Wednesday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 24, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 24:1-14 (NKJV)
24:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Devotion
When? When will these things happen? When Jesus speaks of the temple, He is really speaking of Himself. That is our first clue to understanding “when?” His resurrection is the beginning of the end of the age. A new world is breaking forth as Jesus rises from His tomb. The age of the Church proclaiming the Kingdom of God is here. We are living in the end times.
Then Jesus answers His disciples’ question with warnings not to be deceived, and about the violent persecution to come. This gives us the impression that the Church age will be an extended period of time. It will take some time for multiple false Christs and false prophets to arise, for multiple earthquakes and wars and persecutions to happen. We do not know how long this will be, but we have been experiencing it for a while now.
Then Jesus says: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” We are certainly close to that point. There are very few nations on this planet who have not had the Gospel preached to them. Jesus’ second coming is sooner than we think.
Prayer: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offenses; that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the End of the Church Year
We thank Thee, Lord God, Heavenly Father, that in the past church Year Thou hast preserved Thy Word among us in purity, and by it sensibly quickened our souls; and we beseech Thee, Thou wouldst graciously forgive us all our neglect, unbelief, and disobedience of Thy Word, and continue unto us this precious treasure with Thy blessing forevermore; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
