Mission 66 (English podcast)
Matthew 24: Signs of the End
Naturally, the disciples were curious and wanted to know when Jesus was coming into his kingdom. Who doesn't want to know about the end times? Anybody who believes in end times is curious about it. And the disciples, well, they were no different. This is Mission 66, your ultimate journey through all 66 books of the Bible. Brought to you by Bible teacher and pastor Dr. Luis Ciao in partnership with Transworld Radio. I'm Rob Dempsey. Let me remind you to download your free study guide of the Gospels. You'll be able to go deeper into God's Word and follow along with each day's program. It's a great companion resource of the audio teaching of John Matthews and Esther Susullo. To get your free study guide of the Gospels, visit mission66.org. That's mission66.org. John Matthews is our teacher and his co-host Esther Susullo is here to kick things off. Hello there, my dear friend. It's so good to be with you once again. My name is Esther and I'm so excited to be taking you once again to Mission 66. Our expedition through the Gospels of the New Testament will take us to chapter 24 of the book of Matthew today. Now in a world that is full of hunger and misery, wars and natural disasters, there are many that are curious about the future and I'd imagine you feel the same way too, friend. Well, even Jesus' disciples asked him what things should we watch for as a sign of his second coming. And you'll probably already know that if things continue the way they are in this world that is known for its hardships and its distresses, then we certainly must be getting close. But, there is still time to prepare, so let's listen and join John Matthews who teaches on the theme "Signs of the Times". Esther, great to be with you again and great to be with you, our dear listeners. Wherever you are listening today, a very warm welcome. So good to be with you. Now we've reached up and we're Matthew chapter 24 and you know we're already at an advanced point in the chronology of Jesus' life. Now, if you've been following along with us so far, Jesus was gradually being rejected by the religious leaders of his time and now we reach his last week here on earth and he's in the city of Jerusalem. These are his last days before his trial and his crucifixion and at this moment we find here one last discussion given by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Now this discussion comes about as a result of questions asked by his disciples, sometimes referred to as the Olivet Discourse because it was given on the Mount of Olives and the disciples, they were asking Jesus about signs of the end times. They wanted to know when the kingdom of God was going to be established, something they have been eagerly awaiting and expecting now for three years. So here we go in verse 1, Jesus left the temple and he 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." Jesus is making the point that the grand designs of man do not amount to very much when compared to eternity. Verse 3 says, "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?'" Now naturally the disciples were curious and they wanted to know when Jesus was coming into his kingdom, who doesn't want to know about the end times and anybody who believes in end times is curious about it and the disciples will they were no different. Now then you see they've been listening to Jesus in the last few chapters of Matthew and so Jesus now tells them some signs of the end times to watch out for. And the first thing he points out in verse 5 is this, this is what Jesus said, "For many will come in my name, saying I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. And you'll hear of wars and rumours 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, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations, for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come. Wow, you see, some will show up claiming to be the Messiah, the Christ. There will be many wars, famines and earthquakes. True Christians are going to be persecuted and many false prophets are going to arise. The love and the faith of many Christians will grow cold and the gospel will also be preached though to the entire world. And these are some of the signs presented by Jesus that are related to the end of times. But things are still, you know, going to get even more complicated because Jesus goes on to say, and this is in verse 15. So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak and alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days. And their prayer, according to verse 20, should be that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath for then there will be great tribulation such as not being seen from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. The season Jesus clearly states here that if anyone claims that the Christ is here or there, don't believe them because there will be many false prophets arising at this time. And then listen to this. They will perform miraculous signs and incredible things to try to, as Jesus says, lead people astray, if possible, even the elect. Jesus says, see, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, look, he is in the wilderness, do not go out. If they say, look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpses, there the vultures will gather, revealing here the coming of Christ. You see, it will be so spectacular that everybody will be able to see it at the same time. Isn't that an amazing thought? And Jesus continues to say, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the Son will be darkened, and the moon will not give its lights, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven, the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet corps, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. And