A Prophetic Warning
(No. 3301)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1912.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold."
Matthew 24:12.
Christ had spoken to His disciples of earthquakes in divers places,
famines and pestilences–but these were only the beginning of sorrows.
Such things as these need not trouble Christians, for though the earth
is removed and the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea, yet
may the Believer be confident and his heart may abide at rest. Even
when the Master told His disciples that they would be hated of all men
for His name's sake, that needed not afflict them. He had taught them
before, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill
the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and
body in Hell." They were thus braced up to meet the fiery trial.
Earthquake, pestilence, war and persecution fail to disturb the
serenity of Believers in Christ! But the evil spoken of in our
text–this is the wound, this is the sorrow! Here is something to
tremble at! "Because iniquity shall abound"–that is worse than
pestilence– "the love of many shall grow cold"–that is worse than
persecution! As all the water outside a vessel can do it no harm until
it enters the vessel, itself, so outward persecutions cannot really
injure the Church of God. But when the mischief oozes into the Church
and the love of God's people grows cold–ah, then the boat is in sore
distress! I fear that we are much in this condition at the present
hour. May the Holy Spirit bless the alarming prophecy now before us to
our awakening!
I. Notice, first, THE CAUSE OF THAT GRIEVOUS CHILL OF HEART which is
here spoken of–"Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
grow cold." When love grows cold, it is a serious sign. Then the heart
is affected–affected with a chill! Is not this the forerunner of
death? What is the cause of it? According to our text, it is the
abounding of iniquity!
Sin does its best to destroy Divine Grace. So much sin, so much the
less of holiness, so much the less of every Christian Grace! Sin is
like a poisonous atmosphere–if a man has to live in it, he has good
need to pray that he may not be overcome by it. You and I, seeing that
we are in this world and cannot go altogether out of it, will come into
contact with evil. In our daily avocations however careful we are, we
must encounter this infection. We cannot but feel that the evil around
us is a hindrance to our holiness and a detriment to our growth in
Grace. When the society around the Christian becomes flagrantly wicked,
corrupt and offensive, it is difficult for him to maintain the purity
of his life and the strength of his spiritual character. At this time,
we live in an atmosphere which hinders our growth, yet in the early
days of Christianity the Lord's people had, as a, rule, to live in
worse society than that which surrounds us today! I will not say this
without an exception. There are quarters of London, I am told, as
vicious as ever existed in Corinth, or in old Rome. And I am afraid
that some of the grossest vices which we dare not even mention, abound
in this city. We have a fringe of respectability which barely conceals
the licentiousness and abomination which abound. I have been reading
today some details as to the number of illegitimate births and I am
perfectly astounded at the awful wickedness of this land! We call
ourselves a Christian country. Do not dareto speak so falsely! This is
growing to be a heathen land–part of it bowing before images, another
part howling out, "There is no God," and a third secretly reveling in
unutterable filthi-ness.
Still, the most of us do not come into contact with vice to the same
degree as the first Christians did. Society in the Roman Empire was
utterly rotten. It is a wonder that God permitted the world to exist in
that loathsome age! It tended greatly to the depression of Christian
principle for infamous crimes to be tolerated in the society which
surrounded the faithful. Look at these first Churches which some think
so much of! They were not half as good as the Churches of today,
bad as these are. Take the Church at Corinth, for instance. Did you
ever hear of a Church in our day which allowed drunkenness at the
Lord's Supper? Have we personally met with a Church which would
knowingly allow a person living in incest to remain in its membership?
I hope not! But gross offenses had become so common in general society
in Paul's day that it did not strike even Christian people that some of
these things were wrong! Iniquity abounded and it was greatly
detrimental to Grace.
