Endure in Love until the End
David W Palmer
(Matthew 24:10–13 NLT, Jesus speaking) “And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. {11} And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. {12} Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. {13} But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
We need fully to be aware of Jesus’s clear warning here. This is so we can prepare and respond with wisdom that allows us to be the ones who are “saved”: he said, “… the love of many will grow cold; but the one who endures to the end will be saved.” In the context of this passage, the enduring to the end means to stay undeceived by false prophets and not to turn away from Jesus or to betray and hate his family. Importantly, in the immediate context, our Lord also means to stay under the constraints of love—not wavering from it, or moving the slightest bit from its path to life. In Greek, it also means to undergo trials—in our love walk—and to bear up under the pressure. Our wonderful Lord is warning us that the future is not going to be easy in the area of love.
To fully understand his meaning, let’s go back to where he taught so clearly on all of these things in his “Sermon on the Mount”:
(Matthew 7:12–14 DKJV) “Therefore, in everything, whatever you want others to do to you, you do the same to them; for this is the objective of the law and the prophets. {13} Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many are entering through it. {14} How narrow is the gate, and constricted is the way, which leads to life! And there are few who find it (the narrow gate).”
In this part of his teaching, Jesus tells us what love is … or at least, how to practice it: “In everything, whatever you want others to do to you, you do the same to them.” He said that this was the objective of the law and prophets, and later added that the heart of the law and prophets was love for God and neighbour as self:
(Matthew 22:36–40 NKJV) “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” {37} Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ {38} This is the first and great commandment. {39} And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ {40} On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
So, doing unto others as you would have them do to you is the love that God is looking for. In Mat. 7:13–14, by the context in which he said it, Jesus is saying that the narrow door and way to life is this love walk; after all, living in perfect love is being like God, who is love (1 John 4:8). Our Lord said that this is not easy; the above translation calls the path to life a “constricted” way.
This implies that many opponents will be trying to get you off God’s path to life. It’s like the historic “running the gauntlet.” Two rows of assailants lined the path for the runner, who had to try to get past them while they beat and buffeted him. Our enemies do this to stop us running our race with our eyes on Jesus, living in perfect love. They include the devil, demons, our flesh, and the world system—not to mention the influence of entertainment and the voices around us.
Loving some people is easy. Even Jesus said that sinners can do this, and for this love he used the Greek word, “agape”:
(Luke 6:32 NKJV) “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love (agape) those who love them.”
So loving some people, some of the time, is not hard or impossible—not even for those who are not born again. However, the challenge comes in the words Jesus began his instruction with: “In everything.” He is calling us to maintain a flawless love walk in all situations and to all people. Jesus gave an application of this, telling his disciples to: turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, give to those who ask you, lend, bless those who
