Matthew 24:29-51 AM
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After having a few conversations this week, there’s a few things I have come to understand.
The first is that I have learned people are actually listening to the sermon.
I’ve answered questions this week about last week‘s sermon that encourage me as a pastor.
I’m truly grateful whenever people are eager to learn and know what the Scriptures mean.
However, also this week I was confronted with the reality that my sermon last week may not have been as clear as I wanted it to be.
And so I want to acknowledge that, and even apologize to you for that.
My goal is never to confuse or to leave you in the dark regarding anything the Bible says.
However, there are some portions of Scripture that are just more difficult than others to understand.
There are some portions of Scripture that require us to think deeply and to pray earnestly that the Lord would help us with interpreting and understanding His word.
I mentioned this whenever we began Matthew 24, but another issue with this text and others like it is that whenever you read commentaries, you may get a different interpretation with every commentary you pick up.
I have many books in my office and what you will find as you read those is that there are differences in every single person that you read.
And so that may be frustrating to you read commentaries and one says one thing and another says another and maybe I’m saying something different and so you’re trying to wrestle with the passage and trying to figure it out.
And to that I would say— that is a good thing objectively.
I want to encourage you to do just that.
To wrestle with the Scriptures.
To study the scriptures
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand His word.
He is our teacher.
He is the one that helps us to gain understanding and to walk in truth.
I also want to encourage you with this.
There are some things that we are just not going to know about the end times until the end of time.
In fact, Jesus in the text that were in this morning tells us that no one knows the day or the hour.
So that’s at least one thing we will not know.
We know, He told his disciples in Acts chapter 1 that it’s not for them to know the times of the seasons.
And so what this tells me is-
There are some things that are just not our business.
However, there are some very clear things that I want to highlight for us this morning.
My goal here this morning is to be broad and more simple.
If you want to dive deeper and to understand some of the nuances and complexities of this passage, then I will encourage you to come back tonight as we go a little deeper into this text, and even talk a little more about the timeline of things… but this morning I want to emphasize why this text needed to be written both for the disciples and for us.
I have told you and will continue to tell you that these text are extremely practical for us.
But what do they mean for us?
Read with me verses 29-35
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 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. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 “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. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Now we will deal with the timeline issue tonight, but let me just tell you that I believe it is undeniable and it makes the most sense just from the plain reading of the text that what we find described here is the second coming of Christ.
This is when Christ comes to judge the living and the dead.
Like I said, we’ll talk about some different views of that tonight, but every other view that would say that this is something else seems to be stretching what scripture clearly says here.
I believe what Jesus is doing is he is answering the second question that the disciples asked back in verse 3.
Remember, Jesus told them that the temple would be destroyed…
“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.”
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?”
I believe Jesus has answered that first question in verses 4-28 and now, I believe Jesus is talking about the second coming and the end of the age.
In other words, Jesus is telling what its going to be like when he comes back.
The first thing I want you to see is this— This is really important.
When Jesus returns in his second coming, it will be in glory in Majesty.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
His coming will shake the heavens themselves.
Look in verse 30.
30 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.
Key words there— He will come with power and great glory.
In this way— The second coming will be a lot different than the first coming of Christ.
In the first coming, Jesus came humbly.
He came acquainted with grief.
He came the first time and was rejected immediately even at his birth.
His first resting place was a manger.
The king of glory literally placed in a feeding trough.
Throughout his life, Jesus was associated with humility and lowliness.
In Matthew 8:20 Jesus said—
He had no place to lay his head. Which means essentially he was homeless.
He strolled around with a rag tag group of disciples some who were former fisherman.
He came from a lowly family, and even whenever he started doing miracles, there was even a comment made about his family and where he came from.
Isn’t this the carpenter‘s son? Mt 13:55
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Another time, one of his own disciples made reference that the place that he was from was not notable.They picked on his home town.
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Then you think about the way the religious leaders and the Scribes and the Pharisees hated Jesus.
They constantly made trouble for Jesus.
They didn’t elect him to their Sanhedrin council. They didn’t give him the highest seat in the temple.
They despised him. They rejected him.
Then, Jesus was betrayed by one of his own friends.
He was taken before an unjust council of men who were plotting against him.
He was condemned to die by unjust judgment.
He was mocked.
He was beaten
He was stripped naked.
He was crowned with thorns.
And then, he was crucified and posted it up in between two thieves.
Every portion of his life leading up to his death, he was associated with humiliation.
What I am telling you this morning, is this— His second coming will be completely different.
