Don’t Fear, Endure!

Go ahead and open your Bibles up to know your sermon guide says we are going to stop at 28, but we are actually going to take the whole chapter today.

Just like any other pastor, I have a few commentaries that I consult for every passage of Scripture that I preach on. And every one of them this week started by saying this was the most difficult section of text in the whole of the book of Matthew.

And I will go ahead and tell you, these are men who if you put my brain in their head, they would walk backwards.

So this morning, maybe even more than normal, we are going to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us as we go through this text.

So let’s pray and start there.

So in today’s text, we are going to see that Jesus prophesies and describes what the Disciples call the “end of the age”.

But one note on prophecy before we look at it. Prophecy is almost never as straightforward as it looks at first glance.

Prophecy, especially biblical prophecy, is similar to looking at a mountain range.

We have a picture here of the Grand Teton mountain range. From this angle, you can see the multiple peaks and valleys.

But, if we look at the mountain range from the base of the first mountain, it becomes so much harder to see anything other than one mountain. And that is how prophecy is. Sometimes we group events together into one that really are a series of different events.

This passage is no exception. There are three main ways of looking at this passage.

You have one side that flattens the text out and sees it all as a prophecy between the resurrection and the destruction of the temple in ad 70. This is called preterism.

You have the other side that flattens out the text and sees it as a prophecy of the future when Christ returns at the end of history. This is called futurism.

Then, as you can probably already guess, there is a middle ground that sees both prophecies that have already been fulfilled, and those that will be fulfilled in the future. This is where we will stay this morning.

Matthew 24:1–51 ESV

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “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.” 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?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. “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. 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. 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. “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. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 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. “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 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, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 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. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “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? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24:1-

So what I want to do is to walk through this text piece by piece, then we will come back and look at some overarching thoughts.

Matthew 24:1–2 ESV

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “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.”

So remembering back to last week, Jesus pronounces woes on the Pharisees and Scribes, and says at the end of Chapter 23 that their house is left desolate and that they will not see Him again.

Jesus has walked out of the Temple for the last time. He has dropped his mic and walks out.

And the disciples come to him, and sound like they are trying to coax him into taking it easier. They are pointing out the buildings, and the beauty of what stands.

Mark 13:1 ESV

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”

It is as if the Disciples are saying, it can’t be all that bad, look how beautiful the craftsmanship!

But Jesus responds with no uncertain terms. It’s all going to be torn down.

And in AD 70, only 40 or so years after Jesus said this, it was.

The Roman Government came in and desecrated and destroyed the Temple.

Matthew 24:3–14 ESV

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?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:3–13 ESV

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?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Matthew 24:

It’s important to see that this is exactly what we talked about.

They are asking one question. They see the destruction of the temple and the coming of the kingdom as the same act.

But in Greek, its not. It’s two questions. The coming and the end of the age are connected.

But even though that is the intention, Jesus answers two questions. When will the Temple be destroyed, and what are the signs at the end of all things?

However, with what we know of Jewish thought about the reign of the

So some of His answer is going to apply to AD 70, and some of His answer is going to address the return of Christ and the ushering in of His Kingdom.

So which is this part?

To answer that, I am going to have to cheat. Both. I think the verses here are addressing both what has already happened, and what will happen.

Jesus says many will come in His name and lead people astray. We know from history that this happened all over Jerusalem after the resurrection. We also know that there were wars and rumors of wars in the Roman Empire between AD 30 and AD 70. We also know that is still a staple of life all over the world today. Persecution is well documented in the early church, and continues to this day.

There will be trouble from within and from without. There will be death and suffering from outside, and there will be apostasy and false teachers from within. Both are a sign. We are called to endure both.

Jesus says the Gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world. And we know that by the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, the Gospel had stretched to all of the known world. And we know that we have not yet reached every tribe, tongue and nation with the Gospel yet.

Matthew 24:15–28 ESV

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Jesus now turns his attention to the coming destruction of the temple.

He refers to the abomination of desolation, which is referencing back to Daniel.

Matthew adds his own little adage here, saying “let the reader understand” where he is calling the readers of his letter to go back to the prophecy in Daniel. Jesus is calling for them to look out for something, and Matthew says go back to Daniel and be familiar with what Jesus is referring to.