Again, iniquity is especially injurious to the growth of love. Because
iniquity abounded, therefore the love of many grew cold. Men inside the
Christian Church found themselves betrayed by other members of the
Church. Frequently, the heads of the Brothers and Sisters were sold to
the executioner by hypocrites like Judas. That would greatly tend to
injure Christian love. Men began to suspect one another. You did not
know that the man who sat next to you at the Lord's Table would not
tomorrow inform against you and get blood-money for you! Therefore
suspicion entered with its wintry breath. It was natural that it should
be so, albeit that there was sin in it, yet you and I would have
probably fallen into the same. All around, men were so loathsome that
Christian love, which teaches us to pity the most degraded and to do
good to the most unworthy, found it a difficult struggle to live. Godly
men endeavored to win the ungodly from their lusts, but they found
themselves persecuted in consequence–the more they sought to do good,
the more they were hated–and this put their love to a severe test.
I think that you can see why our Savior has given us a warning in this
particular form.
Iniquity is naturally opposed to Grace, but it is most of all injurious
to the Grace of love. If sin abounds in a Church, it is little wonder
if the love of many should grow cold. Young members introduced into the
Church after a short time find that those whom they looked upon as
being examples are walking disorderly and using lightness of speech and
of behavior. Those young people cannot be very warm in love–they are
led to stumble and are scandalized. Older saints who have for years
held onto their way in integrity, and by Grace have kept their garments
unspotted from the world, see those around them who have come into the
Church who seem to be of quite another race, who can drink of the cup
of Belial and of the cup of the Lord, who seem to follow Christ and the
devil, too! Seeing this evil, these godly men and women gather up their
garments in holy indignation and find it difficult to feel the love of
purer days.
Oh, Friends, if the frost of sin rules in a Church, every tender flower
is injured and nothing flourishes! Love is a sensitive plant and if it
is touched by the finger of sin, it will show it. The lilies of Love's
Paradise cannot bloom amid the smoke and dust of unholiness!
Because iniquity abounds even in the professing Church, the love of
many is growing cold today. What a sermon one might preach upon
this!–but I shall not do anything of the kind. I am not so desirous to
deplore the evils of others as to watch against evils within myself. I
am not so anxious to make you discover transgression in the Church as
to make you watch against it in your hearts–for rest sure of this–if
you give sin any license in your heart, your love will grow cold! You
cannot walk in love to Christ and yet live in the love of sin. If today
you have indulged an unholy temper, if you have given way to
covetousness, if you have in any way transgressed against the Lord, you
will not feel that warmth of love towards Jesus Christ which you felt
yesterday! Your life will have lost much of its beauty and its
sweetness. Cry to God that He would give it back to you! Do not rest
satisfied until it is perfectly restored.
II. Now let us consider THE SERIOUS CHARACTER OF THIS EVIL. "The love
of many shall grow cold." It is a very dreadful thing that love in any
man's heart should grow cold. Observe the bearings of Christian love
and you will see the sin of it under various aspects.
Our love is, first, a love to the great Father–our Father who chose us
before ever the earth was, by whom we have been begotten again and
received into His family. If our love to Him grows cold, what mischief
that must bring! Coldness towards the father in a family–do you know
any household afflicted in that way? I should be very sorry to be a
member of it! Coldness of love to the father? Why, that household is
scarcely a family! It has lost the bond which holds it together and
constitutes it a family. May the good Lord save us from this ruin of
all holy unity!
Next, our love is love to Jesus Christ, "who loved us and gave Himself
for us." If love to Jesus should grow cold, the result would be
grievous! Is there any spiritual Grace within you that can be in a
healthy condition when your love to Christ is declining? Are you right
anywhere if your heart is wrong towards your Lord? Can you do anything
earnestly when love to Jesus is chilled? Can you sing aright? Can you
pray aright? Can you live aright? Do not let us dream of
bearing fruit if we are severed from the Vine! It is vitally important
that we should love Jesus with all our heart, soul and strength!
