Live Ready: The Last Days

Introduction

If you’ve ever seen Avengers: Endgame, you probably remember that moment.

Everything looks lost. The battlefield is quiet, broken, hopeless. Thanos is standing there, confident, unchallenged. The heroes who remain are exhausted, outnumbered, and out of options. It feels like the end… like evil has already won.

And then—out of nowhere—you hear a voice crack through the silence on comms: “On your left.”

A portal opens.

Then another.

And another.

Suddenly, heroes who were gone… who people thought would never come back… begin stepping through. One by one, then dozens, then armies. Hope doesn’t slowly return—it floods the battlefield all at once. What looked final wasn’t final. What looked like defeat was about to be overturned in a moment.

Here’s the thing: nobody on that battlefield could have predicted the exact second those portals would open. But when they did, everything changed instantly.

That scene resonates with us because deep down, we long for that kind of moment—when what is broken is suddenly made right, when evil is confronted, when hope shows up right on time. When sure loss turns to promised victory.

The Bible tells us that there is a moment like that coming—not in a movie, not on a screen, but in reality. Jesus Christ, who ascended into heaven, will return. And when He does, it won’t be gradual, and it won’t be uncertain. It will be sudden, unmistakable, and world-changing.

Scripture says His return will come like a thief in the night… like lightning flashing across the sky… at an hour no one expects.

In other words, like those portals opening in Endgame, it will happen in a moment no one can schedule, predict, or delay.

The question is not if He will return—the question is: will we be ready when He does?

This week, we being a three-week study entitled Live Ready, where we will dive into Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. On Mt. Olivet, Jesus delivers this final proclamation to his disciples before being tried, tortured, and executed; we encounter Jesus in some of his last moments, preparing his disciples for what will take place while he is gone, and what they can expect when he returns.

So, open your Bibles to Matthew 24.

Now, obviously Jesus taught this all at once, there was probably more conversation about it that the gospels do not record. But there is a lot here that we can chew on, and I don’t want us to miss the finer details. I want us to see the forest (the big main idea) and all of the trees that make up the forest (the individual details of what Jesus teaches).

So, the overarching point of the Olivet Discourse is that Jesus will certainly bring this present age to its climax through judgment and salvation, so his disciples - including any of us who follow Jesus today - must live ready for his return. As we face times get perilous in the last days, and we do not know when he will come, we live ready trusting in his unshakeable word, staying spiritually awake in the delay, and investing our lives in obedient love that will stand in the final judgment at his return.

Tonight, we hit the first part, focusing on Matthew 24:1-35, where Jesus clearly foreshadows the perilous events that will take place while he is gone that point to the imminence of his return.

As we begin the Olivet Discourse tonight, I want to expose the reality that Jesus is teaching to his disciples here:

Main Idea

Main Idea: As disciples living in the last days, we must live ready to face trials and boldly proclaim the gospel through faith that endures to the end.

Towards the end of Matthew 23, we saw Jesus declare in verse 36 that judgment would come upon the generation of the scribes and Pharisees that had wickedly rejected God and led the sheep astray. He lamented over Jerusalem and her spiritual destitution, and declared that they will not see him again until his second coming, where he will reign over his kingdom and pronounce judgment on the world.

Then we step into chapter 24 now, and peer into what the disciples (and us) could expect as the Reality of the Age:

A. The Reality of the Age - v.1-12

Matthew 24:1–3 NASB95

Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

1. The temple will be destroyed in the last days, as an image of what was to come. -v.1-3

Jesus just declared that the house of Israel was being left desolate. But as they leave, the disciples point out how the buildings are fine; the big, beautiful temple mount, rebuilt by Zerubbabel and Ezra, stands firm. They point out the temple buildings to Jesus, as if he is simply confused and doesn’t know what he is talking about! They still lack understanding, even after all this time. We are often the same way.

Jesus clarifies that he was speaking of what was to come: all these things would be destroyed under judgment, beginning with the temple, during the last days. He says, things, not buildings. He is indifferent at the splendor of the temple. Why? Because it had become a place of profane worship, displeasing to God. It would be torn down.

This actually took place in Jerusalem in 70 AD. The temple was destroyed when the Romans sacked Jerusalem. So, Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, but he’s also using that as a preview of the final judgment and his return.

This all culminates when the Lord returns in glory. So, that gets the disciples thinking: What will we see? How will we know?

Let’s look at Jesus’ response:

Matthew 24:4–12 NASB95

And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.

As the world awaits Jesus’ return, Jesus warns the disciples to be on guard, for many trials are coming.

2. Remain vigilant against deception, tribulation, and lawlessness. -v.4-12

I can confidently tell you that we live in the last days right now. The historical evidence and the biblical evidence make this inarguable. The New Testament actually calls the entire time between Jesus’ first and second coming ‘the last days,’ so in that sense, we’re in the same last days that the apostles were.

Let’s look at some things:

First, Jesus directly addresses the disciples, warning them personally to guard against being mislead by false messiahs coming in his name. Meaning they will face the events of the last days in their own lives.

