But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
He that remains faithful through deception, persecution, betrayal, hatred and abounding lawlessness to the end will be saved and delivered. The saying stands in Christ's Olivet discourse on His second coming in power and great glory to gather the elect, given shortly before Gethsemane for the disciples and for those living in the final scenes, joining the chilling of love through abounding iniquity with the gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world for a witness before the end comes. To endure is to hold firm in decision, fortitude and steadiness of purpose, preserving first love, keeping God's commandments by conversion and grace, abiding in Christ on personal knowledge of the Bible, and continuing in watchfulness, prayer, repentance and faithful duty without turning back. It means remaining loyal through persecution over God's law, delay and disappointment, shaking and scorn, self-denial and sacrifice of earthly gain for the warning of souls, resisting sin and worldly policy to the last. Those who so endure to the end receive eternal life and immortality, a crown of life and unfading glory, a home with Jesus in the earth made new, as the faithful remnant who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Setting in Olivet Discourse
The saying belongs to the discourse on Olivet given shortly before Gethsemane after a weary day of work and questioning, continuing into Matthew 25. It addresses both the destruction of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ, with Jerusalem's destruction serving as a type of the world's final destruction by fire. It was given for the disciples and for people living in the final scenes of earth's history, calling for careful attention to the warnings and for warning the world that the end is at hand. With prophetic eye Christ stood looking down the stream of time to the last days, seeing the actions of saints and sinners there. It briefly covers the whole Christian dispensation and the church's warfare until its final redemption.
It stands in the description of the second coming in Matthew 24 and 25, when the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and sends His angels with a great sound of a trumpet to gather the elect. The day and hour is known to the Father only, and the coming will be as in the days of Noah when men ate and drank and knew not until the flood took them away. Men must therefore watch and be ready in an hour they think not, and the true believer must show earnest zeal to endure and be found so doing. This portrays the condition of the church at Christ's second coming and contrasts the faithful and wise servant who gives meat in due season and will be made ruler over all goods with the evil servant who says his lord delays his coming and smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken and is cut asunder with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Its immediate setting joins abounding iniquity that makes the love of many grow cold with the gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world for a witness to all nations before the end comes. It was spoken in the prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction and will again be fulfilled before the coming of the Son of man, for the abounding iniquity of the days before Jerusalem fell finds its counterpart in this generation before the second coming, so the same call to endure applies now. The endurance that saves stands amid trials, deception, persecution, betrayal, hatred, and growing lawlessness, and those who so endure have a definite message to proclaim in the time of the end. By giving that gospel the return of the Lord can be hastened, after which the end comes.
With prophetic eye Christ looked down to the very end of earth's history and marked out the things that would take place in the last days as a lifted danger signal to be carefully studied and understood. It belongs to specifications about dangers that will surely come, when many are offended and betray and hate one another, many false prophets arise and deceive many, iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold, and holding out through those dangers to the end brings salvation. It is part of the great prophecy that gives the history of the present dispensation to the complete restitution of all things, with special emphasis on the thrilling and momentous closing scenes. That history follows the church in warfare and suffering onward to promised redemption, to the final triumph of God's people, the destruction of Satan and all his followers, the total extirpation of evil, and the renovation of the earth as the everlasting inheritance of the saints. The instruction about the signs of the times was given to the disciples also to help later believers prepare for the great conflict, for Christ foresaw people dismissing God's people as fanatical when they uplift the voice in earnestness and strength, while God bids His servants not to fear but to say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God.
Meaning of Enduring Faithfully
Enduring to the end requires decision, fortitude, and steadiness of purpose that will not be swerved to the right or left by circumstances or by the influence of unbelievers. It requires perseverance and firmness in the work of overcoming, with steady purpose and untiring effort and patient continuance in well-doing, and it is not child's play to be taken up when convenient and laid aside at pleasure. Only such patient continuance gains the victory at last with eternal life and the immortal reward, while vacillation and failure to reform leaves one easily ensnared and taken captive by Satan at his will to the loss of the soul. Vacillation also forfeits power to exert a saving influence in the family over husband and children.
Enduring includes preserving first love and standing firm for principle when genuine faith in God's Word is tested, in a time when abounding iniquity causes the love of many to grow cold. It means making determined effort to stay spiritually wide-awake, and those who so endure have a definite message to proclaim in the time of the end, that the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations before the end comes. It means living in harmony with God through the Ten Commandments by thorough conversion and divine grace, finding spiritual life, efficiency, and power in that harmony. It means refusing to make worldly policy the rule for God's commandment-keeping people, refusing to divorce the interests of believers in sacred truth to confederate with men of the world or with men of the church converted to worldly methods and plans, looking to God and deriving strength and power from Him rather than trusting those disobedient to His commandments. It means being set apart to minister in sacred service and to preach the Word as John did in preparing the way of the Lord, being bound in covenant relation with God rather than bound in confederacies with men, for those who have the light of truth and follow sparks of their own kindling shall lie down in sorrow.