Christian love also embraces the Truths of God. They that love God and
His Divine Son, love the Truth which He has committed to them. The
Church is the trustee of the Gospel–she is "the pillar and ground of
the Truth." And when men begin to play with the Truth of God and think
that one set of Doctrines is as good as another, and that nothing is of
any particular importance, evil must come! In former days our fathers
counted it a small thing to go to prison for a Doctrine, or to be burnt
to death for a testimony! Look at the multitudes in Holland who were
drowned, or who were tied to ladders and roasted to death for nothing
but their conviction that Believers should be baptized! Nowadays,
people consider Scriptural views of Baptism to be a mere trifle. I
question whether our present Broad Churchmen think that there is any
Doctrine worth a person's losing the first joint of his little finger
for! As to burning to death for a Truth of God– that must seem a great
absurdity to these liberal theologians! Now that things have reached
this pass, need we wonder that heresies and all manner of errors rush
in torrents down our streets? When she can afford to trifle with the
Truths of God, what is the Church worth?
Our love is also love to our fellow Christians. This is a vital
principle. "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we
love the brethren." But when members of Churches have no love to one
another. When a professor does not care at all what becomes of his
Brothers and Sisters, has the Church any Christianity left? No, it has
a name to live, and is dead! Christianity is gone when the heart is
cold–its very life is mutual affection.
Then, again, we are to love the ungodly and the unconverted. It is by
love that we are to win them to Christ. But if the Church has no love
to the dying sons of men, what is she worth? Where will be her
missionary operations? What will be the use of her ministry? Think of
her Sunday schools without love to the children! Think of people
pretending to win souls who have no love for them and do not care
whether they are lost or saved. Can the Church sustain a worse loss
than the losing of her fervent love to perishing men? And yet, if
iniquity abounds, this is the great risk we run– compassionate love
will cease to minister to man's miseries!
Beloved, when we love best, how little is our love compared with what
it ought to be for Him who left the royalties of Heaven for the shame
and sorrow of our Nature! If we glowed with seraphic fire night and day
through a life as long as that of Methuselah, our love could not repay
the love of Christ! If that love, poor as it is, grows colder, what
will it come to? Oh, eyes that are to look upon the Well-Beloved
forever and ever, if you cease to see beauty in Him, now, what has
blinded you? Oh, hearts that are to glow forever with delight in the
Presence of the Reigning One, who once was crucified, what ails you if
you grow cold when you most need His love and are receiving most from
Him? I cannot bear it that we should love Jesus so little! It seems to
me horrible! Not to have your heart all on fire for Christ Jesus is
immoral! Let us love Him to the utmost! Let us ask Him to give us
larger hearts and to fire them with the same love that is in His own,
that we may love Him to the utmost possibilities of affection!
Ah, then, Beloved, think again. Suppose our love grows cold–do you not
see how it paralyzes the entire system? If the reservoir is empty, you
cannot expect to get much water from the pipes. If the heart grows
cold, everything will be coldly done. When love declines, what cold
preaching we have! All moonlight–light without heat–polished like
marble and as cold! What cold singing we get–pretty music made by
pipes and wind, but oh, how little soul-song!–how little singing in
the Holy Spirit, making melody in the heart unto God! And what poor
praying! Do you call it praying? What little giving! When the hot is
cold, the hands can find nothing in the purse and Christ's Church, and
Christ's poor, and the heathen may perish, for we must hoard up for
ourselves and live to grow rich! Is there anything that goes on as it
ought to go when love grows cold? I should like to act throughout life
as I have when my soul has been stirred to its inmost depths with
affection for my Lord! I would continually act as if I had just seen
Him and had put my fingers into the print of the nails! I would live as
if I had been just sitting with Mary at His feet, yes, and were still
sitting there! I would speak for Him, work for Him and give for Him as
if I had freshly lifted my head from John's place upon His bosom!
m. Thirdly, THE SOLEMN DANGER of the spread of this mischief.
I will read you the text translated accurately. "Because iniquity shall
abound, the love of the many shall grow cold." That is a more saddening
expression than "the love of many." It is, "the love of the many." That
is, of the major part of the Church–the bulk of it. This supposes a
dreadful state of things because when the many have become cold, they
keep one another in countenance. One cold Brother says to the other,
"What is your temperature?" "I think I am far below
zero." "So am I," says the first one, "and we are about right." If the
majority are warm, then the cold ones are thawed, but if they are all
below zero, then they freeze into a wretched compactness! It is the
most sober, respectable Church you ever knew–they have no
quarrelling–everything is so comfortable and orderly. Alas, they are
frozen together, and their peace is that of death! The love of the many
has grown cold and they are full of mutual admiration for their
quietness.