Second, there have been several false messiah movements since Jesus died. One is even referenced in the Scriptures:

Theudas - 44-46 AD - claimed he could divide the Jordan River. Killed by a Roman procurator before he could do anything.

Acts 5:36–37 NASB95

“For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. “After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.

History is littered with other false messiahs, and they all have one primary thing in common: their movements died almost immediately after their leaders did.

Christianity has not. Why? Because our Messiah is not dead. Amen!

Jesus says that we will hear of wars and rumors of wars. That one is pretty easy. Our country is even part of one right now! But take heart, that is not yet the end. These things must happen in accordance with God’s plan of redemption for the world.

The gospel has always thrived in areas of severe pain, persecution, and despair, because it carries the true hope of Life and Salvation. The days that Jesus warns about are there because it opens the door for people to come to Christ.

Nations and kingdoms will rise up against one another, the world will experience all manner of natural disasters. Does this not sound like our world today? Who can deny that?

But these are just the beginning of the birth pangs. The birth pangs signal the beginning of the big, main thing. In this case, the birth of Christ’s return.

Tribulation and martyrdom awaits Christians. We’ve seen that throughout the past 2000 years of church history.

Many will fall away and betray one another! We’ve seen that. Christians have murdered one another, persecuted one another, fallen prey to false teachings.

William Tyndale, the man responsible for each of us having an English Bible, was betrayed by a supposed brother in Christ, leading to his trial and being burned at the stake as a condemned heretic.

There is a swath of evidence in the early church opposing deception at all turns with false apostles, false teachings meant to lead them astray.

Philippians 3:2 “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;”

1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”

2 John 7 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

There is so much in the New Testament that affirms these false teachers have risen up. So it is even in our day, with professing Christians teaching anything but the true gospel.

Lawlessness is increased, and most people’s love will grow cold. Look at how our culture treats unborn children. With vitriol, hate, apathy, because they find them to not even be human. Abortion is one of the most significant symptoms of lawlessness increasing, and love growing cold. This has oozed into the church, judging others and turning them away for not looking the part, or being a different race or color, or being poor.

We have seen all of these things! So we must see that we are not mislead during this time!

For us, it means we must remain vigilant against all of these things! Vigilance is not passive. Jesus says “See to it”, that is, make sure this happens for you.

Vigilance requires us to stand guard, like we are soldiers on the ramparts, keeping an eye out for ourselves and for those inside the castle, the church.

These signs, these birth pains, mean something more is coming: Jesus is coming. So we have to be ready.

This is the reality of the age. So for us, this means we shouldn’t be shocked or panicked by a chaotic world; we should be vigilant and anchored in Christ.

These things seem frightening, but we can take heart! Jesus gives us great hope in the next couple of verses, and call for this time:

Matthew 24:13–14 NASB95

“But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

B. The Call of the Age - v.13-14

3. Persist in faith! - v.13

Jesus puts it quite simply. The one who endures through trial, tribulation, deception, wars, famines, all of these things, will be saved! We are saved by grace through faith. And if our faith is preserved, there is nothing that can overcome the power of Christ’s salvation.

Romans 8:31–38 NASB95

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

We shall be saved. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s saving love, and one of the ways we see that is that he keeps us persevering in faith to the end. This is what Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15:

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 NASB95

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

There is nuance here. Ultimately, we are preserved in faith not by how tightly we grip to Christ, but by how tightly he grips us. So, in essence, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to endure in saving faith. It is not our works, but the strength of Christ, that enables us to persist. Never forget that.

4. Preach the gospel! -v.14

And, the expectation Christ has for us here is that as our faith endures, so does our witness. Jesus has not yet charged the disciples formally with the Great Commission, but the work they have been doing is meant to continue. The gospel is to be preached to the whole world! Once that takes place, once God has determined the whole world (whatever that means in terms of languages and people groups), the end will come.

In the midst of all of this, our job is simple, persist in faith and proclaim the gospel to the world.

Looking back at chapter 22, we can say it like this. Live out the two greatest commandments: love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

If we see what is happening in the world, we should be moved to love and care for those around us. The most loving and caring thing we can do for a lost and dying world is help them to be found in Christ and restored to life.

This is the central part of this section of the discourse. Signs of the end times surround this, but through it all, we persist in faith and good works for the glory of God.

Our call in this age isn’t to decode headlines but to endure in faith and keep the gospel moving forward.

Now we see the climax of this age:

C. The Climax of the Age -v.15-35

Matthew 24:15–28 NASB95

“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. “Behold, I have told you in advance. “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

5. The abomination of desolation and the ensuing great tribulation signal the return of Jesus. -v.15-28

I’m sure we have all read this passage at various times in our lives and wondered what this “abomination of desolation” even is. Jesus is referencing the prophet Daniel..

The abomination of desolation takes place at the sacred temple site, where a man is raised up and worshipped as God in the temple of God. This is the most blasphemous, profane thing that could occur. It is an abomination and signals the desolate state of the world. Hence, abomination of desolation. Paul elaborates on this in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 NASB95

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Daniel 12:11 gives a specific time period of when the end will come after this point:

Daniel 12:11 ““From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.”