Thomas Watson—
“At Christ's first coming He came in the form of a servant, in great humility. But at His second coming, He shall appear in the form of a judge, with great glory. Then He came to be judged, now He shall come to judge.”
John Owen—
“His first coming was to suffer; His second shall be to reign. His first coming was in weakness; His second shall be in power. He came the first time to wear the crown of thorns; He shall come again to wear the crown of glory.”
In Jesus’s first coming, there were people who constantly rebelled and refused to bow and eventually would kill him.
When he comes again, we understand that every knee will indeed bow, and every tongue that refuses to acknowledge his leadership and his kingship will declare that he is Lord to the glory of God the father.
Church family this has to encourage us.
People think we’re foolish for giving up a day of our week to come and worship this king we call Jesus.
One day, our worship of that King will be vindicated as every knee bows before and worships the Lord we worship right now.
He will come with power and glory, and all the nations will mourn as they see him coming on the clouds of heaven.
Second— These verses also teach us that Christ is coming back for his people.
Listen to verse 31.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
On the day of judgment, Christ will come back for his people.
We will be gathered safely to him.
The angels will gather his elect, his bride, his chosen people from one end of heaven to the other.
JC Ryle says this,
“There shall be a hiding place for all believers in Jesus when the wrath of God at last bursts on this wicked world. Those mighty angels who rejoiced in heaven when each sinner repented, shall gladly catch up the people of Christ to meet their Lord in the air. That day, no doubt will be an awful day, but believers may look forward to it without fear.”
What a blessing to know that at that point in time, all believers from across the ages will be gathered together with our Lord Jesus Christ.
A great multitude which no one can count from every tribe, every tongue every nation gather together with Jesus.
From one end to the other ,
Don’t you look forward to this day?
Seeing Jesus.
Seeing the Savior who died for us.
Freed forever from any stain of sin.
No more sin dwelling in us. No more sin dwelling around us.
Just think about that.
What a blessed day this will be.
We will see those faithful saints and loved ones in Christ that have gone before us.
Church family, this is the day we long for.
This is the day that gives us hope as we sit through funerals of loved ones and sit by the bedside of people dying.
That one day, though their body gives up breath, there is coming a day when they and we will be raised incorruptible.
And these things will happen. Jesus guarantees it here.
Look at verse 32 and following…
32 “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. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Simply put, Jesus is saying everything that I say will happen is going to happen.
You can argue about the timeline… you can argue about when it happened or when it didn’t happen or if it’s about to happen or if it’s still to come in the future.
Regardless, one thing that is absolutely clear from verses 32 to 35 is that we need to understand. Jesus is coming back.
His word will come true.
Though heaven and earth would pass away, You can trust his word.
And I think it’s super important that Jesus says this.
Because we live in a time of rampant unbelief.
Skeptics and unbelievers abound.
And this has always been the case.
There were people at Jesus’s first coming who did not believe.
There are people today who do not believe that Jesus is coming back.
Jesus is telling us.
Trust his word.
The whole earth may pass away, but my words will not.
And so we are encouraged to know that what Jesus says here is true.
He is coming back for His people.
But Thirdly, We do not know when that day will be.
Listen to what he says
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 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, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
We are told first in this text that no one knows the day or the hour of the return of Jesus Christ.
You’ve seen books. You’ve heard predictions. They are all wrong.
We are told no one know when.
But we are told how the world will be at the time of this coming.
It will be like the days of Noah.
You say, how was it in the days of Noah?
It was wicked.
People were absorbed in worldly activities.
They were eating, drinking, marrying.
Noah was building a boat, warning those of his generation of the judgment that was coming upon the world, but they just kept living their life as if nothing was going to happen.
They lived as if there were no danger.
They live with no urgency.
They didn’t stop to hear what the preaching man was saying.
He was building a boat preparing for judgment.
They thought he was crazy.
And so…They just kept living their life.
Living their best life.
No time for the things of God.
No worry about the judgment of God.
Just living in their sin, living their lives doing what they wanted to do with no regard for any of that.
And what eventually happened in the days of Noah??…
…
All of what Noah told them was going to happen eventually came true.
Those not on the boat with Noah perished.
All who had ignored his warnings… judged.
Jesus says this is how it will be whenever he returns.
People will not pay attention to the word of God preached.
People will not pay attention to the consistent warnings of faithful preachers, who tell them that Jesus is coming back.
They will live their life unconcerned.
Beloved, let me just make an observation here this morning.
This seems to be the way of the world now.
How many people have driven past our church this morning unconcerned about ever coming here?
They will drive past many churches on their way to golf courses, ballfields, or auditoriums for sports.