Endurance rests on personal knowledge of the Bible and faith in God's word, not on borrowed faith, passing religious feelings, impulse, emotion, or dependence on a preacher. Such faith can withstand apparent delay of Christ's coming, disappointment, and trial, patiently wait for clearer light, and follow on to know the Lord, while those moved only by impulse may lose faith when trials come and those whose faith rests only on a preacher may follow that preacher into apostasy and abandon Redeemer and truth. It means becoming partakers of Christ by holding the beginning of confidence firm unto the end in faithful continuance in well doing, which gives the reward at last, with no carnal security, no boasting in self, and no life of ease. It requires being tested and tried as gold in the fire in this world and proved as in a furnace with genuine, obedient faith, for spurious religious faith has no value and will not save, and it requires watching unto prayer, for without it there will be failure at last. In the present time of national uncertainty and testing it means obeying the Word and law of God rather than human theories and commandments, refusing to leave the source of strength no matter what comes, including persecution, reproach, and falsehood. It means holding fast to the truth and remaining loyal to God until the end, refusing to be led away by ambitious plans or falsehood, listening to God's counsel and being governed by His will, since human recognition cannot replace the approval God gives in the judgment.
In the setting of increasing iniquity and many people's love growing cold, endurance means continuing in watchfulness, prayer, and surrender to God rather than returning to sin. It requires resisting spiritual slumber and indolence, watching vigilantly, and faithfully using every moment, with working out salvation joined to God's work within believers, giving them both the will and the ability to do what pleases Him. It means keeping constant watch against unbelief and darkness, refusing neglect of duty or unfaithfulness in the least, improving probation, following on to know the Lord, keeping open communication between God and the soul, and submitting the will to His will. Those who so keep the word of His patience will be kept from the hour of temptation that will try all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. The call to endure belongs to Christ's warnings about the signs of His second advent, and those who attend to the prophecies and watch for His return will recognize the events taking place and will not be surprised or unready.
Endurance means faithfully carrying out one's duty and the duty and messages God gives through trials, hardship, continuing opposition, temptation, and repeated trials. It means holding fast to Christ, staying loyal and connected to God, and continuing in duty rather than turning back. God may use affliction to draw a person to Himself and preserve humility. It means standing in one's own lot catching inspiration from Christ's work for souls, ever beholding the invisible, exalting the cross, and exerting a positive, persistent influence for good whether opportunities are limited or extended. The promised outcome is eternal life, pictured as eating from the tree of life and drinking the water of life, receiving the fruit of the tree of life and drinking the water of life.
Endurance means continuing in a life of repentance and faith, ceasing from sin and seeking a changed character, for clinging to old perversities shows that a person does not have Christ's mind or character. It means resisting sin, temptation, and sinful indulgence of appetite and continuing to seek holiness, governing habits and passions and remaining close to Christ, since those overcome through failure to govern habits and passions lose eternal life while steadfast faithfulness leads to salvation. Those who struggle against sin may rely on Christ's aid and sympathy, since He overcame temptation on humanity's behalf, and by fixing faith on Jesus and striving to become like Him they are prepared to stand before God and inherit eternal life. It means remaining faithful through the final test by refusing Satan's deception and the mark of the beast and holding firmly to Christ, with the hope of judgment and eternal life keeping the faithful from sin and strengthening them to persevere. Being saved at the end requires the grace of God every moment in order to endure, in the last conflict just previous to the coming of the Lord when the signs specified in Matthew 24:3-14 are now so common they are scarcely considered yet prove the assured time is present. Endurance is hard because duty involves a cross and requires putting away selfishness in all its forms, but God's unfailing promises keep the heart in peace and lift it above life's trials, and the hope of eternal life gives strength to remain faithful.
Salvation is gained only by enduring to the end through much tribulation, self-denial, sacrifice of earthly riches, and giving all to Christ, constantly warring the good warfare without laying down weapons until Christ bids rest. It means treating money as a treasure lent by the Lord to be invested in giving the last message of mercy and warning perishing souls and sustaining gospel work, and doing all in power to let light shine to those in darkness. Only those who so endure secure the inheritance that endures through all eternity and gain eternal life, while making earthly things the chief good and spending on self-gratification makes a poor investment that will crumble into dust to eternal loss. Endurance includes accepting privation and sacrificing possessions and giving freely to advance God's cause and the truth, with promise of a great reward in heaven. It stands in contrast to falling away when professed lovers of truth stumble as its principles conflict with their practices or income, revealing lack of living union with Christ, so that like fruitless branches they are cut away and joined with unbelievers. It proceeds through constant exercise of faith and love, which keeps believers shining as lights in the world, while watching for spiritual decline including dimming faith, neglect of prayer, and spiritual slumber while waiting for the Lord's return, for serving wealth while professing to serve God divides love and leaves unprepared. Privations do not turn back those who endure hardships and press on to the end, but make them more eager to continue, while those unaccustomed to hardship fall behind.
Endurance means remaining faithful to Christ through persecution, humiliation, reproach, hatred, killing, and martyrdom through the ages until He returns to deliver, and it applies to God's commandment-keeping people in the last period of earth's history who face threats of death but overcome the beast and its image and mark. It includes the final test over God's law, persecution for keeping the seventh day endured through Christ's strength, efforts to exalt Sunday, and antagonism toward truth-bearers continuing and manifested until the end of the world's history. The killing of believers did not end the work, for those who stayed true even to death helped the truth continue to spread. When opposition, intolerance, and persecution expose the difference between genuine faith and hypocrisy, under trial true faith grows stronger and hope brighter.
Endurance means holding to the truth despite intense family pressure and risk of losing family ties, not drawing back from the Lord under that pressure. It means enduring amid moral decline and denial of faith by the works of many who profess present truth, while a faithful remnant remains steadfast as some professing believers deny faith by actions as the end approaches. There is a close and testing separating work in the shaking time, and only those who are valiant and whole-hearted will endure the trying process to receive the crown of life. It means waiting through delay, disappointment, and the appointed time until reaching the home where the weary rest, receiving the crown of life. It means a minister endures as a humble, faithful, godly shepherd without leaving ministry for an easier or more financially promising path, for faithful endurance brings a crown of glory that does not fade away. It means remaining faithful through opposition, scorn, and ridicule without turning back to the world or joining persecutors, for those unable to endure have not counted the cost or been converted.
Promise of Final Salvation
The promise is that the one who stays faithful through deception, persecution, betrayal, hatred and abounding iniquity to the end will be saved and delivered. Endurance to the end is the named condition for salvation amid those trials, when iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold. It calls for holding fast when love grows cold and warns against continuing in transgression.
Salvation is gained only by so enduring through much tribulation, self-denial, sacrifice of earthly riches, and giving all to Christ. Enduring means constantly warring the good warfare without laying down weapons until Christ bids rest, treating money as a treasure lent by the Lord to be invested in giving the last message of mercy, warning perishing souls, sustaining gospel work, and doing all in power to let light shine to those in darkness. Only those who so endure secure the inheritance that endures through all eternity and gain eternal life, while making earthly things the chief good and spending on self-gratification is a poor investment that crumbles into dust to eternal loss. The everlasting deliverance and everlasting righteousness brought in by the Messiah through His sacrifice on the cross are given only to those who walk after Him, give positive evidence of separation from the world, act upon the truth of the cross so His sacrifice becomes effectual for them, endure to the end, and hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end. Those who depart from the principles that give character to the truth forfeit this and need converting as verily as the hardened sinner.
The reward is blissful immortality to those who patiently endure and remain faithful to the end. Patient continuance in well-doing carries through this world of sorrow and strife to glory and honor and eternal life, and keeping that prospect before the mind gives elevating power and strength to resist evil. Having God within and God overhead removes fear, and being steadfast in the hour of trial gains at last a crown that will never fade away. Those who endure receive the crown of life, waiting through the appointed time until reaching the home where the weary rest. Only the valiant and whole-hearted endure the close and testing separating work of the shaking time, while faith resting only on a preacher may follow that preacher into apostasy and abandon the Redeemer and the truth. Those who remain steadfast to the end will be saved and enter the kingdom of the Lord with the joy of the redeemed in the earth made new, and will see Jesus in His glory, sharing the saints' inheritance of palm, robe, and crown, which encourages cheerful service through whatever suffering is permitted.
Being saved is pictured as eating from the tree of life and drinking from the river of the water of life. Endurance includes faithfully carrying out one's duty and the message God gives through trials, and God may use affliction to draw a person to Himself and preserve humility. The enduring faithful will receive the fruit of the tree of life and drink the water of life. It is enjoying the lovely glorious treasure in heaven, ever being in Jesus' presence, and praising with angels crying Glory Alleluia. All the faithful who overcome, including colored laborers, enter on equal standing with no separate apartment because heaven is broad.
Those saved are the faithful remnant and little company who love God, keep His commandments and the faith of Jesus, and will not abandon allegiance. Faithful people endure to the end amid moral decline and denial of faith by the works of many who profess present truth. In times of trial, professed lovers of truth may stumble when its principles conflict with their practices or income, revealing lack of living union with Christ, and like fruitless branches they are cut away and joined with unbelievers, in contrast to endurance to the end. As the end approaches, some professing believers will deny their faith by their actions, while the faithful remnant remains steadfast to the end.
Those who remain faithful to the last will be delivered and accepted by the Judge of the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom to receive according to works. Those who refuse the call, delay decision for minor things, and turn from Christ to the world after once rejoicing in the truth make shipwreck of faith and become without God and without hope like the inhabitants of the old world. Therefore the message of mercy and warning must go forth now to awaken the world from its sleep of death with a work that will live through the eternal ages, laboring by faith and not by sight and pressing for immediate decision.
