Turn with me to Matthew 13, I'm
sorry, 24, Matthew 24, verse 13, but Matthew 24. The Lord willing, we will be in Daniel
tonight, but we're gonna look at two different
subject matters that our Lord mentioned here in Matthew 24,
one for this Bible study and one for the message in a moment.
Our Lord in this chapter is speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and he is speaking of his return,
his second coming, those two events, the destruction of Jerusalem
that happened in 70 AD and his second coming that we are still
waiting to see happen. And in the process of speaking
of these two events, he made many statements here that are
worthy to be considered. And one of those statements is
in verse 13. Matthew 24, verse 13, our Lord
said, but he that shall endure unto the end, The same shall
be saved. He that shall endure to the end,
the same shall be saved. Up in verse 10, our Lord said,
then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and
shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall
rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved. I want us to look this morning
at spiritually speaking, we're looking at spiritual eternal
matters here. Spiritually speaking, what is
it to endure to the end? What is it to endure to the end?
We need to know this. We need to understand this because
our Lord said the same shall be saved. The same shall be saved. The soul that endures to the
end, that's the soul that's going to be saved. I want to be saved. I want to be saved. I think about
that so often, you know, here we are again. Okay, here we are
again. And I think all the time, what
are we doing here? What are we doing here? What is this all about really? I want to be saved. I want to
know the truth of these issues. I want you to be saved. I want all of us to endure to
the end. So what does that mean? And how
can we do it? How can we endure to the end? What does that mean? Well, first
we need to find out what is the end. If we're going to endure
to the end, the end of what? What is the end? We could say
the end of this life. He that endures to the end of
this life. Everybody is going to endure to the end of this
life. Everybody is. Every soul on this earth has
an appointed set end. Every soul on this earth has
an appointed end, an appointed set end. It is appointed unto
man wants to die. It is appointed unto all men
and women to leave this world and go meet God in the judgment. Every soul. There is that end. But that's not the end for a
child of God. And that's what I want us to focus on this morning.
Philippians 3 says the end of this unbelieving world is destruction. Their end is destruction. Whose
end is destruction? But what is the end for a child
of God? Well, turn with me to Philippians
3. It tells us that too. Philippians 3. Philippians 3 verse 8. It says, Yea, doubtless, and
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. What is the end for a child of
God? Christ is. Christ is. It's not the law.
Look at verse four right here. Paul said, though I might also
have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more, Circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin
and Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted loss. Christ. He said, there was a
time that I thought it was the law. And I believe most every child
of God can say that. I believe most every child of
God can say that because that's what the whole world naturally
believes. That's what the whole world naturally
believes. Man by nature believes that the
point of it all. The end goal, the prize to obtain
is the law. The approval of the law, the
attainment of the law. Paul said, that's what I thought
until God revealed Christ to me. Those who have had Christ revealed
to them understand what that means. Those who have not had
Christ revealed to them have no idea what that means. They
say, what are you talking about? I know who Jesus Christ is. Everybody
knows who Christ is. Paul said, I thought the goal
was the attainment of the law. You want to go to heaven, don't
you? I'm going to tell you what, you better obey that law. You
better do good. He said, that's what I thought
until God revealed Christ to me. And once I saw Christ, I
had a new end. I had a new prize. Verse eight, yea, doubtless,
and I count all things lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ.
