Signs of the End of the Age

 Matthew 23:37-24:14

You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

This is Matthew's fifth and last teaching section. The subject is the future: the end time and Jesus' own return. A key theme here, as in chapter 23, is judgment.

The disciples admiration for the great Temple building leads to Jesus' astonishing prediction of its utter destruction. Further questions follow,. When will the Temple be destroyed? What indications will there be that the age is coming to an end? The disciples make a close connection between the two events. Jesus can tell them about 'these things', but as to the timing of 'that day' - the great day of judgment - God alone knows. The important thing is to be ready.

Why?

Jesus let his disciple know what will come and how they should do before the end of this day.

There is judgment at the End of the Day.  There are many false prophets who come and they claim they are the Messiah, will deceive many. 

Jesus told us many signs on that day, so have to prepare and with our heart and might to face it.

Actually, many signs have happened in the world. There are famines and earthquakes in various places.

Wickedness is increase either, the love of most grows cold. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

How?

No matter what happened, we have to stand firm to the end will be saved.

But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness

Matthew 23:13-36

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees: 4 times. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to the kingdom of heaven.

You make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

 You hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.

Jesus makes seven specific charges, each introduced with the same words: "woe to you...'

Twice as fit for hell gives the sense. New converts are often more fervent than those brought up in the faith.

Why?

It is a warning to every Christian don't do like the teachers of the law and Pharisees. Their behavior is to forbid others to enter the kingdom of heaven. They focus on the outside looking, the behavior that could be seen by others. But more important is their heart and the Justice, mercy, and faithfulness to the Lord.

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耶穌指出法利賽人的七禍，1)關了天國的門2)假敬虔，表面不一 3)傳假福音，用騙的 4)瞎眼領路。5)只有聖殿的儀式沒有生活的敬拜。

金子和祭物是人以為有價值觀的東西。聖殿、祭壇拿不走是公物。

他們的十一奉獻做的非常細微周到，如芹菜、茴香，但是忠誠卻做不到，因為那些是小錢。

外表很漂亮，裏面是死亡，如粉飾的墳墓。

修建先知的墳墓，說大話。

表面的敬虔，沒有信仰的生活。只有禮儀，沒有生命。 我們的信仰是與生活結合的。

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How?

What are we caring about in our daily life? Is the point of view of men or the Lord in Heaven?

Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted

Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

Everything they do is done for people to see:  they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;  they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Jesus launches into a scathing attack on Israel's legalistic, but much respected religious leaders. The man who cared so deeply and had such patience with ordinary people - even the wicked, the weak-willed, and the stupid - could not stomach the religious sham, the self-righteous pride, the hair-splitting pedantry he saw in these Pharisees and scribes. Do as they say, he tells the crowd and his followers, but not as they do.

Why?

Most people in the world like to be the Pharisees for they have higher respective in the world, they always like to show their love action to honor their names.

Jesus taught his disciples and the crowds who followed him, what they should do after Jesus left them.

There is one Teacher, one Father, one Instructor, Messiah, we are all brothers, so we have to love each other. Be humble ourselves and this is the regulation to be a Christian.

This is a comparison between this world and the Christian life. So we are not welcome in this world. 

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要遵行他們所講的，但是不要效法他們所行的。他們說的與做的不同。

他們的身份是在教導人的身份，但是都是做表面。不要因為他們人有問題，而拒絕他所講的。我們先容易接受一個人，於是他所教導的認為完全都是對的。反之，如果有人我們不喜歡，他所教導的我們常常完全否認。人常常是能說不能行，例如大學教授，聖經熟的人，很會講道的人，很受歡迎。稱呼耶穌為拉比，不是稱呼父。只有上帝是我們天上的父。為何人喜歡坐高位，被稱讚?人一直容易落入行為主義，做了一些事情，應該有功勞。有人看到才有功勞，沒有人看到就沒有功勞。我們以為我們多做一點可以幫助神，所以我們要多得一點功勞。我們所做的只是回應神對我們的愛。

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How?

Be humble, love others for we have one  Instructor, the Messiah, and one Father in heaven.

The greatest commandment in the Law

Matthew 22:34-46

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied. If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Why?

The Sadducees and the Pharisees got together, for they have the same purpose to quarry Jesus, try to find the reason to accuse Jesus. But they failed, for they are faulty in the truth.

The greatest commandments are ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. the second is Love your neighbor as yourself. One is to love the Lord, another is to love our neighbors. The neighbors are those who need help and who are living around us.

Both of them knew about the Messiah, but they didn't know the David calls his son 'Lord' which is written in the Psalm.

We know this solution now for Jesus is the son of David and Jesus is came from heaven and be a real man in the world.

If a man is based on his own idea to read the Bible, he won't understand the truth and the meaning of Jesus comes to the world.

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各種人被耶穌馭倒，最後找律法師來問耶穌，問律法重要的地方。律法其實沒有重點。申命記6:5 這是一切律法的總綱，一切事奉都是為了愛我們的主，愛人。如果沒有愛，就是表面的行為，如對聖經當作學術研究，研究神學，若是沒有愛對人的生命沒有幫助，也就是沒有價值。指出他們最缺的是愛。

大衛因聖靈的啟示而說出這話，讓人很難懂！若沒有聖靈的指引，讀不出神的心意。讀經在於讀出神的心意，看到自己的問題。

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How?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Just Doing it!