Prophetic Signs of End
The prophecies of Matthew 24 belong with those of Daniel and Revelation and with the truth of Jesus as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world as the foundation of faith. They hold truth that decides the eternal destiny of souls, their fulfillment in the present time shows Christ's coming is at hand, and ministers and teachers must bring them to the attention of believers and unbelievers alike, leaving out matters of lesser consequence in order to present them. Awareness of the fulfilling signs of the times should rouse believers from lethargy to take responsibility for the work given them, including bearing witness where truth has not yet been preached.
The chapter gives solemn warning to take heed not to be deceived by many false Christs and false prophets, and outlines what comes upon the world: wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution and hatred and killing for His name, offense and betrayal and hatred among many, abounding iniquity with the love of many grown cold, then the gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end. Endurance to salvation through these last-day troubles means heeding His words rather than seeking the secret time of His coming, preparing for that great event, faithfully doing individual duty, watching and being ready because the Son of man comes in an hour not expected, giving His warnings to others until the end, with safety found only in following the Lord's leading when the time of trouble comes as a thief in the night with confusion and conflict of armies.
The specified signs of Matthew 24:3-14 are now common yet scarcely considered, proving the last days and that the end of all things is at hand, with stormy times before us and a time of trouble coming as a thief. They mark the time just before the Lord's coming in the last conflict of earth's history and should awaken His people to a vivid sense of the times and of the outcome of His coming. The warnings outline events and perils to come upon the world and apply to the last days in which people must be warned of coming judgment. Those who endure to the end must not treat the signs with indifference nor utter unbelief or discouragement but increase faith in Christ who understands necessities, cares for the feeblest of His flock, loves with an everlasting love, and sends healing to sin-sick souls. Holding on through the very last days requires the grace of God every moment in order to endure and to be saved at the end.
As the perils of the last days are seen and sensed and the powers of darkness press more heavily than ever, Bible believers are to do their very best work, earnestly continuing to labor till the work given is finished, standing in lot and place. Christ with prophetic eye looked down the stream of time to the last days and saw the actions of saints and sinners there, and in that time God bids His servants not to be afraid but to say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Because the foretold signs of the times are now fulfilling, the warning message of present truth must be carried to all parts of the world and God's invitation to many places through books published in many languages and borne by humble faithful workers, since God provides abundant means of salvation for all who accept. Remaining steadfast unto the end in preparing for the coming of the Lord, young and old alike, requires humbly seeking God for knowledge of His will, humbling the heart and purifying the soul daily, learning to walk by the faith of the Son of God, leaving aside minor tests and human inventions, testing the spirit by the witness of the Word, and making the truths of the Bible the guide and safeguard through study, which alone keeps the soul steadfast unto the end.
Faithful Living and Warning
Matthew 24 belongs to calls to consecrate fully, remain ready for Christ's coming, and seek salvation before it is too late. The signs of the times read in the light of prophecy prove the great day of the Lord is right upon them, so the message of mercy and warning must go forth now to awaken the world from its sleep of death with a work that will live through the eternal ages. Those who remain faithful to the last will be delivered and accepted by the Judge of the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom to receive according to works, but those who refuse the call, delay decision for minor things, and turn from Christ to the world after once rejoicing in the truth make shipwreck of faith and become without God and without hope like the inhabitants of the old world. Therefore ambassadors in Christ's stead must watch with unceasing vigilance, labor by faith and not by sight, press for immediate decision before the first powerful impression wears away, plead for mercy between the porch and the altar, and take courage from Christ overcoming the world while facing opposition and false witness.
When iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold, only holding firm to the end brings salvation. No one should continue in transgression and sin. This belongs to people who are watching and waiting and praying, whom the Lord will surely arouse to endure.
Missionary labor is not a failure if even one soul holds fast to truth to the end. Such a result is cause for rejoicing despite limited visible results, as when one mother is turned from disloyalty to obedience and then follows on to know the Lord and teaches her children to follow in her footsteps. God provides abundant means of salvation for all who accept, and missionary work carrying God's invitation to people in many places can bring many souls among those who are saved.
A minister must endure to the end as a humble, faithful, godly shepherd. Leaving the ministry for an easier or more financially promising path would be a mistake, even amid personal weaknesses and the appeal of easier or more lucrative work. Endurance means listening to God's counsel and being governed by His will and refusing to be led away by ambitious plans or falsehood. Human recognition cannot replace the approval God gives in the judgment, while faithful endurance brings a crown of glory that does not fade away.
Salvation belongs to those who remain steadfast through trials and continue in faith until the end. Patience and confidence in God sustain them as they follow the narrow path and await Christ's coming and the promised reward. This hope encourages believers to keep serving cheerfully and to endure whatever suffering is permitted, looking forward to seeing Jesus in His glory and sharing the saints' inheritance and receiving the palm, robe, and crown. Privations do not turn them back but make them more eager to continue, while those unaccustomed to hardship fall behind.
