Sermon Tone Analysis

The Second Coming of Christ

Part 4: God Talks about the Timing

Matthew 24:29-44

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - July 8, 2015

BACKGROUND:

*It was two days before the cross.

Jesus had just finished condemning the Jewish religious leaders for stubbornly rejecting Him as the Messiah.

The Lord also condemned them for their arrogance, their lack of mercy, hypocrisy and more.

*Then in Matthew 24, Jesus told His disciples that every stone of the Temple they admired would be thrown down.

That's why in Matthew 24:3, "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?'"

*When will these things be?

-- Tonight we will talk about the timing.

But there are some questions about the timing, so let's start by focusing on some sure things in tonight's Scripture.

[1] First: The return of our Redeemer is sure.

*The return of our Redeemer is very sure.

Verses 29-31 make this truth clear, because here Jesus said:

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.

*In these few verses, the Lord tells us 9 things that will surely happen.

We can look forward with a sure hope that it will be just as He said.

Our Redeemer will surely return!

*Dr.

George Sweeting once estimated that more than one fourth of the whole Bible is future prophecy.

Over 1,800 references to Christ's return appear in the Old Testament.

And in the 260 chapters of the New Testament there are more than 300 references to the Lord's return.

Twenty-three of the 27 books in the New Testament refer to this great event!

*Dr.

Sweeting reported that for every single prophecy on the first coming of Christ, there are 8 prophecies for the Lord's second coming.

What a comfort this is for us as Christians.

Jesus is coming again!

(1)

*The return of our redeemer is sure.

[2] Another sure thing in tonight's Scripture is the Word of God, and I say that because the truth of God's Word is timeless.

*Down in vs. 35, Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

The Bible has been ridiculed and rejected, but it never has and it never will pass away!

I

*Author Chuck Colson gave this testimony about the Word of God: "The Bible: -- banned, burned, beloved.

More widely read; more frequently attacked than any other book in history.

Generations of intellectuals have attempted to discredit it; dictators of every age have outlawed it, and executed those who read it.

Yet soldiers carry it into battle believing it more powerful than their weapons.

And fragments of it smuggled into solitary prison cells have transformed ruthless killers into gentle saints."

(2)

*Wise men and women down through the ages have looked to the Word of God for strength and renewal in life.

And if you want something you can hang on to, something that will last forever, this is it!

No matter what kind of madness is going on in the world, and no matter what kind of problems you are facing in your personal life, hang on to the Word of God, because the truth of God's Word is timeless.

MESSAGE:

1.

But in tonight's Scripture, the Lord talks about the timing of His return, and the timing of the season should be studied.

*Jesus talked about the season of His return in vs. 32-34, where He said:

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 very doors.

34.

Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled.

*Bible scholars see a picture of Israel in this parable because the fig tree was one of the symbols of Israel.

In Hosea 9:10, for example, the Lord God said, "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.

But they went to Baal Peor, and separated themselves to that shame; They became an abomination like the thing they loved."

*That verse shows us two of the Old Testament symbols for Israel: The fig tree and the grapevine.

John Phillips tells us that the grapevine picture of Israel showed up a few days before this discussion between the Lord and His disciples.

The grapevine was central in a parable Jesus told the Christ-rejecting chief priests and elders in the Temple.

(3)

*That parable is back in Matthew 21, where Jesus said:

33.

"Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.

And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.

34.

Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.

35.

And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.

36.

Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.

37. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

38.

But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.

Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'

39.

And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

40.

Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?''

41.

They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.''

42.

Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

43.

Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.

44.

And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.''

45.

Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.

46.

But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

*The grapevine was an Old Testament symbol of Israel.

But in John 15, just a few hours before the cross, Jesus made a change when He said:

1. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

2. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

*Now, what about the fig tree?

-- John Phillips explained that the fig tree here in Matthew 24 was the symbol of Israel for two very specific times: The generation alive during Jesus' ministry on the earth, and the generation alive when Jesus would come again.

Both of these generations are alike in this big way: The Jewish people would be living in the land, but not believing in their Messiah, spiritually symbolized as a fig tree with leaves but no fruit.

*When Jesus was on the way to the Temple that morning back in Matthew 21, God's Word says:

18.

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.

19.

And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again.''

And immediately the fig tree withered away.

*That was the only judgment miracle Jesus ever performed, and He did it because that fig tree represented the leadership and most of the people in Israel at that time.

They had the appearance of fruit, but no fruit, because they had rejected their Messiah.

*That's why John 1 says this about Jesus:

10.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

*Now here in Matthew 24, Jesus used the fig tree as a timepiece for His return.

Again in vs. 32-34, Jesus said:

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 very doors.

34.

Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled."

*The problem was that just as the physical fig tree withered and died, the nation of Israel also withered and died, just as the Lord said it would.

In the Luke 21 version of this discussion, Jesus said:

23.

"But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!