9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Matthew 24:9-13 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Our Saviour here goes on in giving farther signs of the destruction of Jerusalem.
1. He declares the sharp persecutions which should fall upon the apostles themselves; They shall kill you.
Thence learn, That the keenest and sharpest edge of persecution is usually turned against the ambassadors of Christ, and falls heaviest on the ministers of God. You shall be hated and killed.
The next sign is the apostasy of professors upon the account of those persecutions: Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and hate one another.
Learn hence, that times of persecution for Christianity are constantly times of apostasy from the Christian profession.
2. That apostates are usually the bitterest persecutors: Omnis apostata est osor sui ordinis. They shall betray one another, and hate one another.
A third sign is the abounding of false teachers: Many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.
Where note, That the fair pretences and subtle practices of heretical teachers have drawn off many from the truth, whom open persecution could not drive from it.
A fourth sign is the decay and abatement of zeal for God, and love one to another: The love of many shall wax cold, that is, both towards God and towards man. When iniquity abounds, trouble waxes hot; false love waxes cold, and true love waxes warmer than it was before; the cold blasts of persecution blow up the love of a few, but blow out the love of many more.
These are the signs laid down by our Saviour foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem: and forasmuch as Jerusalem’s destruction was not only a forerunner, but a figure of Christ’s coming to judgment, these are also the signs foretelling the approach of that dreadful day. Verse 13. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
Our Saviour closes his discourse with an exhortation to constancy and perseverance: teaching us, That there is no such way to overcome temptation and persecution, as by keeping our integrity, and persevering in our fidelity to Christ.
2. That constancy and perseverance in our integrity and fidelity towards Christ, is sometimes attended with temporal salvation and deliverance in this life, but shall certainly be rewarded with eternal salvation in the next: He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved.