fleeing persecution, but in 24, it's different. It's a flight into the desert. [00:12:47] It's a flight into the desert that's different. It's not from city to city to city. It's from the civilization to the wilderness. [00:12:57] Okay, so that's a. Although that's common, it's a little bit different. Okay. And then lastly, in Matthew 10, verse 23, the second part of the verse says, verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come. [00:13:13] Then in 24, verse 30, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. [00:13:29] Now, so why did I show you all that? [00:13:32] Because I want you to see that there is overlap between these two. Okay. I don't want to lose anybody here. Not that this is. I mean, I'm not trying to be like, super deep here, but. [00:13:45] So Matthew 10 has an aspect that deals directly with the immediate command context, but it also has an aspect that deals with something yet future. We know that because Matthew 24 repeats some of the same things. [00:14:02] And also Matthew 10 has things that could not be true at that time. [00:14:06] Okay. There are also some things in Matthew, chapter 24 that are not found in Matthew 10, which expands upon the truths. For instance, verse 5, Matthew 24, verse 5. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. [00:14:26] The appearance of false Christs is not mentioned in Matthew 10. [00:14:31] Wars and rumors of wars, verse 6. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. [00:14:41] Wars and rumors of wars are not mentioned in Matthew 10, verse number 7. [00:14:46] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places. [00:14:56] Famines and pestilences are not mentioned in Matthew 10, verse 11. [00:15:01] Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive. Many false prophets are not mentioned in Matthew 10, verse 12. [00:15:10] And because iniquity shall abound the love of Many shall wax cold, love becoming cold. Not mentioned in Matthew 10, verse number 14. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. [00:15:27] None of that is mentioned in Matthew 10. For they stayed. In fact, Jesus told them, remember, go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This is worldwide. Okay, verse number 29. [00:15:40] Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. I want to tell you something frightful. [00:15:56] I can't think of anything more terrifying life that could be than this. [00:16:07] The movement of the stars, the sun and the moon. And I think what this is referring to, the powers. [00:16:14] I was talking to brother means, because, you know, he was getting a doctorate in physics, right? He knows that kind of stuff. Like you ask him, say, tell me about what holds a proton and neutron together. And he's like, yeah, well, it's just the weak force and then the weak strong force and all this. I mean, he knows all this stuff, quarks and whatever. He knows all this stuff. Imagine the very laws that bind the universe, the physical universe, together starting to be unraveled. [00:16:42] Imagine the terror, the effect of that. Just. Just the Lord kind of just tinkering with it a little. [00:16:51] I mean, we have never seen anything like that in this world. [00:17:01] That would be absolutely mortifying. [00:17:04] But again, that's not found. The signs in heaven and in earth are not found in Matthew 10. And lastly, verse 30 we read already, but it mentions, they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Now, the coming of the Son of Man is briefly mentioned in Matthew 10, but there's no mention of his glory in his coming. [00:17:28] Okay, so to summarize, before we get into verse 22 of Matthew 10 is this. [00:17:38] There are parts of Matthew 10 and 24 that overlap, and then there are parts of Matthew 24 that are not found in Matthew 10 because it is expanded, right? It's more fully developed in Matthew 24 than in Matthew 10. [00:17:58] Okay, so here's the takeaways from this. [00:18:05] Certain parts of Matthew 10 find their true understanding in the context of Matthew 24, which is why they're repeated there. [00:18:17] That's when their full context comes to bear. [00:18:20] So here's a few. I call them anchor truths. In other words, things that we can discern from these two passages. Looking at these things together. Okay, you ready? Here they are. [00:18:31] Number one, practically none of the things of these things in Matthew 10 occurred to the disciples before Christ died, rose, and ascended. [00:18:43] All these things that we listed that are common between the two, being afflicted and killed, hated of all nations, betrayed this enduring to the end, the same shall be saved the fleeing the coming of the Son of man. None of those happened before Christ ascended to heaven. Therefore, they must point to a future time, though, although that future point in time is a bit unclear when you read Matthew chapter 10. Right. [00:19:16] In other words, he mentions the coming of the Son of Man and these various other things. And we know historically that that did not happen to the disciples. So therefore, we know its future. But where in the future is not clear. [00:19:27] Now, when we get to Matthew 24, however, this is the key. [00:19:33] But I'm getting ahead of myself. All right, number two, the common things mentioned in Matthew 24 also had not occurred by the time of Matthew 24 as well. [00:19:47] So all those afflictions and events