When Will It End?
Adapted from a sermon by Andrew Bishara
Passage Matthew 24:3-35
The disciples were sitting on the Mount with Christ when they questioned Him… “Lord, tell us, how is the world going to end? I see now that You know all things, You know how the world works. I want You to tell me how the world is going to end. How is it going to end? What are the signals that will happen before the world ends?”
The disciples question Jesus, because like many of us, they do not want to live with uncertainty. Christ responds, “do not be troubled, have peace, but there will be tribulation, much bigger than you can imagine.”
In all of this, have peace. Despite hearing this, it would be very difficult for the disciples to hold their peace. Expect the worst is coming, but have peace. Whilst the gospel seems gloomy, it is quite applicable to many of us.
During my final year of school, I hated more than anything, the uncertainty that was coming. What mark am I going to get? What course am I going to get into? The answer is still the same, “do your best, endure and leave the rest to Me.”
What would have happened if Christ had told the disciples all that was to come? They would’ve done whatever they wanted and fixed their lives at the last moments. This sounds like a great plan for many. We wouldn’t need to worry our entire lives. I can set an alarm for an hour before, and I’ll be fine.
But imagine what would be lost along the way! If I live as if I have all the time in the world, I will surely live to regret the time I wasted.
If Christ gave the disciples that time and they wasted their entire lives up until the last hour, then would they have gained enough virtue, enough wisdom, enough understanding to then enter the kingdom of Heaven?
Many more would be lost if we all knew when the world is ending. Moreover, if I am constantly seeking anxiously when the end will come, I will be unable to sustain virtue along the way.
Christ is telling us to do our best and endure and leave the rest to Him. This applies to every aspect of our lives. It is not uncertainty. He does not present the signs so that we can go out looking for them. These are more or less, natural events that should not matter to us, for as long as we do our due diligence.
All that matters is that I endure, I need to stay close to Christ. I know that I will get the promise at the end of the gospel.
Do not be troubled, no matter where you are in life compared to where you think you should be, it is all part of the plan.
He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other
Matthew 24:31.
If I endure, if I do my best, the angels are coming with the sound of trumpet to deliver me from all my troubles.
We need to keep pushing until we hear the joyous sound of the trumpet.