He that remains faithful through deception, persecution, betrayal, hatred and abounding lawlessness to the end will be saved and delivered. The saying stands in Christ's Olivet discourse on His second coming in power and great glory to gather the elect, given shortly before Gethsemane for the disciples and for those living in the final scenes, joining the chilling of love through abounding iniquity with the gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world for a witness before the end comes. To endure is to hold firm in decision, fortitude and steadiness of purpose, preserving first love, keeping God's commandments by conversion and grace, abiding in Christ on personal knowledge of the Bible, and continuing in watchfulness, prayer, repentance and faithful duty without turning back. It means remaining loyal through persecution over God's law, delay and disappointment, shaking and scorn, self-denial and sacrifice of earthly gain for the warning of souls, resisting sin and worldly policy to the last. Those who so endure to the end receive eternal life and immortality, a crown of life and unfading glory, a home with Jesus in the earth made new, as the faithful remnant who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Setting in Olivet Discourse
The saying belongs to the discourse on Olivet given shortly before Gethsemane after a weary day of work and questioning, continuing into Matthew 25. It addresses both the destruction of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ, with Jerusalem's destruction serving as a type of the world's final destruction by fire. It was given for the disciples and for people living in the final scenes of earth's history, calling for careful attention to the warnings and for warning the world that the end is at hand. With prophetic eye Christ stood looking down the stream of time to the last days, seeing the actions of saints and sinners there. It briefly covers the whole Christian dispensation and the church's warfare until its final redemption.
It stands in the description of the second coming in Matthew 24 and 25, when the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and sends His angels with a great sound of a trumpet to gather the elect. The day and hour is known to the Father only, and the coming will be as in the days of Noah when men ate and drank and knew not until the flood took them away. Men must therefore watch and be ready in an hour they think not, and the true believer must show earnest zeal to endure and be found so doing. This portrays the condition of the church at Christ's second coming and contrasts the faithful and wise servant who gives meat in due season and will be made ruler over all goods with the evil servant who says his lord delays his coming and smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken and is cut asunder with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Its immediate setting joins abounding iniquity that makes the love of many grow cold with the gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world for a witness to all nations before the end comes. It was spoken in the prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction and will again be fulfilled before the coming of the Son of man, for the abounding iniquity of the days before Jerusalem fell finds its counterpart in this generation before the second coming, so the same call to endure applies now. The endurance that saves stands amid trials, deception, persecution, betrayal, hatred, and growing lawlessness, and those who so endure have a definite message to proclaim in the time of the end. By giving that gospel the return of the Lord can be hastened, after which the end comes.
With prophetic eye Christ looked down to the very end of earth's history and marked out the things that would take place in the last days as a lifted danger signal to be carefully studied and understood. It belongs to specifications about dangers that will surely come, when many are offended and betray and hate one another, many false prophets arise and deceive many, iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold, and holding out through those dangers to the end brings salvation. It is part of the great prophecy that gives the history of the present dispensation to the complete restitution of all things, with special emphasis on the thrilling and momentous closing scenes. That history follows the church in warfare and suffering onward to promised redemption, to the final triumph of God's people, the destruction of Satan and all his followers, the total extirpation of evil, and the renovation of the earth as the everlasting inheritance of the saints. The instruction about the signs of the times was given to the disciples also to help later believers prepare for the great conflict, for Christ foresaw people dismissing God's people as fanatical when they uplift the voice in earnestness and strength, while God bids His servants not to fear but to say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God.
Meaning of Enduring Faithfully
Enduring to the end requires decision, fortitude, and steadiness of purpose that will not be swerved to the right or left by circumstances or by the influence of unbelievers. It requires perseverance and firmness in the work of overcoming, with steady purpose and untiring effort and patient continuance in well-doing, and it is not child's play to be taken up when convenient and laid aside at pleasure. Only such patient continuance gains the victory at last with eternal life and the immortal reward, while vacillation and failure to reform leaves one easily ensnared and taken captive by Satan at his will to the loss of the soul. Vacillation also forfeits power to exert a saving influence in the family over husband and children.
Enduring includes preserving first love and standing firm for principle when genuine faith in God's Word is tested, in a time when abounding iniquity causes the love of many to grow cold. It means making determined effort to stay spiritually wide-awake, and those who so endure have a definite message to proclaim in the time of the end, that the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations before the end comes. It means living in harmony with God through the Ten Commandments by thorough conversion and divine grace, finding spiritual life, efficiency, and power in that harmony. It means refusing to make worldly policy the rule for God's commandment-keeping people, refusing to divorce the interests of believers in sacred truth to confederate with men of the world or with men of the church converted to worldly methods and plans, looking to God and deriving strength and power from Him rather than trusting those disobedient to His commandments. It means being set apart to minister in sacred service and to preach the Word as John did in preparing the way of the Lord, being bound in covenant relation with God rather than bound in confederacies with men, for those who have the light of truth and follow sparks of their own kindling shall lie down in sorrow.
Endurance rests on personal knowledge of the Bible and faith in God's word, not on borrowed faith, passing religious feelings, impulse, emotion, or dependence on a preacher. Such faith can withstand apparent delay of Christ's coming, disappointment, and trial, patiently wait for clearer light, and follow on to know the Lord, while those moved only by impulse may lose faith when trials come and those whose faith rests only on a preacher may follow that preacher into apostasy and abandon Redeemer and truth. It means becoming partakers of Christ by holding the beginning of confidence firm unto the end in faithful continuance in well doing, which gives the reward at last, with no carnal security, no boasting in self, and no life of ease. It requires being tested and tried as gold in the fire in this world and proved as in a furnace with genuine, obedient faith, for spurious religious faith has no value and will not save, and it requires watching unto prayer, for without it there will be failure at last. In the present time of national uncertainty and testing it means obeying the Word and law of God rather than human theories and commandments, refusing to leave the source of strength no matter what comes, including persecution, reproach, and falsehood. It means holding fast to the truth and remaining loyal to God until the end, refusing to be led away by ambitious plans or falsehood, listening to God's counsel and being governed by His will, since human recognition cannot replace the approval God gives in the judgment.
In the setting of increasing iniquity and many people's love growing cold, endurance means continuing in watchfulness, prayer, and surrender to God rather than returning to sin. It requires resisting spiritual slumber and indolence, watching vigilantly, and faithfully using every moment, with working out salvation joined to God's work within believers, giving them both the will and the ability to do what pleases Him. It means keeping constant watch against unbelief and darkness, refusing neglect of duty or unfaithfulness in the least, improving probation, following on to know the Lord, keeping open communication between God and the soul, and submitting the will to His will. Those who so keep the word of His patience will be kept from the hour of temptation that will try all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. The call to endure belongs to Christ's warnings about the signs of His second advent, and those who attend to the prophecies and watch for His return will recognize the events taking place and will not be surprised or unready.
Endurance means faithfully carrying out one's duty and the duty and messages God gives through trials, hardship, continuing opposition, temptation, and repeated trials. It means holding fast to Christ, staying loyal and connected to God, and continuing in duty rather than turning back. God may use affliction to draw a person to Himself and preserve humility. It means standing in one's own lot catching inspiration from Christ's work for souls, ever beholding the invisible, exalting the cross, and exerting a positive, persistent influence for good whether opportunities are limited or extended. The promised outcome is eternal life, pictured as eating from the tree of life and drinking the water of life, receiving the fruit of the tree of life and drinking the water of life.
Endurance means continuing in a life of repentance and faith, ceasing from sin and seeking a changed character, for clinging to old perversities shows that a person does not have Christ's mind or character. It means resisting sin, temptation, and sinful indulgence of appetite and continuing to seek holiness, governing habits and passions and remaining close to Christ, since those overcome through failure to govern habits and passions lose eternal life while steadfast faithfulness leads to salvation. Those who struggle against sin may rely on Christ's aid and sympathy, since He overcame temptation on humanity's behalf, and by fixing faith on Jesus and striving to become like Him they are prepared to stand before God and inherit eternal life. It means remaining faithful through the final test by refusing Satan's deception and the mark of the beast and holding firmly to Christ, with the hope of judgment and eternal life keeping the faithful from sin and strengthening them to persevere. Being saved at the end requires the grace of God every moment in order to endure, in the last conflict just previous to the coming of the Lord when the signs specified in Matthew 24:3-14 are now so common they are scarcely considered yet prove the assured time is present. Endurance is hard because duty involves a cross and requires putting away selfishness in all its forms, but God's unfailing promises keep the heart in peace and lift it above life's trials, and the hope of eternal life gives strength to remain faithful.
Salvation is gained only by enduring to the end through much tribulation, self-denial, sacrifice of earthly riches, and giving all to Christ, constantly warring the good warfare without laying down weapons until Christ bids rest. It means treating money as a treasure lent by the Lord to be invested in giving the last message of mercy and warning perishing souls and sustaining gospel work, and doing all in power to let light shine to those in darkness. Only those who so endure secure the inheritance that endures through all eternity and gain eternal life, while making earthly things the chief good and spending on self-gratification makes a poor investment that will crumble into dust to eternal loss. Endurance includes accepting privation and sacrificing possessions and giving freely to advance God's cause and the truth, with promise of a great reward in heaven. It stands in contrast to falling away when professed lovers of truth stumble as its principles conflict with their practices or income, revealing lack of living union with Christ, so that like fruitless branches they are cut away and joined with unbelievers. It proceeds through constant exercise of faith and love, which keeps believers shining as lights in the world, while watching for spiritual decline including dimming faith, neglect of prayer, and spiritual slumber while waiting for the Lord's return, for serving wealth while professing to serve God divides love and leaves unprepared. Privations do not turn back those who endure hardships and press on to the end, but make them more eager to continue, while those unaccustomed to hardship fall behind.
