The Two Questions
Notes
Transcript
Intro; In our study on The Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we have looked at several issues that are connected to this future event.
We’ve looked at some signs, especially the birth pang sign [gradual increase of pain until birth]
We’ve looked at many of the prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Christ, from the OT through the NT. [Enoch being the first]
We have studied the Rapture of the church, that being the tell tell sign that Christ is only 7 years from His Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation.
The last couple of weeks we looked at His Return in [Rev. 19]. We saw His glory and power and we saw His judgment and wrath upon evil and the armies of the earth that oppose Him.
Tonight we’re going to begin to look at more of the signs that are given by Jesus himself as to his Second Coming. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke you will find what is traditionally called the “Olivet Discourse” by Jesus as He presented a list of signs that describe the future of the world.
Text; Mt. 24:1-51
Matthew 24:1–51 (NKJV)
1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
3 Now 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?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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.
31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!
34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’
49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,
50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of,
51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus had just condemned the Pharisees [religious leaders] in their failure to honor God and lead the people of Israel into true worship of Jehovah. Israel had killed their prophets and turned from God. They would soon cry out to “crucify” Jesus as well. Jesus then denounced the nation and said it would be “desolate” [23:38].
“Your house” means the glory of God had already departed. The holy sanctuary of God was no longer inhabited by Him. He had long left it to religious people who did not want a relationship with Him.
Matthew 15:8 (NKJV)
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
This brought confusion to the minds of the disciples. If Jerusalem and the temple were to be destroyed and left desolate [24:1-2/read], what nation was their Messiah going to rule?
The disciples, just like the rest of Israel, was looking for Jesus to set up His earthly kingdom now, not some time in the future. Israel has always looked for their Messiah to come and rescue them. But they were always anticipating only one coming of their Messiah, not two.
That’s where we pick up tonight with “The Two Questions”
1. When will this Happen? 3a
1. When will this Happen? 3a
The first thing the disciples wanted to know is “when will the temple be destroyed?”
Matthew does not record Jesus’ answer to the first question about the temple being destroyed, but the same account in the Gospel of Luke does.
Luke 21:20–24 (NKJV)
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.
21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.
22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.
24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Approximately 40 years after Jesus spoke these words, around AD 70, Roman armies began surrounding the city of Jerusalem to overtake it. Roman Emperor Titus pummeled Jerusalem. It was a virtual blood bath of the Jewish people.
The Jewish historian Josephus described the savagery, slaughter, disease, and famine that marked the Jewish people during those years. Parents resorted to cannibalism with their own children and many Jews were taken into slavery. The death toll was in the millions.
Close;
The beginning of sorrows, “birth pangs” began in AD 70 with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The “birth pangs” have been increasing in severity ever since and soon they will come to fruition.
Question #1 has been answered.
Question #2 is on the horizon.
“What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”