 

Marriage at the Resurrection

Matthew 22:22-33

That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question... Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?

Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

Why?

The Sadducees who do not believe in the resurrection so came to ask Jesus about the laws Moses had told them. 

There is no marriage in heaven, resurrection people will like angle, there is not marriage relationship in heaven.

The Lord is the God of the living, not the God of the dead. Moses, Jacob, and Abraham are resurrections, so God is their Lord. There are not dead men.

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耶穌來到耶路撒冷，文士、法利賽、祭司長、撒都該人等輪流來質問耶穌，結果耶穌見招拆招，反而被耶穌質疑。

他們相信律法，卻不相信神，第一個矛盾，他們的假設是人死後仍然過人世間生活所推論的結果，這是第二個矛盾。不用真理來論述，一定有矛盾，錯誤。和我不一樣的意見都是錯的。我們用自己的經驗來看神，就認為錯了。我們的答案是錯的，去和聖經來對答案。結果對的答案都是錯的。我們不能用自己的想法廿標準來讀聖經。

神不是死人的神，是活人的神。神與摩西……是與他們有親密的關係，只是他們沒有肉身。所以說他們錯了。不能用理性、經驗，若是如此就會錯了。

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How?

Jesus brings us the hope of resurrection, for Jesus has shed his blood for us, this is the Love before we know the Lord.

“So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

 Matthew 22:15-22

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

Why?

Pharisees planed a trick to trap him in his words. But Jesus is so smart to reply to them, let them amazed Jesus, and left away.

So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. The money with Caesar image so pay tax to Caesar, but if grace got from the Lord we should pay to the Lord. It is not only the money but also the grain and our heart to honor the name of the Lord. For what I have to belong to the Lord, we are the manager in this world.

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這次要耶穌在政治上表態。

人常用自己的觀點在看別人，前言似乎讚美，其實是要求耶穌具實回答，人會欺騙以為別人也是如此欺騙人，所以也認為耶穌可能說謊。人會失信，不知不覺也以為神也是如此。

凱撒已經有權柄了，問這個問題可以說多此一舉。這裏問耶穌要服從羅馬帝國，還是支持以色列人獨立。怎麼回答都不對。

承認這個政權才會使用這個貨幣。法利賽人也在使用這貨幣，當然已經承認羅馬的合法性，對我有利承認，要納稅對我不利，因此有此問題。凱撒的權柄只管還活在該地的人，神的權柄超過凱撒，這才是我們更順服的權柄。我們常常本末倒置。不要把凱撒的物給神，神的東西不要給凱撒，我們的生命、婚姻、家庭、學業，應該歸給神管理。

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How?

It is right to pay tax to the government and pay one-tenth to the church for God is the Lord, I am God's servant.

For many are invited, but few are chosen

Matthew 22:1-14

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

For many are invited, but few are chosen.

Jesus' parable of the guests invited to the wedding feast illustrates what he has just said. The day will come when God no longer invites those who repeatedly refuse him. The invitation will go to others. Verses 11-13 are a warning to the newcomers. Those who come must come on God's terms.

Why?

The banquet of the king invited the people of Israelite, but many of them refuse to come. So the Lord invites the foreigner, no matter who he is, good or bad may come. Jesus gives chance to everyone on the world to his salvation banquet. But there are some guests who look down this banquet of the King, they did not follow the rule of a banquet. So they will be thrown outside. It means at the end of the day, the judgment comes, many people will be discarded outside of heaven. For they did not have the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

We will see that many are invited to be Christian, but few are chosen. Be careful with our behavior and our deed.

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惡園戶與邀宴都是天國邀請人的比喻，一個是工作，一個是邀請。兩個都有規矩，宴席雖然是享受還是有要求必須穿禮服。一個從服事，一個從恩典角度來看。一個要交帳，一個是接受邀請，有自己的事情，即使要我去享受，也要看我是否願意去。惡園戶把葡萄園當作自己的，大宴席，把自己的生命時間，當作自己人的。最後園主把園子交給願意交帳的人，宴席後來給其他人。用心經營葡萄園，是工作，是使命其實也是恩典，且先領受恩典了。基督徒領受神兒女的身份，同時自己已經先領受，所以去分享給別人。受邀者不願去赴宴席，認為我自己有更重要的事情，呈現了我們是主人還是神是主人的問題。我認為重要的才是重要，人何等愚蠢，擴建選擇那辛苦的道路。選的人不配，主要是願意的人才配得。時間的主人是誰?人常常不放心，寧可自己走辛苦的路。願意的人要用實際行動表達，放下自己的事。要有屬靈的眼光。看見神邀請我們是去享受。積極方面穿著禮物，很慎重的預備，因為知道這是很重要的。照著神的規定，照著請帖上的說明書，我們才能收到。照著神的說明，必得這最屬靈的應許。

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How?

We need to struggle to enter the kingdom of heaven and do our best to honor the name of the Lord until we see the face of the Lord.