finally, the Lord Jesus himself will return to take his church with him, the elect. And Jesus then has more to say about the end times in chapters 24 and chapter 25 than any other place in the four gospels, so it's really important, actually, for us to pay attention as he continues here in verse 32, he says, "From the fig tree, learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." Well, John, after hearing all of this and knowing that we're seeing earthquakes and famines and walls these days, I mean, many of us may be thinking, well, what about my wedding plans, or, you know, things that might have been planned before being interrupted? And we may even say, well, you know what, I might as well just quit my job, quit school, and just wait for the Lord to come back. Look, I know most of us would not think that way, but the question in many people's minds, John, is how imminent do you think that the second coming of Christ is? Yeah, it's a really intriguing, interesting question. And, you know, those of us who believe these words of Jesus, the words of truth, I think all of us ask that question. And the truth is Esther, nobody knows, but let's look here at the next verse, verse 36. This is what Jesus says here, "Concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken, one left, two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken, and one left. So Esther, you know, it could be today. It could be a hundred years from now, but I think God doesn't want us to know when Jesus will return, when we know He doesn't, because only God the Father knows, but what we do know is that He is coming. And Jesus said that it would happen suddenly. So let's talk about the days of Noah. What about the days of Noah are comparable to the end times? Yeah, the Bible describes the days of Noah as a time of great wickedness when people live their lives carelessly without considering God, and Jesus actually described it as people eating, drinking, marrying, and of course we know there's nothing wrong with any of that. But this particular society had deteriorated into great evil, to the extent that we're told in Genesis 6 that the behaviour of mankind broke God's heart. And so God decided that divine intervention was necessary, and so He instructed Noah to build this incredible ark to save selected people and animals from the worldwide flood. And you can read all about that story, incredible stories, it is in Genesis. And even though the people were warned by Noah that the judgment was coming, nobody took him seriously, and what Jesus is trying to say here is that society today is just like it was in the days of Noah, and we've been warned about the return of Christ and the divine judgment that He is coming. And as in the days of Noah, you know, people are generally not paying attention and divine judgment then will fall upon all of us, suddenly just like it did back in Noah's day. You know John, the disciples must have been so confused, because I mean here's Jesus, He hadn't yet been crucified and risen from the dead, so hearing this they probably expected that all this would happen immediately, or perhaps at least in their lifetime, right? Yeah, you're right, because no timeline was actually given by the Lord, and we'll work through a little bit of this now, you know, today we've got the benefit of being able to look back at everything that Jesus did and said, but you're right, in the moment the disciples weren't able to see past their very own day, and so they pested Him, as you can imagine they were, they were asking when, when, when's all this going to happen? Well Jesus' only answer to that question comes in verse 45, who says, "Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has said over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Well blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions, but if that wicked servant says to himself, 'Well my master, he's delayed,' and so he begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he doesn't expect him, and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You know, these are sobering words aren't they, and this is what it says in the Bible and the apostles, you know, they warned us against taking it easy, perhaps believing that the second coming would be another, I don't know, thousand years away, so we can live the good life for a while, we've got plenty of time, no, we need to be ready and keep our spiritual lamps burning brightly so to speak, because it will happen at a time that we do not expect, and it could come in the next 15 minutes Esther, we just don't know. That's absolutely true, John Jesus said in verse 6 about walls and earthquakes and famines, I mean all of this is happening today, really are we on the edge of the second coming? Yeah, I mean this is true isn't it, walls, earthquakes, famines, all of these have been happening, not just these days, but in reality throughout all of human history, what Jesus seems to suggest here is that these things will increase in intensity, and this will be an indication that the Lord is coming soon. You're listening to Mission 66 says we explore the Bible with John Matthews, not John has been taking us through the prophecy that Jesus revealed on the Mount of Olives, and it's found in Matthew 24. Now this program is meant to be kind of a help for people who read the Bible and seek better understanding of it, but of course you can always read the Bible anytime on your own, and in fact friend we encourage you to do that, there are many, many, many online helps which you can search for that can help you and that can explain the Bible, but there is a whole world of knowledge out there for those who take the time to study, John, there is a lot of interest in prophecy nowadays, you know, people want to know what's going on, what's going to happen in