were yet future at the time that the Lord spoke the Olivet discourse. [00:19:54] All right, so Matthew 10 had not happened. Between 10 and 24 still had not happened. [00:20:00] So by the time at 24 comes, and the Lord's explaining more in more detail, all of these afflictions and events, they still had not happened. Okay, okay, moving on. [00:20:14] In Matthew 24, the events that are common between chapter 10 and 24 are attached to specific time markers in Matthew 24. What do I mean by that? Okay, this is so important. You get. [00:20:33] There are. There are statements that you can't really nail down when they happen or in what context they happen. In Matthew 10, it's just stated, right? It's just stated without any reference to time. And then later we know they didn't happen. Right? We know historically none of those things happen. You get to 24 at the Olivet discourse, toward the end of Christ's life, Christ repeats those same statements, then expands upon them. That's why we went through those lists. Okay? [00:20:58] But in that case, he attached it to certain events that indicate time so that it helps us understand when these things happen. [00:21:10] Okay, everybody with me? [00:21:14] Like, for instance, when stuff starts happening with the sun and the moon and the stars, that's a time marker. [00:21:21] Okay? That's all I'm trying to say. [00:21:24] All right, now I'm not going to go. I won't read all of these for time's sake, because I want to get to our verse in question. But some of the time markers, in other words, events that happen that are so specific that they could be nailed down to a certain time. [00:21:41] Are these in Matthew 24, which is where we're at now, the appearance of false Christs. [00:21:48] People who come in Christ's name and saying, I am Christ. [00:21:53] Okay, wars and rumors of wars, an increase in international conflict, famines and pestilences. [00:22:01] Covid. Excuse me, Sorry, sorry, I got something in my throat. [00:22:11] Verse 11 mentions large scale deception, shall deceive many. It says verse 15 is the first real clear one. [00:22:20] The abomination of desolation. [00:22:23] It says, when you therefore shall see. The abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. That is unambiguous. That is going straight back to Daniel, chapter nine, when a very specific event is prophesied by Daniel with the time. Did you know? The abomination, desolation is actually the time it happens is also listed. [00:22:45] It's prophetically very, very distinct. [00:22:49] And the Lord says, okay, that's a time marker. This has not happened. Now here's what people that interpret this text differently would say. They would say that the abomination of desolation, which in Daniel refers to a time in which a man proclaims himself to be God and stands in the temple of God to demand worship. Alright, that's the abomination of desolation that Daniel refers to. [00:23:15] Those who do not accept this paradigm that I'm describing to you, they would say, well, this was just referring to the destruction of Jerusalem. But the problem is that that didn't happen in AD 70. [00:23:26] When Titus. When Titus the general came in to Jerusalem in AD 70. He didn't do that. All he did was destroy the city. He didn't do any of that. [00:23:38] So in order to do that, you kind of just kind of in order to say, well, this is just the destruction of Jerusalem, you kind of got to just kind of, kind of just. It's similar, you know, just kind of throw it together. [00:23:54] But that's not what happened, right? Historically, that's not what happened. [00:23:59] Okay, notice verse 15. [00:24:02] I mentioned time markers. Notice. What's the first word? [00:24:06] When verse 16, what's the first word then? [00:24:12] Those are time words, right? So these events and these admonitions are attached to this time. [00:24:23] Got it. This is going to be important in just a minute, I promise. I know I'm boring, some of you probably, but just hang with me, okay? [00:24:32] All right. Verse 21, Trouble. Unlike any other in history, past or future. Notice what it says. For then shall be great tribulation. The word tribulation. I know we've put it. We've used it as a proper name for a period of time. But the word tribulation just means trouble. But this is great trouble. And it's specific because it says such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time. No, nor ever shall be. You know what that means? [00:24:59] It is one time in history, never before, never after. Unique. [00:25:06] That's a time marker, right? [00:25:08] If something happens but one time and no other time, that's a time marker. All right. Verse number 22. [00:25:16] The potential death of everyone on earth. [00:25:20] That's pretty important. [00:25:21] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. That's pretty clear. [00:25:27] Great signs done by false prophets, verse 24. [00:25:31] For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect. Now, hold your place here. I want to pause on this one and go to Second Thessalonians, chapter 2. [00:25:47] Second Thessalonians, chapter two, verse number four. [00:26:13] Let's start in verse number. [00:26:16] Start in verse number three. [00:26:18] Second Thessalonians 2, verse 3 says this. Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first. And that man of sin shall be revealed. Notice the man of sin, that's a reference to the Antichrist, the Son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God. So all of we're reading here is future. [00:26:46] At least at the time of Paul. It has not happened. Okay. And it is indeed future to us as well, because it hasn't happened since that time either. [00:26:56] So that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [00:27:04] Then drop down to verse number eight. [00:27:06] And then shall that wicked capital W, referring to the same person be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Notice this, because this aligns with Matthew 24. Even him whose coming is after the power, after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders. See that? So the Antichrist, and we know it from Revelation, the false prophet will have the ability to perform miraculous signs. [00:27:42] That's also something that's never happened. Thus, it is a time marker. Okay. All right. Go back to Matthew 24, verse 29. [00:27:53] There will be signs in the heavens, in the moon, in the sun, in the stars, and in the powers of heaven. Again, a time marker. [00:28:04] Now, the way those that interpret this differently, the way I think wrongly the way that they explain this is just by saying this is just poetic language to refer to really bad things. [00:28:18] But I'll leave it to you. Read the passage and you tell me whether it's poetry or whether it's accounts of events, okay? I think it's pretty clear. [00:28:31] And then in verse 30, finally, a time marker is the actual coming of Christ, the literal, personal return of Christ. That's a time marker that happens only one time. Okay? [00:28:44] So to summarize here, elements of Matthew 10 are repeated in 24. In 10, they're not clear as to time. In 24, they're expanded and attached to specific events in time, okay, which are yet future. [00:29:01] By looking at them both, we therefore can understand that the things that are written, the things that are common between the two passages, 10 and 24, actually reference the time of the second coming of Christ. [00:29:16] Okay? [00:29:18] And we saw that originally when we came into Matthew 10, we saw something's going on here that's broader than the immediate. [00:29:25] Therefore, the verse in question, which is 10:22, and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Therefore, that verse is properly interpreted in the context of the coming of Christ. [00:29:42] Okay? That's why I went through all that. [00:29:45] Everybody with me. [00:29:47] And I think this is the key to why this verse is so difficult. [00:29:52] The moment you take it out of its context and you put it in some other context that you have decided, and I have decided it makes no more sense. [00:30:03] Okay, now going Back to Matthew 24, let me explain some alternative explanations of Matthew 24. How many of you have heard of the doctrine of preterism? [00:30:14] Preterism. [00:30:16] Preterism. Preterism teaches that all, basically all of the passages of Scripture that we believe are future prophetic have already happened. [00:30:30] Like Matthew 24 and 25 are a perfect example of that. So they say a preterist would say that Matthew 24 refers only to and solely to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. [00:30:45] But just read it. [00:30:48] Did all of the things happen that we read here happen at that time? The answer is no, if you take them literally. So what they do is they make them figurative or allegorical or spiritual. They take out the literal part, and they say it's just poetic language. [00:31:09] But listen, the persecutions, the gospel being preached, and this is where they kind of deal a little bit inconsistently, because preaching the gospel can't be figurative. [00:31:21] And then the signs be lit. The signs be. I'm sorry, the signs be figurative, and the Preaching of the Gospel, be literal. You can't switch it like that just willy nilly. Right. [00:31:32] In verse 15, as I mentioned already, the abomination of desolation did not occur in AD 70. [00:31:46] And then also the coming of Christ in verse 30 by a preterist who views all of this chapter as past. [00:31:56] Also, they also interpret the coming of Christ in verse 30 to be a figurative coming, referring only to the destruction of Jerusalem. In other words, Jesus came in judgment, air quoted, but he didn't actually come personally. [00:32:14] But in order to arrive here, what we have to do is we have to come at the passage with a completely different set of assumptions to interpret the passage. [00:32:23] In other words, we have to make it fit our doctrine and not take the words at their regular historical, grammatical, human meaning. [00:32:36] Okay, I would like you to. Before we get. And once I get to our verse in question, we'll be done pretty quick. So look at Revelation chapter 13 real quick. [00:32:48] Revelation chapter 13, Revelation 13 is a vision. Okay? [00:32:58] So we expect to find symbolic language in a vision, and indeed we do. [00:33:05] Okay. [00:33:06] But this vision is a vision of two beasts that rise up. [00:33:14] And we'll just look at a couple of things. [00:33:21] Verse 5, 13, 5. And there was given unto him a mouth. This is the first beast speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given unto him to continue 40 and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle. We saw that already in second Thessalonians. Right. [00:33:40] And