And what we are looking at is the destruction of the temple in AD 70. The Roman army comes in, bringing their pagan idols, set them up in the temple, and raze and destroy the entire thing.

And Jesus is telling them, When you see them coming, RUN. If you are up on your housetop, which was a normal occurence at this time, don’t waste time trying to go down and get your stuff. Just run.

If you are pregnant or have small children, they are going to slow you down. Winter and Sabbath are going to make it hard to get away, so pray they don’t come during those times.

Jesus is concerned with the speed at which they can escape, because the wrath of the judgement and destruction is going to be so great.

And we know that believers in Jerusalem heeded Jesus’ words, and when the Roman Army came in AD 70, they fled to the mountains, to a town called Pella.

Jesus goes on to warn them about people who would come and try to lead them astray. He warns of false Christs and False prophets who are going to come and claim they have new knowledge, that they have secret knowledge of Christ coming back.

And he says don’t believe them. When the Son comes back it won’t be secret, it will be obvious, like lightning that fills the sky.

A false Christ is someone who comes as a deliverer, a false prophet is someone who claims to speak for God when they don’t.

And we see this everywhere. We see people claiming special knowledge in false doctrine, in false religions. Jesus was a good man and a prophet, but Muhammed is the last of the prophets! Yes, Jesus was good, but I have a new word from God.

And Jesus’ words are true for us as well. We live in a society that prizes new over old, novel over traditional. But we are not to be led astray. There is one Word of God, and it is sufficient for everything we need. Just about every false religion comes out of a claim of “New inspiration”. Don’t be fooled. It may be inspiration, but it is not from God.

Matthew 24:29–31 ESV

“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. 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. 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.

We are going to really quickly move through this.

I believe what we are looking at here has a double meaning both for the destruction of the Temple and the end of time.

The imagery used here is familiar to us because of Revelation, but we also see the same imagery used in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel and Amos to describe the judgement of God on cities.

God is bringing destruction down on Jerusalem and the Temple, and when Christ comes back He will bring judgment on the nations.

Matthew 24:32–35 ESV

“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. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 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.

Matthew 24:32

Again, Christ is calling for those believers in Jerusalem to be looking out for the signs to flee. Just as the fig tree warns you of summer with its leaves, so you will be warned by all these things.

Up to this point, everything Christ has said has addressed the destruction of the Temple in either a single or double meaning.

But now He is going to deal solely with His return.

Matthew 24:36–51 ESV

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 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, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 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. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “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? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

First thing we want to see here is nobody knows when Christ will return. It was very popular in the 70s and 80s to try and come up with some kind of biblical equation that predicted Christ’s return. There was even a book that was called “88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988.”

I probably don’t need to tell you, that book is no longer in print.

We are not called to try and figure out when. Nowhere in Scripture are we called to even take time to think about it.

William Barclay said “Speculation regarding the time of the Second Coming is nothing less than blasphemy, for the man who so speculates is seeking to wrest from God secrets which belong to God alone.”

Something else we need to address here is where Christ says that not even He knows when that day will be.

Many have used this passage to deny the Divinity of Christ. They say that God knows all things, so if Jesus is God, He would know.

But obviously this leaves out Scripture’s teaching of how Christ emptied Himself of His attributes when He came to earth.

God is Omniscient, but Christ did not know the day.

God is Omnipresent, but Jesus walked from town to town.

God is Omnipotent, but Jesus needed food and rest.

Jesus Christ emptied himself of these attributes. He did not cease to be God.

So then if no one knows when Christ will return, what are we supposed to do?

Christ tells us that the faithful servant will be found doing what the master has assigned him.

So what does that mean for us? What has the master assigned us?

To proclaim the kingdom! To share the Gospel with everyone!

Verse 14 says the Gospel will be proclaimed throughout all the world, and then the end will come.

For us as believers, telling people about Christ is not optional. It’s not an add on to the Christian life. It’s not for the really holy people. Its the only thing we have been left here on earth to do!

George Ladd says, “I know only one thing. Christ has not yet returned; therefore, the task is not yet done. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission.”

Would we be found faithful if He returned today?

Christ tells us that there will be violence, war, persecution on one side, false teachers and blasphemers on the other. But we are to maintain that singular purpose that He has left for us to do. We are to maintain the course until the Master comes back.

Let’s pray for His return, and preach the gospel until He does.