the future, and it seems that Jesus reveals some things, but not all things, we don't know when things are going to happen, so a lot of it is kind of lift up to speculation. Yeah, it is a structure, I mean before I answer the question I love what you just said about encouraging people to read the Bible, because it is the spirit of truth that speaks through the Bible, and when we read it for ourselves it impacts our very own hearts, it's a personal journey and so that, I completely agree with what you say, it's so important for people to allow the word to form and change themselves, but yet in answer to the question, yes God doesn't tell us everything because he wants us to concentrate on the truth that has been revealed, and then that means not worrying too much about things that are kept secret from us, Matthew 24 and 25, you know, they're packed with information about the end times and it's intriguing to read, and we can watch for the signs of his return, but we aren't told when Jesus will return, because God wants us to live every day in the expectation that he may come back at any time. The disciples tried to pin him down as to when it would happen, well Jesus would not tell them, in fact he couldn't tell them because he didn't know, not even the angels knew, only God the Father knows, and when it is time for Jesus to come back, rest assured God will make it happen, and meanwhile, if he wants us to know something, will we know that he above anyone is perfectly able to communicate it? Amen to that John. So John there's a very interesting phrase found in just before verse 15, what is the abomination that causes desolation? Yeah that is an interesting phrase isn't it, it's a bit of a scary phrase isn't it? Well do you know what it is, Esther it refers to a prophecy back in the book of Daniel which is in the Old Testament that towards the beginning of the Bible or more towards the beginning of the Bible, and that tells us about this abomination, or in other words this terrible sacrilege that will be set up in the holy place. Now on a first analysis this could be understood as what happened during the time of the Maccabees in the time period between the Old and the New Testaments, when there was this king called Antiochus Epiphanes, who entered the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem and sacrificed a pig on the altar, now this was a great abomination to the Jews, but sometimes prophecy has a double fulfillment in other words, it happens again later. And this passage seems to suggest that this is something was going to happen in the future. Now it could be a reference to the time of the Roman invasion in the year 70 AD or when the Antichrist defiles the temple, but verse 21 says that there will be great distress in the world like there has never been before, and that could be a reference to the great seven-year tribulation period that will involve persecution of the church and great suffering that will happen in the future and there are different interpretations of that time period, there are some scholars who would come up with a different interpretation. Okay, so in verse 34 it says that this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened, and I placed emphasis on this generation, but which generation does he mean? Yeah, great question, the word generation here in this case refers to all human civilization, so Jesus was reassuring us that God would not wipe out the entirety of the human race or that mankind would not wipe itself out with something like a nuclear war, for example, before Jesus comes back and sets up the kingdom, it's just reiterating that whatever happens on earth and we think of, you know, all that is happening with global warming and concerns about that, actually the times are in the hands of God the Father and him alone. Well, I can tell you that that's a relief to hear, all right, so we've covered quite a lot in this chapter 24, so how can we summarize it, because it certainly is a power-packed chapter? Yeah, that's a great description, I love that, it is a power-packed chapter and it's a chapter along with the next one that contains the most information that Jesus gives about future events, and we should not try to make these chapters say things that they don't say about the end of the age, but it is important, having said that, to pay attention to what it is saying, you know, I'm in favour of letting the Bible say what the Bible says, who would have better information about it than Jesus the Lord the Son of the Living God, who came from heaven to earth, and yet when questioned about the timing of it all, Jesus only says no man knows the day or the hour, just be ready, how do we be ready, or to believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God and read his Word, his powerful Word, knowing that his second coming will be an actual real event one day. Well, that was such a great way to end off today's mission 66 and friend, we are looking forward to being back with you same time, same place, to continue what Jesus said about the end times as we look at Matthew 25 with our teacher John Matthews, well I'm Esther, take care of yourself friend and we'll be back again on mission 66. As we wrap up today's program I want to encourage you to take advantage of a valuable resource, you can enhance your understanding of the Gospels by downloading our free study guide. This guide will deepen your experience with God's Word and complement our daily teachings from John Matthews and Esther Sasulu. To access your free study guide of the Gospels, simply visit mission66.org. Pick up this valuable resource and also support the Ministry of Mission 66. Your gift helps sustain this program locally and globally. mission66 is a Ministry of Transworld Radio in partnership with Dr. Louise Seow. I'm Rob Dempsey. [Music]