They will pack up their things this morning and rather than getting dressed for church and grabbing their Bible they will grab their beach chair, or the ball bag, or their boat key or some other thing that will take them away from the worship of the Lord.
The next Lord’s day that rolls around … they will say that was pretty fun last week, let’s do that again.
We only have one life to live, so let’s live it.
Let’s spend our time prioritizing every other thing other than the Lord.
And I can hear it already— oh yeah, preacher we hear you.
I think we will be okay…
You can hear the echoes of Noah’s contemporaries as they listen to that crazy man talk about the fact that God was going to judge the world by sending rain.
Sure, sure, Noah you just keep believing that. Keep building that boat crazy.
But one day the sky cracked.
One day, the first drop of rain fell upon the nose of the scoffer.
At that point, it was too late to listen to the preacher.
At that point, it was too late to prioritize the things of God.
At that point, the people and their children… that they had led to ignore preacher who said that judgment was coming, they were all swept away in judgment.
They were all covered under the waters of judgment as Noah and his family rested safely in the ark that God provided.
Jesus says that’s how it’s going to be when He comes back.
People will be living for themselves with no regard for his coming, and when he comes, it will be too late.
And Jesus says no one knows the day or the hour.
But if we did, we would prepare for it like man who had been told a thief was coming to his house.
This passage teaches us that on that day.
There will be a sorting that comes.
An awful separation.
Right now, all of us are together— the godly and the ungodly.
We live in this world with sinners and Saints.
We live in this world with people who are unbelieving and people who are believing.
But that will not always be the case will it?
Right now we live in a world where we can tell the unbelieving people in our lives about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We live in a time where we can, with urgency, warn people of the wrath that is to come in Christ and judgment.
But one day there’s going to be a separation.
He speaks of two in the field. One being taken the other left.
Two women grinding at the mill. One taken one left.
SDFS
The judgment will come, and there will be a separation.
Those who listen to the Word of the Lord and who boarded the ark— that is Christ— will be safe in that day.
Those who lived their lives for themselves unconcerned with the things of God, but only concerned with worldly pursuits in doing what they wanted to do will be judged.
They will be swept away in judgment, un-pardoned, unconverted, unprepared to meet their judge.
In light of this day coming, Jesus tells a parable.
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So far—
CHRIST IS COMING BACK.
FOR HIS PEOPLE.
WE DON’T KNOW WHEN.
SO THEN..
How should we live?
We are to live watchful.
We are to live ready for his return.
Where to live as servants to whom God has given a task for us to complete, and we are to live expecting that the master could return at any moment to check and see if we’ve completed it.
Jesus tells a parable here have a servant that set over the affairs of the household, and when the master comes, he finds him faithful.
Verse 46 is very clear
46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
Blessed is the one that the master finds doing so when he returns.
Church family I want Jesus to find us faithful whenever he returns for us.
I want to be leading you faithful as a pastor. .
I don’t want us to be caught off guard.
There are two scenarios here with the servant… and only two.
One where the servant is faithful, and one where the servant is wicked and caught unaware
Can you just imagine the moment when that wicked servant who had done nothing to prepare saw his master coming?
I am sure he hated to see his coming.
He would feel the shame of knowing he was coming, but not preparing.
Knowing what he should have done, but just not doing it.
How wil we be?
I don’t want us to dread his coming.
Most of all… I don’t want you to be caught unprepared to meet Jesus.
This morning, my hope and prayer for you all here this morning is that you understand the urgency of this message.
Jesus Christ is coming back. It is a sure thing. I don’t know when.
But I know that he is. And I know when he comes back, he’s coming back for his bride.
I know when he comes back, I want to be in those who are gathered up by the angels.
I don’t want to go to the place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth because I neglected his commands, and I failed to be prepared for his return.
I want to be like Noah who was ready when the sky cracked in judgment.
Here is the good news.
We know how to be safe in the day of judgment.
Jesus has built the ark. He has done all that is necessary for our salvation on that day.
He lived the life we didn’t and couldn’t live. He died the death paying for what we owe in judgment. He rose to life on the third day and promises that all who will trust in him and repent of their sins, will be saved.
That’s how you get prepared for this day.
Enter in to the ark built by God himself and be prepared.
Are you prepared?
I pray you are.
If not, invite you this morning to call up on the name of the Lord to be saved.
Maybe you want to talk with me talk with Will or talk with someone else after the service to see how you can be prepared to meet Jesus on that day.
Let us do this… Let us live ready.
Let us live with urgency.
Believers let us be faithful to what he’s given us. Let us take the gospel to those that we know aren’t ready yet.
Let’s pray