the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know
Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead." What is the end
for a child of God? Christ is. Christ is the answer. Christ is the end. Every time
something comes up, what's the answer to this? What's the end
of this? Christ. Christ. Christ is the end. He that endureth to the end is
he that endures to Christ and stops right there. Now, how do
we do that? How does a child of God endure
to Christ, our end? Well, look at Philippians 1 with
me. Philippians 1 verse 6, it says, being confident of this
very thing that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Our end. He that hath begun a
good work in you, he will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ. How do God's people endure to
Christ? That's God's doing. That's God's business. That is
God's work. That is God's work. God starts
that work. God performs that work. until
God finishes that work. He is the author. He is the finisher. We are His workmanship. We're His workmanship. If enduring
to Christ was left up to us, we would never make it. If enduring
to Christ was left up to us, we would never make it. Like
Winspurgeon said, if I was standing at the very threshold of heaven
and that last step was up to me, he said, I would never make
it in. Men and women who have something
of the truth revealed to them, they believe that. If that last
step, if I was standing right there at the very threshold of
heaven, and that last step, okay, now he's done all he can do. The last step is up to you. You
ever heard that? If that's the case, Charles Spurgeon
said, I will not ever make it into glory. Never. Thank God it's not left up to
us. No sinner can come to Christ or endure to Christ unless the
Father who sent Christ draw that sinner to Christ. That's the
only way it can happen. It is all His doing. So if we
endure to the end, we will endure to Christ. And if we endure to
Christ, it will be the work of God Almighty that allows us and
causes us to endure. All right now, some are going
to endure and some are not. It breaks my heart to think that
some in this room may endure and some may not. My prayer is
that every soul here endures. But we, man, naturally and very
foolishly assumes that everybody's going to endure. You go to a
funeral, I've, you know, said this many times, so far I've
never been to a funeral where the person in the coffin
didn't go to heaven. I've never experienced that.
Everybody's in a better place now. That's just not right. It's not so. And it breaks my
heart to think, I don't want anybody here to not endure. Some are going to endure. Some
are not going to endure. If we endure, how's that going
to happen? That's God's business. That's God's doing. God does
that for whom God is pleased to do that. How can we know if
it's us? How can we know if we're among
them? What will be the evidence if
we are among the ones that endure? How can we know that God has
performed His enduring work in us? Here's how. Go back to Philippians 3. Verse 8, Paul said, Yea, doubtless
I count all things loss. for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. that I may know
Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended." What he's saying right here is this is
God's doing. That's what he's saying. Everything
I'm telling you concerning me and this desire that's in me,
this is God's doing. God did this in me. When it pleased
God, he revealed Christ and he created this, this desire in
me. This is to his credit, his glory
for what he has done. This is what Paul's saying right
here. Verse 13, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended,
but this one thing I do. forgetting those things which
are behind. What's behind? Well, He just
told us all that law. He just told us all that law.
Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. If we are one of the ones who
will endure to the end, Christ will be our mark. Christ will be our mark. We will
press toward Him. Our goal, our prize, our focus,
our life, our ultimate final desire will be Christ. Christ will be our all. Christ
will be our one thing needful. Our one thing needful. Not doctrine,
Christ. Not religion, Christ. Not worldly ease and
comforts, Christ. Not heaven, not heaven. Christ, Christ, is there anything,
you just assess your own heart, okay? Is there anything that
a person could offer you in exchange for Christ? Some people would say no, but
would mean yes. Some people would say no and
mean no. deep in the heart. Is there anything a person could
offer you? Is there something that a person could offer you
and in order for you to have it, you would have to give up
Christ? Is there anything in this world
worth having that if it means you have to leave this world
without Christ in order for you to have it? Anything? No. No. Nothing. Christ is all. Everything
else is nothing at all. Nothing at all. I see these men
with these huge bank accounts. They list them in Forbes and
all that kind of stuff. And look, they're living it up,
man. I mean, who wouldn't want to
go out and buy whatever house you want and whatever car you
want and whatever item you want? And it's all going away that
fast. That fast. And it's gone. It's just gone. And it turned
to nothing. We've been down there to the
Biltmore before. I think that man died at 52. Something like that. And it's
gone. It's empty. It's nothing. Christ
is all and everything else is nothing at all. Until God creates a desire, this
true desire in a sinner, what we're doing right here is just
church. This is how you will hear people
talk about it. That'll be their vocabulary.
We're going to go to church. You know, we need to be in church.
