The End Is Not Yet: A Primer on Victorious Eschatology Text: Matthew 24:1-14
Introduction: Curing Rapture Fever
There is a strain of evangelical piety that is perpetually feverish. It is a nervous, clammy, agitated state of mind that pores over newspaper headlines with a red pen, connecting geopolitical flare-ups to obscure prophecies with a frantic intensity. This is the school of newspaper eschatology, and its disciples are always convinced that the end is just around the next global crisis. They are certain that the Antichrist is currently renting an apartment in Brussels, and they have a detailed chart to prove it. But this entire enterprise, however well-intentioned, is a profound misreading of the Lord's teaching and a catastrophic failure of nerve.
Jesus, in this chapter, is not giving us a secret decoder ring for CNN. He is doing the opposite. He is vaccinating His disciples against this kind of panic. He is teaching them to distinguish between the death throes of an old covenant age and the final consummation of all things. He is giving them a long-term, multigenerational assignment that requires fortitude, not hysteria. The modern church has largely ignored His explicit warnings, choosing instead to indulge in a retreatist, escapist fantasy that looks for a way out instead of a way through.
The Olivet Discourse is not a blueprint for building bunkers; it is a commission for building the Kingdom. It is a lesson in how to read the times, yes, but not in the way most people think. It teaches us to see the normal chaos of a fallen world for what it is: the backdrop for the triumphant advance of the gospel. If your eschatology makes you a coward, you have the wrong eschatology. If your view of the future causes you to abandon the cultural mandate and hide in a holy huddle, waiting for the airlift, you have misunderstood the Commander's orders. This passage is the cure for that rapture fever. It is a call to steadfast, world-altering faithfulness.
The Text
And coming out from the temple, Jesus was going along, and His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down."
Now as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?"
And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains."
"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will deceive many. And because lawlessness is multiplied, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
(Matthew 24:1-14 LSB)
The Disciples' Compound Question (vv. 1-3)
The entire discourse is set in motion by a specific prophecy and the disciples' subsequent question.
"Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down... Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:2-3)
First, we must appreciate the shock of Jesus' statement. The disciples, like good country boys, are marveling at the architectural glory of Herod's Temple. It was a magnificent structure, the center of their national, cultural, and religious life. For Jesus to predict its utter annihilation was unthinkable. This was not a prediction of minor damage; it was a prophecy of total leveling. And it was fulfilled with terrifying precision in A.D. 70 by the Roman general Titus, who, in his frustration with the siege, ordered the whole thing dismantled to its foundations.
But notice the disciples' response. They hear this specific, historical prophecy about the Temple and immediately conflate it with two other things: the personal, final coming of Christ, and the end of the entire space-time age. They ask a three-part question as though it were one event: 1. When will the Temple be destroyed? 2. What is the sign of Your coming? 3. And of the end of the age? The key to understanding this entire chapter is to see that Jesus' answer carefully disentangles their confusion. He answers their questions, but not by confirming their premise. Much of what follows applies directly to that first-century generation and the "end of the age" they understood, which was the end of the Old Covenant, sacrificial, Temple-based system.
The Non-Signs of the End (vv. 4-8)
Jesus begins not with signs, but with warnings against being deceived by non-signs.
"And you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end." (Matthew 24:6 LSB)
This is where generations of Bible prophecy enthusiasts have gone completely off the rails. Jesus lists a series of calamities: false messiahs, wars, international conflicts, famines, and earthquakes. And what is His central command regarding these things? "See that you are not alarmed." Why? Because "that is not yet the end." In other words, these things are precisely what are NOT the signs of the end. They are the opposite of signs. They are the common, tragic, business-as-usual of a fallen world groaning under the curse of sin.
To treat a war in the Middle East or an earthquake in Asia as a sign of the imminent return of Christ is to directly disobey the plain words of Christ. He is telling the disciples, and us, to develop a robust, steady faith that is not shaken by the daily headlines. History is full of wars, famines, and earthquakes. The period between Christ's ascension and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was particularly rife with them, as historians like Josephus record. Jesus calls these things the "beginning of birth pains." They are the contractions of a new age being born, the Messianic age of the church, which was inaugurated at Pentecost and demonstrated in power with the judgment on old covenant Israel.
The Normal Christian Life: Persecution and Endurance (vv. 9-13)
After telling them what not to look for in the world, Jesus tells them what to expect in their own lives.
"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name... But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved." (Matthew 24:9, 13 LSB)
The Christian life is not one of ease leading up to a last-minute escape. It is one of conflict leading to victory. Jesus promises His followers three things: tribulation, hatred, and for some, martyrdom. This is not a sign that something has gone wrong; it is a sign that you are doing it right. The world hates Christ, and so it will hate those who bear His name. This hatred will put pressure on the church, and that pressure reveals what is real. It causes many to "fall away." It reveals the false prophets. It causes love to grow cold in the face of rampant lawlessness.
In the midst of this spiritual warfare, what is the task of the believer? It is not to chart the signs. It is to endure. "The one who endures to the end, he will be saved." This is a salvation that is worked out through perseverance. It is a salvation that is tested and proven genuine by its refusal to buckle under pressure. We are not called to be eschatological speculators; we are called to be faithful soldiers. Our job is to hold the line, to keep the faith, to love one another, and to stand firm until the end, whether that end is our own death or the final return of the Lord.
The One Great Sign (v. 14)
Finally, after dismantling all the false signs, Jesus gives them the one, true, overarching sign that must precede the final end.
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14 LSB)
Here it is. This is the program. The world does not end in a blaze of chaos while the church is cowering in a corner. The end comes after the gospel of the kingdom has been proclaimed to the whole world as a witness to all the nations. This is the Great Commission, framed eschatologically. The engine that drives history toward its consummation is the missionary advance of the church.
This is not a prophecy of failure, but of success. The gospel "shall be proclaimed." This is a divine passive. God will see to it. And what is the scope? The "whole world" (oikoumene), as a "witness" (marturion) to all the "nations" (ethne). This is not about getting a gospel tract into every last person's hand. The word for nations is ethne, from which we get our word "ethnic." It refers to all the peoples, tribes, and cultures of the world. The gospel will go forth and challenge every last one of them. It will serve as a legal testimony, a witness that establishes the guilt of those who reject it and brings the blessings of salvation to those who receive it.
This is the foundational text for a victorious, optimistic, postmillennial eschatology. The world is not getting worse and worse. The kingdom of God is advancing, and it will continue to do so until it has filled the earth. The gospel will triumph. The nations will be discipled. Christ's enemies will be made His footstool, here, in history. And when that task is complete, when the gospel has done its work, "then the end will come." Christ will return not to rescue a defeated army, but to preside over a victory parade.
Therefore, our task is clear. We are not to be distracted by the political turmoil and natural disasters. Those things are simply the stage upon which the real drama unfolds. The real story is the relentless, sovereign advance of the gospel of the kingdom. Our job is to get about that work, preaching, teaching, baptizing, and discipling the nations, building a robust Christian civilization for the glory of God. We do this with full confidence that our labor is not in vain, because the end will not come until our task is done.