"The Last Days According To Jesus pt.3"

Introduction:

The Lord Jesus had given His disciples a prophecy concerning the destruction of the Temple that we know historically came to pass in 70 AD.

But it is this destruction of the Temple that He attaches tribulation to. He refers to it as the beginning of birth pains and he details some things that are to happen in connection to this tribulation.

There will be wars and rumors of wars and nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

The disciple themselves will be delivered up to persecution and martyred for the faith.

Many will fall away from the faith and betray one another and their love will grow cold.

And the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come.

So it appears that Jesus understands that tribulation begins in 70 AD and then it progressively gets worse and comes to a climax in the final days. And while that is happening the events that he describes are taking place progressively in the world.

But He also warns up in verse 4 that during this time many false Christ will come. And in our text this morning we see that He contrast their coming with His own coming in order to make it clear to us how we can recognize Him in His return.

So the Lord Jesus sets up a contrast between false Christ who will come during tribulation versus His own return in the end. Look at His warning against the false Christs in out text in verses 23-26:

I. The Warning of the False Christs (23-26).

23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 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.

False Christ went hand in hand with any Jewish revolt against the Romans. They would arise and lead followers into battle against Rome to establish Jewish sovereignty and to overthrow Rome.

Theudas is one that Josephus mentions by name. Who led a revolt in around 45 AD.

Acts 21:38 makes reference to “The Egyptian” who led a revolt. Josephus makes reference to him also.

Another man named Menahem Ben Judah is also mentioned by Josephus as a potential deliverer.

There were several false liberators of Israel in the first century. And there have been many throughout history from the first century forward many have claimed to be liberators of God’s people.

People are so easily led astray because of their false ambitions and expectations of what they believe Christ should be. Tribulation can bring desperation for hope and that can be a huge motivation for grasping at straws or to embracing falsehood.

I have known people going bankrupt and would spend some of their last few dollars to play the lottery in hopes of striking it rich in order to have security back in their lives.

False religion and the Cults have always promoted false christs and preyed on the hopeless. And false prophets have always testified to the false christs as a means and source of hope.

The experience of tribulation can rob someone of their hope in the world.

Jesus even says here that many of them will do signs and wonders. Satan doesn’t back down from doing the supernatural in promoting his deception. This goes a long way in deceiving people void of hope into being led astray.

We also saw in 2 Thessalonians 2 that the Man of Lawlessness too will do signs and wonders to promote himself as the Satanic counterfeit of the true Christ.

This is such a powerful deception that if it were possible even the elect would be deceived. But we know they will not be.

Jesus refers to Himself as the good shepherd in John 10:27-30: 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

The security of the elect rest in the hands of the true Christ and the sovereignty of the eternal Father. That is what makes the elect steadfast in the face of the demonic deceit of false Christs.

But we must follow what Jesus teaches. Because in Spite of the false testimony of others and the miracles of deception, Jesus, in the end, simply commands us to “not believe it!”

Don’t fall for the signs and wonders. Don’t fall for the testimonies of others pointing you in the direction of a false christ. Christian we have to have our hope rooted in the real Christ and have it solidified in our hearts as His covenant people.

And we should know Jesus Christ will not return in such a way. He will not just show up as a man on the scene as before. His return will be a sight for all to behold. And it will be unmistakable for everyone on that day. Look at your text to verses 27-28:

II. The Coming of the True Christ (27-28).

27 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. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Have you ever watched a storm coming on the horizon? Where you can see the lightning flashing. And the storm gets closer and closer and when it finally gets to where you are, and all you see is the lightning lighting up the sky.

On the day of Christ return It will be on a cataclysmic scale. But lightning is not the object of grandeur that we will behold on that day. Christ is the object of grandeur that will fill the sky in all His glory.

Revelation 19:11-16 describes Him as a rider on a white horse: 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

It is a awesome sight depicting His glorious triumphant splendor, majesty, dominion and sovereign authority. No one will wonder who the real Christ is on that day. The deception will all be over and everything will be made clear once and for all time.

Back in in Matthew 24, Verse 28 reveals another aspect of this same event. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

This I believe is a reference to the judgement that He will bring on the earth when He comes in all His glory. Again Revelation 19:17-18 we see these words: 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

Christ is not just coming to display His glory in the grand majesty of His appearance at His return but He is coming to unleash His divine justice on the wicked. The tribulation since 70 AD on the earth and the suffering of His people at the hands of the wicked will all be made right on that day. Every injustice will be set right when the judgement of God is unveiled.

He is not coming as the meek and lowly Jesus to once again to be willingly crushed by sinful men. When it comes to justice we all know that to various degrees that certain things are not right in this world and should not be allowed.

The reality is, that in this world there it not enough time nor is there a platform for absolute righteousness to bring absolute justice into the context of this fallen world in our current situation. We only have relative attempts at justice. But we all hunger for it, in various degrees don’t we, and we like to look for who to blame for it in the world.

Truth is, all of fallen humanity is to blame in its rebellion against the God who created us. You can’t have absolute justice when you have abandoned the standard for it in the absolute righteousness of God. Relative justice is derived from relative righteousness. And what we hunger for now will only be made right on the day when Christ returns.

Christ as victor is the vindicator of God’s righteousness and the arbitrator of divine justice.

Conclusion:

Why does Christ get to do that? Because He bore the Cross to absorb God’s divine justice in the place of sinners. In all history He has been the only One concerned with upholding absolute righteousness and the absolute standard of divine justice. So much so that He was willing to suffer and die for it.

You see His second coming will not be the first time that He fulfilled the role of Christ as victor as He upheld righteousness and vindicated the justice of God.

Who else could do it? You? Me? Donald Trump? Joe Biden? Congress? Those in the Media?

Our problem as a Nation is that we have abandoned an absolute biblical standard of righteousness for one derived from the collective whole of the culture.

America needs a revival, another great awakening where we are humbled before a Holy God and broken in our sin as a nation. And it needs to start in the hearts of Christians.

We can spot the unrighteousness in our nation but we can’t spot it in our own hearts. Perhaps it needs to start in us. Maybe God wants to move in us to awaken us to our need for Him and to have a hunger for Him and His righteousness to be upheld in our own personal lives.

Maybe we need to realize how precious the gospel really is and how desperately we need it and how others need to hear it.

Come home Christian away from your sin to the precious reality of God’s grace to you. Confess your sin and know God is faithful to cleanse you of all of your unrighteousness.

Unbeliever You need the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming again and He will either come as your judge or as your savior. Which will it be?

Let us pray!