马太福音24:3-8 审判日对信徒是好事
3耶稣在橄榄山上坐着，门徒暗暗地来说：“请告诉我们，什么时候有这些事？你降临和世界的末了，有什么预兆呢？”4耶稣回答说：“你们要谨慎，免得有人迷惑你们。5因为将来有好些人冒我的名来，说：‘我是基督’，并且要迷惑许多人。6你们也要听见打仗和打仗的风声，总不要惊慌，因为这些事是必须有的，只是末期还没有到。7民要攻打民，国要攻打国，多处必有饥荒、地震。8这都是灾难的起头（“灾难”原文作“生产之难”）。
当地震发生的时候，当有战争的谣言流传的时候，你可能会听到某些人说，“审判日要来临了。”另一些人就会争辩，“可是这些事情过去经常发生啊。”耶稣说，当我们看到这些事发生的时候不要惊慌，因为这些并不是审判日马上来临的预兆。
战争、战争的谣言、地震或者其他各种自然灾难都是在提醒我们，将来会有审判日。但是这些事并不是在告诉我们审判日马上就来，只是在告诉我们审判日将会到来。假先知和假基督也是一样，当我们看到这些事，我们应该这样思考，“将来有审判日，我应当做好准备！”
当我还是孩子的时候，审判日的想法常常使我感到害怕；一点点害怕是好事，对我们的罪性来说尤其是这样，这会让我们集中注意，避免我们变得骄傲自满。但是我们的救主并不想让我们生活在恐惧中，而是活在信心里。这个世界的末日将会是天国永恒的开始，如果我们信靠耶稣，相信他已经赦免了我们所有的罪，那么我们就没有什么可害怕的了。审判日对我们来说反而是个好事，因为我们已经在耶稣里藉着信心被称为义。
当小孩子听见令人害怕的噪音，他会用手臂挽住妈妈的脖子，紧紧抓住不松开；当地震或者战争或者假教师让你害怕的时候，没关系，用你信心的手臂紧紧挽住耶稣，不要松开！
祷告：主耶稣啊，我向你祷告，使我永远不要变得骄傲自满以至于我的信心在不经意间滑落！求你教导我去理解那些预兆，使我常常为审判日的到来做好准备，在那天你要在荣耀中再来审判活人死人。求你使我属于你，从今时直到永远！阿们。
Matthew 24:3-8: 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?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.6 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. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
You may have heard someone say, when there was an earthquake, or rumors of wars in the world, “Judgment Day is coming.” Another might argue, “But these things have always been happening.” Jesus said that we should not be alarmed when we see these things happening, because they are not signs that Judgment Day is right around the corner.
Wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes and other kinds of natural disasters should remind us that there will be a Judgment Day. These are not signs which tell us that it is going to happen soon, only that it is going to happen. The same with false prophets and false Messiahs. When we see these things, we should think, “There will be a Judgment Day, and I should be ready for it!”
When I was a child, the thought of Judgment Day often made me afraid. A little fear is a good thing, especially for our sinful nature, to keep us on toes so that we do not become complacent. But our Savior does not want us to live in fear, but by faith. The end of the world will be the beginning of forever in heaven. If we trust in Jesus and believe that he has forgiven all our sins, then we have nothing to fear. Judgment Day is a good thing for those who have been justified by faith in Jesus.
When a child hears a frightening noise, the child wraps his arms around his mother’s neck and holds on tight. If earthquakes and wars and false teachers frighten you, that’s o.k. Just wrap your arms of faith around Jesus and hold on tight!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray that I would never become so complacent that my faith slips away from me unnoticed! Teach me to read the signs and to be always ready for that day when you will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Let me be yours now and forever! Amen.