Endurance means remaining faithful to Christ through persecution, humiliation, reproach, hatred, killing, and martyrdom through the ages until He returns to deliver, and it applies to God's commandment-keeping people in the last period of earth's history who face threats of death but overcome the beast and its image and mark. It includes the final test over God's law, persecution for keeping the seventh day endured through Christ's strength, efforts to exalt Sunday, and antagonism toward truth-bearers continuing and manifested until the end of the world's history. The killing of believers did not end the work, for those who stayed true even to death helped the truth continue to spread. When opposition, intolerance, and persecution expose the difference between genuine faith and hypocrisy, under trial true faith grows stronger and hope brighter.
Endurance means holding to the truth despite intense family pressure and risk of losing family ties, not drawing back from the Lord under that pressure. It means enduring amid moral decline and denial of faith by the works of many who profess present truth, while a faithful remnant remains steadfast as some professing believers deny faith by actions as the end approaches. There is a close and testing separating work in the shaking time, and only those who are valiant and whole-hearted will endure the trying process to receive the crown of life. It means waiting through delay, disappointment, and the appointed time until reaching the home where the weary rest, receiving the crown of life. It means a minister endures as a humble, faithful, godly shepherd without leaving ministry for an easier or more financially promising path, for faithful endurance brings a crown of glory that does not fade away. It means remaining faithful through opposition, scorn, and ridicule without turning back to the world or joining persecutors, for those unable to endure have not counted the cost or been converted.
Promise of Final Salvation
The promise is that the one who stays faithful through deception, persecution, betrayal, hatred and abounding iniquity to the end will be saved and delivered. Endurance to the end is the named condition for salvation amid those trials, when iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold. It calls for holding fast when love grows cold and warns against continuing in transgression.
Salvation is gained only by so enduring through much tribulation, self-denial, sacrifice of earthly riches, and giving all to Christ. Enduring means constantly warring the good warfare without laying down weapons until Christ bids rest, treating money as a treasure lent by the Lord to be invested in giving the last message of mercy, warning perishing souls, sustaining gospel work, and doing all in power to let light shine to those in darkness. Only those who so endure secure the inheritance that endures through all eternity and gain eternal life, while making earthly things the chief good and spending on self-gratification is a poor investment that crumbles into dust to eternal loss. The everlasting deliverance and everlasting righteousness brought in by the Messiah through His sacrifice on the cross are given only to those who walk after Him, give positive evidence of separation from the world, act upon the truth of the cross so His sacrifice becomes effectual for them, endure to the end, and hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end. Those who depart from the principles that give character to the truth forfeit this and need converting as verily as the hardened sinner.
The reward is blissful immortality to those who patiently endure and remain faithful to the end. Patient continuance in well-doing carries through this world of sorrow and strife to glory and honor and eternal life, and keeping that prospect before the mind gives elevating power and strength to resist evil. Having God within and God overhead removes fear, and being steadfast in the hour of trial gains at last a crown that will never fade away. Those who endure receive the crown of life, waiting through the appointed time until reaching the home where the weary rest. Only the valiant and whole-hearted endure the close and testing separating work of the shaking time, while faith resting only on a preacher may follow that preacher into apostasy and abandon the Redeemer and the truth. Those who remain steadfast to the end will be saved and enter the kingdom of the Lord with the joy of the redeemed in the earth made new, and will see Jesus in His glory, sharing the saints' inheritance of palm, robe, and crown, which encourages cheerful service through whatever suffering is permitted.
Being saved is pictured as eating from the tree of life and drinking from the river of the water of life. Endurance includes faithfully carrying out one's duty and the message God gives through trials, and God may use affliction to draw a person to Himself and preserve humility. The enduring faithful will receive the fruit of the tree of life and drink the water of life. It is enjoying the lovely glorious treasure in heaven, ever being in Jesus' presence, and praising with angels crying Glory Alleluia. All the faithful who overcome, including colored laborers, enter on equal standing with no separate apartment because heaven is broad.
Those saved are the faithful remnant and little company who love God, keep His commandments and the faith of Jesus, and will not abandon allegiance. Faithful people endure to the end amid moral decline and denial of faith by the works of many who profess present truth. In times of trial, professed lovers of truth may stumble when its principles conflict with their practices or income, revealing lack of living union with Christ, and like fruitless branches they are cut away and joined with unbelievers, in contrast to endurance to the end. As the end approaches, some professing believers will deny their faith by their actions, while the faithful remnant remains steadfast to the end.
Those who remain faithful to the last will be delivered and accepted by the Judge of the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom to receive according to works. Those who refuse the call, delay decision for minor things, and turn from Christ to the world after once rejoicing in the truth make shipwreck of faith and become without God and without hope like the inhabitants of the old world. Therefore the message of mercy and warning must go forth now to awaken the world from its sleep of death with a work that will live through the eternal ages, laboring by faith and not by sight and pressing for immediate decision.
Prophetic Signs of End
The prophecies of Matthew 24 belong with those of Daniel and Revelation and with the truth of Jesus as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world as the foundation of faith. They hold truth that decides the eternal destiny of souls, their fulfillment in the present time shows Christ's coming is at hand, and ministers and teachers must bring them to the attention of believers and unbelievers alike, leaving out matters of lesser consequence in order to present them. Awareness of the fulfilling signs of the times should rouse believers from lethargy to take responsibility for the work given them, including bearing witness where truth has not yet been preached.
The chapter gives solemn warning to take heed not to be deceived by many false Christs and false prophets, and outlines what comes upon the world: wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution and hatred and killing for His name, offense and betrayal and hatred among many, abounding iniquity with the love of many grown cold, then the gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end. Endurance to salvation through these last-day troubles means heeding His words rather than seeking the secret time of His coming, preparing for that great event, faithfully doing individual duty, watching and being ready because the Son of man comes in an hour not expected, giving His warnings to others until the end, with safety found only in following the Lord's leading when the time of trouble comes as a thief in the night with confusion and conflict of armies.
The specified signs of Matthew 24:3-14 are now common yet scarcely considered, proving the last days and that the end of all things is at hand, with stormy times before us and a time of trouble coming as a thief. They mark the time just before the Lord's coming in the last conflict of earth's history and should awaken His people to a vivid sense of the times and of the outcome of His coming. The warnings outline events and perils to come upon the world and apply to the last days in which people must be warned of coming judgment. Those who endure to the end must not treat the signs with indifference nor utter unbelief or discouragement but increase faith in Christ who understands necessities, cares for the feeblest of His flock, loves with an everlasting love, and sends healing to sin-sick souls. Holding on through the very last days requires the grace of God every moment in order to endure and to be saved at the end.
As the perils of the last days are seen and sensed and the powers of darkness press more heavily than ever, Bible believers are to do their very best work, earnestly continuing to labor till the work given is finished, standing in lot and place. Christ with prophetic eye looked down the stream of time to the last days and saw the actions of saints and sinners there, and in that time God bids His servants not to be afraid but to say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Because the foretold signs of the times are now fulfilling, the warning message of present truth must be carried to all parts of the world and God's invitation to many places through books published in many languages and borne by humble faithful workers, since God provides abundant means of salvation for all who accept. Remaining steadfast unto the end in preparing for the coming of the Lord, young and old alike, requires humbly seeking God for knowledge of His will, humbling the heart and purifying the soul daily, learning to walk by the faith of the Son of God, leaving aside minor tests and human inventions, testing the spirit by the witness of the Word, and making the truths of the Bible the guide and safeguard through study, which alone keeps the soul steadfast unto the end.
Faithful Living and Warning
Matthew 24 belongs to calls to consecrate fully, remain ready for Christ's coming, and seek salvation before it is too late. The signs of the times read in the light of prophecy prove the great day of the Lord is right upon them, so the message of mercy and warning must go forth now to awaken the world from its sleep of death with a work that will live through the eternal ages. Those who remain faithful to the last will be delivered and accepted by the Judge of the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom to receive according to works, but those who refuse the call, delay decision for minor things, and turn from Christ to the world after once rejoicing in the truth make shipwreck of faith and become without God and without hope like the inhabitants of the old world. Therefore ambassadors in Christ's stead must watch with unceasing vigilance, labor by faith and not by sight, press for immediate decision before the first powerful impression wears away, plead for mercy between the porch and the altar, and take courage from Christ overcoming the world while facing opposition and false witness.
When iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold, only holding firm to the end brings salvation. No one should continue in transgression and sin. This belongs to people who are watching and waiting and praying, whom the Lord will surely arouse to endure.
Missionary labor is not a failure if even one soul holds fast to truth to the end. Such a result is cause for rejoicing despite limited visible results, as when one mother is turned from disloyalty to obedience and then follows on to know the Lord and teaches her children to follow in her footsteps. God provides abundant means of salvation for all who accept, and missionary work carrying God's invitation to people in many places can bring many souls among those who are saved.
A minister must endure to the end as a humble, faithful, godly shepherd. Leaving the ministry for an easier or more financially promising path would be a mistake, even amid personal weaknesses and the appeal of easier or more lucrative work. Endurance means listening to God's counsel and being governed by His will and refusing to be led away by ambitious plans or falsehood. Human recognition cannot replace the approval God gives in the judgment, while faithful endurance brings a crown of glory that does not fade away.
Salvation belongs to those who remain steadfast through trials and continue in faith until the end. Patience and confidence in God sustain them as they follow the narrow path and await Christ's coming and the promised reward. This hope encourages believers to keep serving cheerfully and to endure whatever suffering is permitted, looking forward to seeing Jesus in His glory and sharing the saints' inheritance and receiving the palm, robe, and crown. Privations do not turn them back but make them more eager to continue, while those unaccustomed to hardship fall behind.