Matthew 24:14
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Have you ever set out to do something and you had no idea how it was going to end? Maybe you started a new career and you took some risk and you didn't actually know if things were going to pan out. Or maybe you decided it was finally time to take a chance on that fellow nursery volunteer. You asked her out to coffee, and now you're all awkward and nervous because you have no idea what's going to happen next.
Or maybe, maybe you feel like you just don't have a clue what's next for you in life, and it feels pretty terrifying. Whatever it is, it's a scary thing, isn't it? Not knowing how things are going to end. Not knowing if they're going to pan out in the end. Well, church, that's what we're going to talk about tonight. So if you have a Bible, you can go ahead and turn with me to Matthew 24.
Matthew 24, we're going to be reading verse 14. You can also find that on the front page of your bulletin if you want to follow along there. And church, what we're going to see as we look at this verse is that we can take great comfort as Christians because we know exactly how it's all ultimately going to end. Matthew 24, 14. Let's read. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations.
And then the end will come. In a world that's filled with trials and troubles, Jesus wants us to know exactly how things are going to end. He wants to give us hope that no matter how things may look, God's purposes are going to stand. Here's the main point. Take comfort, Christians. Because the gospel will advance, and this world is going to end.
Take comfort, Christians, because the gospel will advance, and this world is going to end. We're just going to break that into two parts. Point one, the gospel will advance. And point two, the world will end. So then point one, the gospel will advance. Church, have any of you ever heard how any of those big tech companies first got their start?
Big companies like Apple and Amazon, they first got their start just in some guy's basement. I mean, those are pretty humble beginnings for a couple multi-billion dollar corporations that we all use pretty much every day. You know what's more amazing than that, though? Do you know what's infinitely more amazing than that? Is that right here in our passage, Jesus is basically telling this ragtag group of fishermen and outcasts that they are the beginning of a kingdom that is going to spread throughout the entire world.
I mean, that's really what he's saying. Jesus is making a rock-solid promise that no matter how things may look, the gospel is going to go out to the entire world. Jesus is going to have followers among every nation. His kingdom, in the end, will be global. And the most surprising part of all that, did you catch how it's all going to happen? Jesus says the gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations.
Jesus' promise that the kingdom will advance, he says it's going to happen through Christians simply speaking the word of God. Proclaiming the gospel as a testimony to all nations. You know, I wonder, church, when these disciples heard that promise, I wonder if they had a little bit of a hard time believing it. I mean, you've got these 12 men, nobody at all impressive.
They've been with Jesus, and sure, they've seen some people become disciples. But mostly, do you know what they've witnessed? Rejection and opposition and ever-mounting persecution. I'm sure everything around them is probably telling them, there's no way this is going to work. I wonder if it was hard to believe that God's kingdom would advance to the ends of the earth, and that would happen simply through them speaking the gospel.
Well, church, I wonder if you ever feel that kind of way. I wonder if you ever feel that way when it comes to your own sharing the gospel. Do you ever feel like, yeah, all my efforts, there's just no way they're going anywhere. You try to share the gospel, but nobody's really ever interested. Doesn't it even really seem like God is working at all? All you ever seem to see is rejection and opposition and maybe even a little bit of persecution.
Well, friends, if that's how you feel, I hope this verse comes to you as a sweet comfort. The whole point of this verse is that even when we can't see it, God is working to advance the gospel, even when things look exactly the opposite. You know what that means? It means we can have great confidence when we go to share the gospel. Because we don't have to be some kind of remarkable evangelists.
All we have to do is simply be faithful to speak, to share the gospel, and God will work. He promises to advance his kingdom to the ends of the earth. Friends, I hope that encourages you to be bold with the gospel, to speak up on your campus and to tell people about Jesus even when they scoff. I hope it encourages you, friend, to keep pursuing that co-worker again and again and again even when they don't seem to be interested.
I hope it encourages you to have one more hard conversation with that family member even though they've made it clear that they don't want anything to do with Jesus. Friends, I hope it encourages some of you to pack up your bags and go to some part of the world where the gospel has never been before. I hope you'll give your life to seeing the gospel go to all nations. I hope you go with confidence and courage.
Not because you have tactics or strategies or some kind of carefully crafted plan, but because you stand firmly on this promise that the gospel will go forward into the entire world. You know, church, just on a personal level, I find this verse hugely comforting and encouraging. Han and I are about to move overseas, and I'm just going to tell you, church, if it were not for Bible verses like this, we would not be going.
You know why? Because we are not that good of evangelists. All right, Han is pretty good. But I'm not. I'm not. But I know this, that God will advance his kingdom and he'll use even weak people like me to do it. And if that's the case, then I know for a fact he'll use people like you to do it too. In your neighborhoods, in your offices, on your campus, to the ends of the earth.
That's an amazing promise. Here's another one. Point two. The world will end. Now how's that for some encouragement? take comfort the world is going to end well really church as christians this is a wonderful promise so i really like history i'm a big nerd and i was reading recently something about the end of world war ii and i came across this quote from general eisenhower addressing his troops here's what he said. Men and women of the Allied Expeditionary Force, this crusade on which we embarked in the early summer of 1944 has now reached its glorious conclusion. Today, full victory in Europe has been attained. Eisenhower was announcing the full surrender of Nazi Germany.
Church, can you imagine what it would have been like to have been one of the soldiers hearing that news? You know what I see in my mind when I imagine that scene? I see a bunch of grown, fighting men. Some big, tough, battle-hardened soldiers leaping and shouting and weeping for joy because their warfare has ended. They're going to be going home.
Well, church, I think that's the exact kind of comfort and hope and joy that Jesus wants to instill in his disciples when he tells them that the end is going to come. Just before this verse, if you look back, Jesus just got through telling his disciples that until he returns, this world is going to be marked by wars and fighting, By earthquakes and famines, by sin and wickedness, deception, persecution.
It's not a pretty picture. And actually, if you look at what Jesus says, it sounds like it's only going to get worse. And it's in the midst of that that Jesus gives this promise. That despite all of that evil, God's purposes will stand. His kingdom will advance. And then all of it, the entire thing, this whole fallen, cursed world will come to a final end. Jesus will return. This world will be gone.
And he will bring us into a new one. We just read about that this morning from Isaiah. Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former things, those things that are coming to an end, shall not be remembered or come into mind. Church, take comfort in this. As you're dealing with all the different trials and troubles in your life, hold on to this promise. I mean, what is it?
What is it that you're dealing with right now? What are you struggling through? Friend, Jesus will put all of it to an end. All your sins and sufferings, all your problems and pain, it's coming to an end. Now friend, if you're here tonight and you're not a Christian, you need to realize that none of that is true for you.
If you continue to reject God, to rebel against the God who made you, and to just keep on living your own kind of way, friend, the hard, awful reality is that your sins and struggles and sufferings, they will never come to an end. Do you realize that? Your sin means right there where you are, you stand condemned, guilty, Before Almighty God, your situation really couldn't get any worse.
But friend, it does not have to stay that way. Because Jesus, the Son of God, came to live as one of us. To live a life without any sin. To die on a bloody, shameful cross where he paid the penalty for our sins. Three days later, he rose from the dead. He's alive. death is defeated, Jesus is victorious, he reigns in heaven, and he says all you have to do is come to him. Turn from your sins and put your trust in Jesus, and he'll forgive you, he'll give you new life, and he'll give you all these promises we're talking about today. You'll have this same hope that when this world is done away with, you will live forever with God in a new one.
That's an amazing promise. Church, there is a day coming when our king will return. Our warfare will be ended. This crusade will reach its glorious conclusion. And then we'll hear these words. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. Why? Why is that the case? Because the former things have passed away. Take comfort. The world is going to end. Friends, that day is not here yet. But it is coming. Hold on to that promise. Fix your eyes on it and let it fill you with hope.
Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful that we have your promises. That we know that the gospel is going to go forth to all nations and then you're going to bring an end to this fallen, cursed world. And then we'll be with you forever in a new one. Lord, help us to fix our eyes on that promise and to put our hope in you. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.