They have nobody to rebuke them. If the many have grown cold, then the
few among them, instead of being able to rebuke with authority, are
themselves snubbed. "He is a terribly fanatical young man! That zealous
fellow never leaves anyone alone!" "He will grow out of that," says
one, "by the time he gets to my age he will be as prudent as I am."
Yonder good woman feels great anxiety for the conversion of souls and
she is making a stir. A lady of repute declares that she is too
forward, or has got a bee in her bonnet. Active people are looked upon
as rather troublesome when the love of the many grows cold. The few
have a hard time of it and if they do venture upon a rebuke, they are
soon snuffed out– this confirms the evil.
And then the tendency is to grow still colder. They go on freezing.
There is no telling how cold people can be. I have been burnt with cold
and I suppose you have been too. I have preached in places whose
spiritual temperature was that of an icehouse and, preach as hard as I
could, nothing could possibly come of it, for my words fell to the
ground like lumps of ice! Colder and colder Churches become till, at
last, the great God who breaks up icebergs in due season, destroys a
Church and its place knows it no more!
IV. In the presence of the danger which is seriously threatening many
Churches, there is A CALL FOR SERIOUS ACTION ON OUR PART. What is that
serious action?
Why, it is, first, that we should remember that if the love of the many
may grow cold, then our love may grow cold! What are we that we should
think ourselves secure where others are in danger? If other men as good
as we are have gradually cooled down, may not we? Let us be watchful
and careful–and let us go to God for more Grace.
Let us notice, next, that if the love of the many grows cold, it is not
much use our complaining about it, but the few must get together and
pray. The real vitality of a Church seldom lies in the many, but
generally in the few. Inside the election there is another election. Do
you remember that out of Christ's disciples there were twelve? Out of
the 12 there were three? Out of the three there was one? And so
election has rings within rings. Inside the nominal Church–(we cannot
say whether they are all God's people or not)–the many may grow cold,
but there ought to be a remnant who abide in life and love. God grant
that we may belong to it! We must at once grow warmer. We must live
nearer to Christ. We must be more enthusiastic. Oh for a band of choice
spirits–men fit to walk with Christ in white, for they are worthy–
men who will be prepared to follow the Lamb wherever He goes! The
Spirit said, "You have a few names even in Sardis which have not
defiled their garments." And so in every Church there are some that
have not grown idle or heretical! Let them get together and help each
other! I thank God for those whom the Lord keeps very near to Him–may
their number be daily increased! May each one of us be filled with the
Spirit! When I hear of one minister after another giving up the
old-fashioned Gospel, do you know what I say to myself? I resolve that
I will stick the closer to it! If the many cannot bear Calvinistic
Doctrine, I will be more Calvinistic than ever! The more men do not
like the Truths of God, the more they shall have it! Let this be our
line of action. If men become more worldly, we will become more
Puritanical. If professing Christians do not exhibit the Spirit of
Christ, we will ask our Lord to give us sevenfold of His Spirit, that
we may maintain His Truths!
Suppose you expected a famine in London as there was in Paris during
the siege? Everybody who could do so, would get in a hundred-fold
supply of provisions. Every good housewife would lay out every penny
that she could get and fill her cellars full of food. There is going to
be a spiritual famine–therefore buy the Truth of God and sell it not.
Go to your Lord and get larger supplies from Him. Do not go to one
another for it. That will be like saying, "Give us of your oil"–and
your companions will wisely reply, "Not so, lest there be not enough
for us and you." Go to your Master and ask Him to fan the fire within
you to a great heat, that if there should be cold everywhere else,
there may be warmth in your bosoms! The Lord help you to do this, dear
Friends, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: MATTHEW24:1-28.