Jesus does not reference this specific time period, and as we will see later in our study next week, Jesus says that no one knows the day and hour. Jesus and Daniel are distinguishing between being able to understand when the season itself is clearly predicted (Daniel) and the exact time Christ himself will return (unknown, according to Jesus).

Faithful Christians disagree on exactly how all these passages line up, but they all point to a climactic act of rebellion and desecration before Jesus returns.

The abomination of desolation then, is a very important signal in the last days, even if our understanding of the exact timeline is unclear.

· It is the critical sign mentioned in Matthew 24.

· It is the warning to flee mentioned in Matthew 24.

· It is the sign of the consummation of all things in Daniel 9:27.

· It is the sign foreshadowed by Antiochus Epiphanes in Daniel 11:31.

· It is the precise marker of days to the end in Daniel 12:11.

· It is the revelation of the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

· It is the image of the beast in Revelation 13:14-15.

So, this great big abomination will take place, and a time of tribulation will follow. This will be a tremendously difficult time to live, Jesus says. Anyone near the abomination when it begins should flee as quickly as possible. Take nothing, just get the heck out of Dodge!

The tribulation will be so bad that unless it ends (which he says it will), all would perish and none would be saved. This is because many deceivers and false prophets will continue to rise up, continue to lead people astray, using great signs and wonders (another translation would be attesting miracles) to demonstrate their powers, to lead God’s chosen ones astray.

But blessedly, God will cut these times short. Just as the lightning signals quickly across the sky, so Christ’s return will be sudden and startling. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures gather - meaning, wherever judgment is ripe for the picking, the judge will come to harvest.

The tribulation will be a terrible time. We are not there yet, but it will come. We might not know every detail of the end-times sequence, but we do know this: when evil seems ultimate, Jesus is nearer than ever. So don’t be deceived and don’t despair. Instead, praise God, because we have hope: Christ himself will end the tribulation at this return.

Matthew 24:29–31 NASB95

“But 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 the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

6. After the tribulation, Christ will come to save his people and judge the world. -v.29-31

Christ will come, immediately ending the tribulation. Jesus quotes Joel 2:10 here, saying that all of creation will be rocked by Christ’s return.

The tribes of earth will mourn… why? Because judgment has come for them. They have rejected God, and their time is coming to an end. They see the son of man coming on the clouds and Jesus will gather his people from among the nations. Jesus is referencing rich prophetic Old Testament Scripture here: Daniel, Zechariah, Isaiah. All of these things are fulfillment of what has been said by God through his prophets.

As Jesus said earlier, those who endure to the end will be saved. Those who remain alive during the tribulation, and do not lose their faith, will be gathered up with Christ. He will save his people.

Matthew 24:32–35 NASB95

“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. “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.

7. When you see the signs, trust in Jesus’ promise to return. -v.32-35

Jesus is reiterating what he’s already said. These signs are meant to signal what is to come. When you see the signs, know that Jesus is simply ringing the doorbell. He is right there, just about to return.

When he speaks of “this generation”, I think there are two plausible explanations: Either ‘this generation’ means the broad generation of the church, or it means the specific generation that first sees these final signs and then sees Jesus return. I lean toward the second, but in either case Jesus’ point is clear: his words will not fail.

These are hotly contended ideas. Let me encourage you: your faith and salvation does not live and die by what you believe about this return of Christ. So fear not, if you are not settled on the idea. This is a hard thing to pin down exactly. I think that is precisely the point. None of us will know when he is to return. But we can trust that though many things may perish, Jesus words will not perish. He will return, and he will save his people. So, if we are the generation of which Jesus is speaking, we can take heart that we will see him return.

When evil looks ultimate and the world looks hopeless, we don’t obsess over charts; we remember Jesus is nearer than ever.

Main Idea

Main Idea: As disciples living in the last days, we must live ready to face trials and boldly proclaim the gospel through faith that endures to the end.

Conclusion

We are most certainly living in the last days. However, that does not mean that we are necessarily the generation that will live through the abomination, through the tribulation, and witness Christ’s return.

So what do we do with this?

If you’re a Christian:

Take heart! Do not fear these trials. Christ will never abandon you nor forsake you. We can be like Paul, and choose to not deem the present sufferings worth comparing to the glory that is to come to us in eternity with Jesus.

Share the gospel. The only hope for our world is Christ. Our world faces wars and calamities every day. They must have Jesus.

Maybe you’re here and you haven’t followed Christ. That’s ok. Now is your chance.

Remember what Christ said: all these terrible things in the world are coming. They are here now, and they will only get worse as we get closer to his return, yet none of them can stop his plan or separate you from his love. If you have faith in Jesus, he will save you. If you give yourself to him, repent of the very sins that he is coming to judge, and trust in him for eternal life, you will be saved.

As we will study next week, we do not know when Jesus will return, but he does prepare us for how we should Live Ready for his return.

So now, as we live in the last days, as we bear witness to these trials, let us live faithfully on fire for Christ - staying repentant, prayerful, anchored in Scripture, and active in loving others.