Not one stone left (Part 2)
Detached, Living ready
Living detached from the world means intentionally orienting our hearts, minds, and daily priorities around God rather than the fleeting values, comforts, and anxieties of this life, so that we live continually ready for Christ’s return with sober vigilance and hopeful expectancy. In Matthew 24:1–8 Jesus issues a sober warning that calls believers to careful discernment: He predicts the temple’s destruction and then describes many who will come claiming His name, false messiahs, wars, famines, and earthquakes—signs that trouble and deception will increase but do not yet signal the final culmination. These warnings urge us not to be seduced by temporary earthly security, sensational claims, or the allure of easy answers, but to remain rooted in prayer, faithful obedience, humble service, and steadfast proclamation of the gospel, trusting that hardships and troubling signs drive us into deeper dependence on God and greater readiness for the day when Christ returns.
(ai summarized)
“Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”