Verse 1, 2. And Jesus went out, and departed from the Temple: and His
disciple came to Him to show Him the buildings of the Temple. And Jesus
said unto them, See you 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. The King, having finished His first discourse in the
Temple, left it, never to return–"Jesus went out and departed from the
Temple." His ministry there was ended. As His disciples moved away with
Him towards the Mount of Olives, they called His attention to the great
stones of which the Temple was constructed and the costly adornments of
the beautiful building. To them the appearance was glorious, but to
their Lord it was a sad sight. His Father's House, which ought to have
been a House of Prayer for all nations, had become a den of thieves and
soon would be utterly destroyed! Jesus said unto them, "See you 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." Josephus tells us
that Titus at first tried to save the Temple, even after it was set on
fire, but his efforts were of no avail–at last he gave orders that the
whole city and Temple should be leveled, except a small portion
reserved for the garrison. This was so thoroughly done that the
historian says that there was but nothing to make those that came there
believe it had ever been inhabited!
We sometimes delight in the temporal prosperity of the Church as if it
were something that must certainly endure– but all that is external
will pass away or be destroyed. Let us only reckon that to be
substantial which comes from God, and is God's work. The things which
are seen are temporal.
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 Your coming, and of the end of the world?The little
procession continued ascending the Mount of Olives until Jesus reached
a resting place from which He could see the Temple (Mark 13:3). There
He sat down and the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, "Tell
us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your
coming, and of the end of the world?" These are the questions that have
been asked in every age since our Savior's day. There are here two
distinct questions, perhaps three. The disciples enquired first about
the time of the destruction of the Temple, and then about the sign of
Christ's coming and of "the consummation of the age" (R.V. margin). The
answers of Jesus contained much that was mysterious and that could only
be fully understood as that which He foretold actually occurred. He
told His disciples some things which related to the siege of Jerusalem,
some which concerned His Second Advent and some which would immediately
precede "the end of the world." When we have clearer light, we may
possibly perceive that all our Savior's predictions on this memorable
occasion had some connection with all three of these great events.
4-6. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man
deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and
shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see
that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but
the end is not yet Jesus was always practical. The most important thing
for His disciples was not that they might know when "these things"
would be, but that they might be preserved from the peculiar evils of
the time. Therefore, Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that
no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am
Christ; and shall deceive many." They were to beware lest any of the
pretended Messiahs should lead them astray–as they would pervert many
others. A large number of impostors came forward before the destruction
of Jerusalem, giving out that they were the Anointed of God–almost
every page of history is blotted with the names of such deceivers–and
in our own day we have seen some come in Christ's name, saying that
they are Christ's. Such men seduce many, but they who heed their Lord's
warning will not be deluded by them.
Our Savior's words, "You shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars," might
be applied to almost any period of the world's history. Earth has
seldom had a long spell of quiet–there have almost always been both
the realities of war and the rumors of war. There were many such before
Jerusalem was overthrown. There have been many such ever since and
there will be many such until that glorious period when "nation shall
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
anymore." "See that you be not troubled" is a timely message for the
disciples of Christ in every age! "For all these things must come to
pass." Therefore let us not be surprised or alarmed at them, "but the
end is not yet." The destruction of Jerusalem was the beginning of the
end–the great type and anticipation of all that will take place when
Christ shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. It was an end, but
not the end–"the end is not yet."
7, 8. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom: and there shall be famine, and pestilences, and earthquakes in
divers places. All there are the beginning of sorrows. One would think
that there was sorrow enough in "famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes in divers places," but our Lord said that "all these" were
only "the beginning of sorrows"–the first birth-pangs of the travail
that must precede His coming, either to Jerusalem, or to the whole
world. If famines, pestilences and earthquakes are only "the beginning
of sorrows," what may we not expect the end to be? This prophecy ought
both to warn the disciples of Christ what they may expect and wean them
from the world where all these and greater sorrows are to be
experienced!
9. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:
and you shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake. Our Lord not
only foretold the general trial that would come upon the Jews and upon
the world, but also the special persecution which would be the portion
of His chosen followers. "Then shall they deliver you up to be
afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all nations
for My name's sake." The New Testament gives abundant proof of the
fulfillment of these words. Even in Paul's day, "this sect" was
"everywhere spoken against." Since then, has there been any land
unstained by the blood of the martyrs? Wherever Christ's Gospel has
been preached, men have risen up in arms against the messengers of
mercy and afflicted and killed them wherever they could.
10. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and
shall hate one another This would be a bitter trial for the followers
of Christ, yet this they have always had to endure. Persecution would
reveal the traitors within the Church as well as the enemies outside.
In the midst of the chosen ones there would be found successors of
Judas who would be willing to betray the disciples as he betrayed his
Lord. Saddest of all is the betrayal of good men by their own
relatives–but even this they have, many of them, had to bear for
Christ's sake.
11. 12. And many false prophets shall rise, andshall deceive many. And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold. What
could not be accomplished by persecutors outside the Church and
traitors inside, would be attempted by teachers of heresy–"Many false
prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." They have risen in all
ages! In these modern times they have risen in clouds till the air is
thick with them, as with an army of devouring locusts! These are the
men who invent new doctrines and who seem to think that the religion of
Jesus Christ is something that a man may twist into any form and shape
that he pleases. Alas that such teachers should have any disciples! It
is doubly sad that they should be able to lead astray "many." Yet, when
it so happens, let us remember that the King said that it would be so.
Is it any wonder that where such "iniquity abounds" and such
lawlessness is multiplied, "the love of many shall grow cold"? If the
teachers deceive the people and give them "another gospel which is not
another," it is no marvel that there is a lack of love and zeal. The
wonder is that there is any love and zeal left after they have been
subjected to such a chilling and killing process as that adopted by the
advocates of the modern "destructive criticism." Verily, it is rightly
named "destructive," for it destroys almost everything that is worth
preserving!
13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Again our Savior reminded His disciples of the personal responsibility
of each one of them in such a time of trial and testing as they were
about to pass through. He would have them remember that it is not the
man who starts in the race, but the one who runs to the goal who wins
the prize–"He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved." If this Doctrine were not supplemented by another, there would
be but little good tidings for poor, tempted, tried and struggling
saints in such words as these! Who among us would persevere in running
the heavenly race if God did not preserve us from falling and give us
Persevering Grace? But, blessed be His name, "the righteous shall hold
on his way." "He which has begun a good work in you will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ."
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.The world
is to the Church like a scaffold to a building. When the Church is
built, the scaffold will be taken down–the world will remain until the
last elect one is saved–"Then shall the end come." Before Jerusalem
was destroyed, "this Gospel of the Kingdom" was probably "preached in
all the world" as far as it was then known. But there is to be a fuller
proclamation of it "for a witness unto all nations" before the great
consummation of all things–"then shall the end come" and the King
shall sit upon the Throne of His Glory, and decide the eternal destiny
of the whole human race!
15-18. When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation
spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoever
reads, let him understand), then let them which be in Judaea flee into
the mountains: let him who is on the housetop not come down to take
anything out of his house: neither let him who is in the field return
back to take his clothes. This portion of our Savior's words appears to
relate solely to the destruction of Jerusalem. As soon as Christ's
disciples saw "the abomination of desolation," that is, the Roman
ensigns with their idolatrous emblems, "stand in the holy place," they
knew that the time for them to escape had arrived–and they did "flee
into the mountains." The Christians in Jerusalem and the surrounding
towns and villages "in Judaea," availed themselves of the first
opportunity for eluding the Roman armies, and fled to the mountain city
of Pella, in Perea, where they were preserved from the general
destruction which overthrew the Jews. There was no time to spare before
the final investment of the guilty city. The man "on the housetop"
could "not come down to take anything out of his house," and the man
"in the field" could not "return back to take his clothes." They must
flee to the mountains in the greatest haste, the moment that they saw
"Jerusalem compassed with armies" (Luke 21:20).