them that dwell in heaven. [00:33:44] And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given unto him over. Given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. [00:34:05] Look at, look at verse 13. There's a second beast. [00:34:08] And this second beast, verse 13 says, and he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth. So this is the purpose of the miracles he does, that they should make an image to the beast which had a wound by a sword and did live. [00:34:33] And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all but small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [00:34:57] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 600, threescore and 6. [00:35:08] So you have all of these things. He's at war with the saints, this beast. Right. [00:35:14] He's implementing a system. [00:35:17] I don't know the specifics of it. He's implementing a system that bars a person from getting necessary things from buying and selling unless they align themselves with this mark. [00:35:29] Right. That's what we see here. [00:35:32] If you're a saint at this time, this is serious persecution. [00:35:37] This is serious oppression. Look at chapter 20. [00:35:42] Look at chapter 20, verse nine. [00:35:55] I'm sorry, chapter 19, not 20. I apologize. [00:35:59] Chapter 19, verse 20. [00:36:02] And the beast was taken with him. [00:36:06] Hold on a second. [00:36:16] Oh, it slipped my mind. I must have wrote down the wrong verse again. [00:36:20] But there's a verse in Revelation, maybe one of you can find it quickly, that describes that there are those in heaven who were beheaded during this time of great trouble as a direct result of their refusal to take this mark, which will enable them to buy and sell. In other words, people died. Now, now what is it? [00:36:42] 20, verse four. Okay, I wrote a nine instead of a four. Look at 20, verse four. [00:36:49] And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus. All right, you think? Well, okay, yeah. Many people have been beheaded. Yep. But look at the context. And for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. [00:37:13] Now, take all that we've studied from Matthew 10, Matthew 24, 2nd Thessalonians. [00:37:19] You see great overlap here. We're talking about one period of time, because it only ever happens once. That's why it's a time marker. [00:37:27] And the saints at this time are absolutely being destroyed. [00:37:32] They're being turned over because people can't buy or sell. [00:37:35] They don't want to be aligned with them because the government's going to come after them. So they turn them over. [00:37:42] And these people are under serious, serious Duress, and many of them die. They're executed, like Jesus says in Matthew 10 and 24. [00:37:52] Now go back to Matthew 24, and we're going to finish this thing up and bring her in for a landing. [00:37:58] Matthew 24, verse number 13. [00:38:20] So it is in this context, just prior to the coming of Christ in his second advent, that verse 13, that he says, verse 13. That's where it's supposed to be interpreted. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. [00:38:38] There's only one other place in this passage that the word saved occurs. [00:38:43] It's in verse number 22. [00:38:49] Verse 21 talks about great tribulation that was unique in world history. [00:38:54] Trouble, destruction so destructive that it could, if left to continue, would literally wipe out the entirety of the population of the earth. You say God would never do that. He already did it once, verse 22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. [00:39:17] So if we come at our verse, verse number 13, if we come at it and we say saved is referring to the salvation of the soul from sin, that's how we understand it from a New Testament perspective. [00:39:28] But in the context, being saved is in reference to all of the events that are happening in this context, which is the persecution, the oppression, the. The being hunted down. All of these things that are happening, there's many, many of them that are very, very, very terrible to think about. [00:39:51] So in the proper context, the saved is in reference to the tribulation in verse 21 that threatens to end the lives of everyone on earth. No flesh should be saved. Secondly, in this context, what are these people enduring? It says, he that shall endure unto the end. What are they enduring? [00:40:14] They're enduring these terrible events in the immediate time that this is spoken of. [00:40:22] Extreme duress from oppression by those who refuse to worship the Antichrist. We already looked at that hatred of all nations, persecution by the world, affliction of all kinds, betrayal, and the list goes on. That is what these people are enduring. [00:40:42] It is therefore unjustified to simply inject into the context of this passage a kind of endurance that simply means enduring any kind of trouble and all kinds of trouble, whatever it may be. In a general sense, this is specific. Okay. [00:41:01] Besides that, we know for a fact there are Christians who do not endure and yet are saved. [00:41:08] In other words, if endure means just any kind of trouble or temptation or whatever. Just generally, we know Christians don't endure it because there are some Christians who come at the judgment seat of Christ and are saved, yet so as by fire they didn't endure. There are some Christians