Sermon Tone Analysis

The Second Coming of Christ - Part 1

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 24:1-14

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared February 21, 2023)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to Matthew 24.

For the last 12 sermons we have been focused on a single day in the life of Jesus Christ.

One of my Bibles tells us that it was the Tuesday before Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

And the events of this day are reported in Matthew's Gospel all the way from Matthew 21:18 to Matthew 26:16.

*Up to this point, Jesus has spent most of the day in the temple.

There in one of the large courtyards, Jesus preached to a crowd of people gathered for Passover.

Jesus also overcame a series of hostile confrontations from the local rulers.

They were trying to trap Jesus into speaking against the Roman Caesar and against God's Word.

Of course, Jesus easily defeated every effort of His enemies to trick Him.

Those evil Herodians, chief priests, elders, scribes, and Pharisees didn't stand a chance against the Lord God Almighty!

*Then in Matthew 23, Jesus sounded out the strongest words of condemnation He ever spoke during His earthly ministry.

Eight times Jesus called those scribes and Pharisees "hypocrites." A. T. Robertson explained that those men deserved the Lord's "verbal thunderbolts of wrath, because of their hateful rejection of Christ, their corrupt distortions of God's Law, and their abuse of the people who suffered under their rule."

(1)

*Now in Matthew 24:1, "Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple."

And it's understandable that the disciples were impressed by the temple, because Herod's temple in Jerusalem was a sight to behold.

Work began before Jesus was born, and had been going on for 46 years when Jesus first cleansed the temple in John 2. Ten thousand skilled workmen were employed for the task.

*Remember that the actual temple building itself could have fit inside a baseball infield, and that was pretty surprising to me.

But the large structures all around the temple, like the storerooms, porticos and courts built by King Herod filled an area that could hold 25 football fields!

This temple was built of white marble and covered with heavy plates of gold in front.

Rising high above its marble-covered courts, the temple looked like a snow-covered mountain.

(2)

*No wonder the Lord's disciples were impressed.

But in vs. 2, "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.'''

The disciples were probably in shock at what the Lord had prophesied about the temple.

And vs. 3 tells us that "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?'''

*Today we will begin to study the Lord's answers, and we will focus on some of the sure things we can know from the Savior's prophecy.

Please think about this as we read Matthew 24:1-14.

MESSAGE:

*Here in Matthew 24, the Lord looked into the future, and He spoke about His second coming.

Some of the things Jesus said are mysterious, and honest people have different views about these matters.

For example: Will the rapture of the church be before the great tribulation, during the tribulation, or after that terrible time?

Bible-believing Christians have different views on this question.

*But Jesus Christ is coming again!

And there is no doubt about that.

The timing may not be sure, but the signs are definitely sure.

And everything that Jesus said would happen will happen.

So today we will start by looking at some sure truths from the Savior's prophecy.

1. FIRST: WE SHOULD KNOW THAT THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE HINGE OF HISTORY.

*The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the greatest pivotal events in history.

And Jesus highlighted one of the coming changes in vs. 1-2.

Here God's Word says:

1.

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him 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.''

*This prophecy was fulfilled about 40 short years after Jesus spoke these words.

It happened in 70 AD, when the Roman army under Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.

In July or August of every year, the destruction of the temple is still mourned by a day-long Jewish fast called Tisha B'Av.

(3)

[PIC 1] This is the famous Arch of Titus that shows the plunder of Jerusalem and the temple.

It was constructed in 82 AD, and still stands in Rome.

[PIC 2] This picture is part of the sculpture on the inner arch, and it shows the "Spoils of Jerusalem."

*That's the historical dimension of this prophecy from the Lord Jesus.

But from a spiritual point of view, God was making the monumental shift from the Old Testament to the New.

*In the Old Testament, God focused primarily on the Jews, and when He spoke, He spoke in Hebrew, the language of the Jews.

In New Testament times, God reaches out to all the nations of the world.

And when He spoke the New Testament portion of His Word, God spoke in Greek, the world-wide language of business in that day.

*Under the Old Testament, the Tabernacle and then the temples had been the absolute center point of Biblical worship for about 1,500 years.

God was almost unapproachable.

His glory rested on the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies in the temple.

But the temple area was divided by walls.

The first wall held back people of other races and nations: the Gentiles.

They could only to the go the outer court of the gentiles The second wall held back the women and children.

The third wall held back Jewish men.

Only priests could go farther.

Last was the veil in front of the Holy of Holies.

Only the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies, only once a year, and only by the sprinkling of blood to protect him from death.

*Church: The veil in front of the Holy of Holies was no ordinary curtain.

It was 4 inches thick.

But the cross of Jesus Christ changed everything.

And Matthew 27:51 tells us that the curtain covering the Holy of Holies was torn in two from top to bottom.

God was opening the way for all of the nations of the world to be saved.

*I love the story of the pastor who was telling the children how this curtain was miraculously split open.

And a little boy asked, "How big was the hole?"

The preacher replied, "Big enough for anyone to get through."

Big enough that is for anyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ.

So now through the cross of Jesus Christ, we can have instant access into the throne room of Heaven, and the constant presence of God's Holy Spirit living on our hearts.

(4)

*Now, under the New Testament, Christians, we are the temple of God.

That's why in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul asks Christians, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

*God no longer manifests His presence in that one sacred spot of the temple.

Now God lives in the hearts of everyone who believes in Jesus.

This is a small summary of the giant changes that came through the Lord's cross.

And the cross of Jesus Christ is the hinge of history.

2. THE NEXT SURE THING IS THAT WE MUST STAND ON THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD.

*Verses 3-5 show us why:

3. Now as He (Jesus) 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."

*The disciples must have been shocked by the Lord's prophecy that the temple would be destroyed.

It was one of the last things they expected.

They were confused, but they did exactly the right thing: THEY WENT TO THE LORD FOR THE ANSWERS THEY NEEDED.

*The disciples asked 3 separate questions:

-When will these things be?

-What will be the sign of Your coming?