19-21. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give
suck in those days! But pray you that your flight is not in the winter,
neither on the Sabbath: for then shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be.It must have been a peculiarly trying time for the women who
had to flee from their homes just when they needed quiet and rest. How
thoughtful and tender was our compassionate Savior in thus sympathizing
with suffering mothers in their hour of need! "Flight. . .in the
winter" or "on the Sabbath" would have been attended with special
difficulties, so the disciples were exhorted to "pray" that some other
time might be available. The Lord knew exactly when they would be able
to escape, yet He bade them pray that their flight might not be in the
winter, nor on the Sabbath! The wise men of the present day would have
said that prayer was useless under such conditions–not so the great
Teacher and Example of His praying people–He taught that such a season
was the very time for special supplication!
The reason for this injunction was thus stated by the Savior. "For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Read the record written by
Josephus of the destruction of Jerusalem and see how truly our Lord's
words were fulfilled. The Jews impiously said, concerning the death of
Christ, "His blood be on us, and on our children." Never did any other
people invoke such an awful curse upon themselves and upon no other
nation did such a judgment ever fall! We read of Jews crucified till
there was no more wood for making crosses–of thousands of the people
slaying one another in their fierce faction fights within the city. Of
so many of them being sold for slaves that they became a drug in the
market, and all but valueless! And of the fearful carnage when the
Romans at length entered the doomed capital and the blood-curdling
story exactly bears out the Savior's statement uttered nearly 40 years
before the terrible events occurred!
22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh
saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.These
were the words of the King as well as of the Prophet and, as such, they
were both authentic and authoritative. Jesus spoke of what "should be,"
not only as the Seer who was able to gaze into the future, but as the
Sovereign Disposer of all events. He knew what a fiery trial awaited
the unbelieving nation and that "except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved." If the horrors of the siege were to
continue long, the whole race of the Jews would be destroyed! The King
had the power to cut short the evil days and He explained His reason
for using that power–"For the elect's sake, those days shall be
shortened." Those who had been hated and persecuted by their own
countrymen became the means of preserving them from absolute
annihilation! Thus has it often been since those days–and for the sake
of His elect the Lord has withheld many judgments and shortened others.
The ungodly owe to the godly more than they know, or would care to
admit.
23-26. Then ifanyman shallsay unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there;
believe it not. For there shallarise false Chr-ists, and false
prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told
you before. Therefore if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the
desert; go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it
not. It is a grand thing to have such faith in Christ that you have
none to spare for imposters. It is important not to distribute your
faith too widely. Those who believe in a little of everything will, in
the end, believe nothing of anything. If you exercise full faith in
that which is sure and steadfast, "false Christs and false prophets"
will not be able to make you their dupes! In one respect, the modern
teachers of heresy are more successful than their Judean prototypes,
for they do actually "deceive the very elect," even though they cannot
"show great signs and wonders." One of the saddest signs of the times
in which we live is the ease with which "the very elect" are deceived
by the smooth-tongued "false Christs and false prophets" who abound in
our midst. Yet our Savior expressly forewarned His followers against
them–"Behold, I have told you before." Forewarned is forearmed. Let it
be so in our case. Our Savior's expressive command may be fitly applied
to the whole system of "modern thought" which is contrary to the
inspired Word of God–"Believe it not."
27. For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto
the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. When HE comes,
we shall know who He is and why He has come. There will be no longer
any mystery or secret about "the coming of the Son of Man." There will
be no need to ask any questions then! No one will make a mistake about
His appearing when it actually takes place. "Every eye shall see Him."
Christ's coming will be sudden, startling, universally visible– and
terrifying to the ungodly! "As the lightning comes out of the east, and
shines even unto the west." His first coming to judgment at the
destruction of Jerusalem had terrors about it that till then had never
been realized on the earth–His last coming will be still more
dreadful.
28. For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered
together. Judaism had become a "carcass," dead and corrupt–fit prey
for the vultures or carrion-kites of Rome. By-and-by there will arrive
another day when there will be a dead church in a dead world–and "the
eagles" of Divine Judgment "will be gathered together" to tear in
pieces those whom there shall be none to deliver! The birds of prey
gather wherever dead bodies are to be found–and the judgments of
Christ will be poured out when the body, politic or religious, becomes
unbearably corrupt!