who sin unto death. And. And because they refuse to repent, what does God do? He takes their life, but their soul is saved. [00:41:32] Those exist, people who do not endure, if that's what it's referring to. [00:41:41] And then the third one is this. The word end, verse 13 says, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. The word end in this passage is mentioned through three times. Look at these three times for me. [00:41:55] Verse 3. [00:41:58] Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world, verse 6. [00:42:07] And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass. But the end is not yet verse 14. [00:42:18] And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. [00:42:28] In this context, end most certainly does not refer to the end of one's life. You know what that's called? It's called eisegesis. [00:42:38] When you read into and put into the text, instead of taking out of the text. That's the technical word for it. End does not refer to the end of one's life, but to the end of this period, which is referring to the coming of Christ. [00:42:55] And that's mentioned in all three times. [00:42:58] So this endurance is salvation in a physical sense from the current and immediate trouble, tribulation, persecution, and affliction that occurred at the time immediately before the coming of Christ. In other words, there's going to be saints. [00:43:16] Now, not all of them will endure. Some of them will be killed. Did we not see that in Revelation 20? [00:43:23] But there will be some who endure all of these, all of these things. And just by the skin of their teeth, Jesus appears and wipes out all of their enemies and persecutors, and they are saved. [00:43:36] And that perfectly fits with the context of this passage. And that's when the Bible says, he will gather his elect. [00:43:44] They will go into his kingdom, saved from their enemies. That is repeated over and over in the prophetic books of the Old Testament, both Jews and Gentiles. [00:43:56] Now, now to finish, this is how this verse is usually interpreted. Okay. [00:44:11] Verse 13 in chapter 24 is often used as an argument for the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, which is a doctrine of Calvinism. Okay, I'm going to just say it plainly. Perseverance of the saints is not a biblical doctrine as it is defined by those who hold the doctrine. [00:44:33] Some people misunderstand Perseverance of the saints and assume it to mean eternal security. [00:44:38] It's not the same. Let me show you. [00:44:42] This verse is usually interpreted, he that shall endure unto the end. In other words, he continues to believe in Christ until the end of his life. And at the end of his life, finally he's saved. [00:44:59] Do you see any problems with that? [00:45:03] Does not the Bible teach regarding our soul that we are saved now? [00:45:08] We're not waiting now for the body, we're waiting to be saved. But our soul is saved already. It's not pending. [00:45:15] It's done. We have eternal life now. [00:45:20] Right. [00:45:22] So the way this is interpreted is to endure means endurance of any and every contrary circumstance in a believer's life, holds out, keeps his faith. The end refers to the end of one's life, even though that is wholly unsupported in the context. And saved then refers to one's personal eternal salvation. But that is not what the context indicates in this way. Think about it, Think about it and we're done with this. Think about it. [00:45:48] He that shall endure to the end shall be saved. He that holds out and keeps his faith until he dies shall be saved. [00:46:00] So a person keeps themselves saved. [00:46:05] Is that what I'm understanding? [00:46:08] By holding out, holding on, continuing to obey the Lord? I'll tell you, cults use this verse all the time. [00:46:15] See? Yeah, yeah, you got to join our church. And then the dirty little secret is you got to keep following the commandments of God until, all the way, until you die. And then finally you will be saved. There is no now salvation. It's always future. It's like the carrot and the donkey. [00:46:32] Since when does a person keep themselves saved by holding out and holding on? [00:46:37] Our salvation is not depending on our holding out and holding on. It's depending on the promise of God, full stop, right? Kept by the power of God. And so faced with this dilemma, they say, well, the Calvinists would say, well, yeah, you have to hold out and hold on and endure and keep your faith and all of that until you die. But you just won't do it. God will do it for you. [00:47:00] And so the Arminian says, the Arminian says, you got to keep your faith, hold out and hold on until you die, or else you won't end up being saved. And, and the Calvinist says, you got to keep out, keep your faith, hold out and hold on all the way until you die, or else you won't be saved. And the only difference between the two is one says it's up to you and one says God will do it for you. [00:47:21] And both are wrong, because that's not what this is talking about from the start. [00:47:28] But you know where the problem comes from. [00:47:31] Coming at the verse, ignoring the context. [00:47:36] And now you've put yourself in a place where you have an impossible task of interpreting a verse in light of Christian doctrine. That is not a ship that's going to sail. [00:47:49] It's just not going to work. Let's pray.