It's all about church. This is church. Until God gives
a revelation of Jesus Christ, it's all about church. And you
ask a sinner, especially when I was young, I think about you
teenagers. If I really assessed my heart, and I'm telling on
myself, but if I assessed my heart, would you be willing to
give up church to go be a famous whatever? I would have said,
yep. But it means you can't go to
church anymore. No problem. Once God does a saving work in
the heart, this is not just church anymore, this is Christ. That's what this is, this is
Christ. And nothing can separate a child of God from Christ, nothing. So how can we know if we're among
the ones who will endure? Number one, Christ will be all
to us. Christ will be all to us, and
we will be very disappointed in ourselves for our faithfulness
to Him, and we'll be so disappointed, we'll say, prone to wander, Lord,
I feel it, but He won't let us go. He won't let us go. Christ will be all to us. I'm
gonna speed up a little bit. Here's the second way we can
know. Go to 1 Corinthians 1. Did I say 2nd Corinthians? 1st
Corinthians, that's what I meant. 1st Corinthians 1, verse 23. Paul said, but we preach Christ
crucified. We preach Christ crucified. Look at chapter 2, verse 2. He
said, for I determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He said in Galatians 1, it's
called the gospel and there is only one. There is no other true gospel. There is only one. It's the one that God has clearly
declared in the pages of his book. Any veering away from what is
said in this book is leaving the gospel. Any veering away
from what is said in this book is leaving the gospel. Paul said,
woe is unto me if I leave the gospel. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. Those who endure to the end endure
in the truth of God's gospel. Look with me at 1 Timothy 1.
1 Timothy 1, verse 3. Paul said to Timothy, as I besought
thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that
thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister
questions rather than godly edifying, which is in faith, so do. Now the end of the commandment
is charity or love out of a pure heart and of a good conscience
and a faith unfeigned, that means sincere faith, from which some,
having swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring
to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof
they affirm. He said those who have turned
from the good news of Jesus Christ to the bondage and condemnation
of the law. He said they are vain janglers
who have no idea what they're teaching and no idea what the
gospel is. No idea. And he said warn God's
people to stay away from that. Stay away from that. It's Christ
alone. I really am going to speed up.
I was going to have you go to Titus 3 where he said, it's not
by works of righteousness, which we have done, but it's according
to his mercy, he saved us. And he called us to good works,
the good works of faith in Christ. Hebrews 6 says, leave the dead
works of the law. Dead works are works that we
try to do to justify ourselves before God. Good works are the
works Christ did to justify us before God. And the only good
work that we have and the only good work we can do that has
been given to us and created in us is believing on Him. This
is the work of God, that you believe on the one who He sent.
Look to Christ. Believe on Christ. Faith in Christ. How does faith come? Faith comes
by hearing, hearing the word of God. If we endure to the end, this
word will be all to us. Does anything trump this word?
Well, yeah, but so-and-so said, I hear that a lot. Yeah, but
so-and-so wrote a book and this is what they said in it. Faith in this word alone. Go with me to Hebrews 10. We'll
wrap this up here. Hebrews 10. If we are among the ones that
will endure to the end, Christ will be all to us. His gospel,
the truth of His Word, will be all to us. Here's the third thing.
Hebrews 10, verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which He hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say His flesh, and having an high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold
fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful
that promised. And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another in so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Those who are caused to endure to the end, they endure in the
love and the fellowship of God's saints. Our Lord said, by this shall
all men know that you're my disciples, you have love for one another. Where true love is, brethren
desire to dwell together in unity. Our Lord said, where two or three
are gathered in my name, I'm right there in the midst of them.
And when a work of grace has been done in a child of God,
that's where the child wants to be. gathered with the saints
of God around the word of God for the glory of God. Christ
alone, being with God's people, this is the closest thing that
we have on this earth to being with Christ, physically speaking. If he is among us and if he is
in his people, worshiping around his gospel with his people, this
is the closest thing to heaven. eternity with him that we have.
And because of that, that's where God's people want to be. So Lord,
keep us, cause us to endure, make Christ to be all to us,
make his gospel to be all to us, make his people to be all
to us, all of our heart's desire until He returns. That's our prayer, isn't it?
The Lord calls us to endure to the end. I pray so. All right, you're dismissed.