Well, if you're visiting this morning, we have been working through the Gospel of Matthew, and today we come to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24, found on page 985. I'll be reading at verses 37 of chapter 23 to 24, verse 14 this morning. Let's give our attention to the wonderful and holy word of the Lord. Beginning at verse 37 of chapter 23.
"Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
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 these things will be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 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."
May the Lord bless the hearing of his word.
Our passage today is intended to help us think through, as we live in nothing what but what we know is our turbulent times. Turbulent times, difficult seasons. The apostle would call that in Second Timothy chapter three difficult times. Jesus outlines for us in this uh very profound chapter, as you know, much attention has been given to it. outlines the future of all things. And in this, beloved, we we have some of the most concerning and yet comforting words from our Lord. And I put those two things together on purpose. They are concerning. They are deeply concerning, what he describes here. And yet, in the midst of it, we have some of the most comforting words from our Savior.
And it's important because if you at all fear the future, if you at all struggle with the future, and you worry about like so many people do how troubled things are in our times, and you worry about our world and you worry about our nation in particular, this passage is a great way of helping you through it all to have the right kind of perspective from our Lord.
Today we come to the supper of our Lord, and I want to remind you that in the most distressing moment of the disciples lives, when Jesus himself was betrayed and handed over and Jesus talks about betrayal in this passage, in the very crucifixion of our lord it was right then, in the midst of betrayal and in the most distressing moments of life, that he instituted the supper. That he gave them his body and his blood. In the midst of all of this confusion and all of this chaos, to reassure them that he will drink this anew with them in the kingdom. He is coming again. That is certain. That is a firm foundation that we have. He is coming, and this indeed will happen.
What we are doing today foretaste and foreshadows and and gives us that hope that we will do this again when the kingdom comes, as we pray, "Thy kingdom come," in all of its fullness and in all of its glory, at his return.
And here we have Jesus in Matthew chapter 24, preparing his sheep. That's the sort of first point I'm going to develop here. He's preparing his sheep for the things that they can expect in the time that they have under the sun and in the present age in which we live. He is comforting his sheep through it all, in all of these distresses. And then, importantly, he is redirecting his sheep to the mission that he has given them in this age.
Verse 1 of chapter 24, we read that Jesus was walking away from the temple. He was going away. I think we have to sort of put ourselves for a moment in the shoes of the disciples. Jesus had just pronounced something absolutely devastating for them. the absolute desolation and destruction of the temple and the holy city. This would be what would take place in AD 70. You can just read Josephus and the horrors of that event those events when jerusalem was plundered and when the holy temple was thrown down this was a big moment in history for them, and Jesus said something in the midst of that: "See, your house is left to you desolate." And he, and at the end of chapter 23, he said, "See, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord
Following the events of the passion week and his death and resurrection, nobody would see that face again his face again until they would not see that face again until he comes again in glory. I think that's a clear emphasis of this, as we see Jesus further accent this and teach this in chapter 24.
But you have to think about how distressing that was for them. They had not put all this together. They did not understand all these things. They did not understand why these things would come to pass. They did not understand what it was going to be like. And the mere thought john 14 of Jesus not being with them overwhelmed them. How would they go forward? How could they live? Can you imagine the fear and anxiety of hearing this? All at one seven woes had just been pronounced on the false religion of the scribes and the Pharisees that had been so dominant in Israel. He was tearing the whole thing down and opening it up for the gospel to go to the nations.
Jesus knows that his disciples are really troubled and really scared. The words "your house is left to you desolate" would have overwhelmed them. How could that be? We read in verse one that they came to show him the building of the temple. the the buildings of the temple You'll notice that there, as he goes on, the disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. He had just said the thing's going to fall, and they want to come up and say, "You can't mean this. We want you to look at this with us. Do you know how magnificent this temple is?" The stones were just beautiful that had been built of the temple. "When you said our house is left to us desolate, you don't mean these stones, you can't mean that, do you?" That's the sense of this.
The temple was everything to Israel. The temple was the center of their spiritual life. It was the symbol of God's presence. You know all the history of the temple and the glory resting on the tabernacle and temple. For Israel to not have the temple, for them, meant God would not be with them. That's how they thought.
Verse 2, Jesus replies, "Go ahead and take a look. Do you not see all these things? Take another look at them. Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here that shall not be thrown down upon another."
Jesus is assuring them that Jerusalem and its temple would be absolutely and utterly destroyed.
We then read that um that Jesus goes out and sits out at the Mount of Olives. This overlook the beautiful Kidron Valley. It's fascinating view if you look up. Things always look different from high up. Clint Eastwood said that, I think. And you look down at the beauty of what's made, it was astonishing, what had been built, and what Herod had rebuilt. All of their great accomplishments, all their history. all their history think about This Their identity. This is the city of the great King David. This is the pride of Israel. This is the center of the universe for them. Can you imagine the astonishment hearing this?
The stones were 35 feet that Jesus is looking at. Massive, beautiful, white stones. The temple dominated the whole landscape of Jerusalem when you look down at it. Disciples come up to Jesus, and this is a horrid thought in their minds. "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
If what you're saying is that this is going to fall, we need to understand this. When will that happen? And what will be the sign of your coming then, and of the end of the age?
The disciples are really asking two different questions here. I think that's very important to interpret this passage correctly. They are asking two questions that they necessarily brought together. They saw these events together, but as Jesus is about to show, these these events don't belong together.
They ask, "When will these things be?" That's clearly a distra allusion to the destruction of the temple that is about to happen. When will these stones fall? Jesus said not one of them will be left upon another. If you follow the flow of Matthew, what you see is verses 15 through 28 address that question.
The second question, however, has to do with "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." has to do with his second coming. They ask this: "What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
"We want to know, and you hear that you hear fear in this question. If Jerusalem falls, that's got to be the end of the world. That's got to be the end for everyone." But it wasn't. We're evidence of that.
And Jesus was not seeking worshipers on that temple mount, or that temple mount, but that the gospel would go to the ends of the earth and that worshipers would worship him in spirit and in truth. You wouldn't need the temple for what is about to happen.
But I think you can appreciate this. you again you have to step into their world and their minds for a moment. But you can, in some ways, understand this in light of all the fears that we have in this life.
What do I hear dominate all our discussion and fear and worry and anxiety right now in our time and at our moment? It is the loss of America. How much does that grip us? How much does fear of the future grip us over our own country? And everyone thinks of things being lost. We want to know. We want to understand this. Everything right now is on shaky ground, isn't it? We are living in extremely turbulent and scary times.
I saw a prominent theologian say this week, "I'm so angry and grieved about what is happening in our nation. Come, Lord Jesus." Now that's a right response. But what it echoes is: we think our nation is the center of everything, doesn't it? As if there's no other nation on the earth. It feels like we're at the brink of war. It feels like everything is held up by a string right now, and everything's shaky.
What is firm? What is certain? What is sure? What's going to happen next? I mean, really. What are we going to leave this building and go to the news reports today and hear about that happen today?
Imagine hearing, "See Washington, D.C., do you see the monuments? Not one of the stones there will be left upon another." What would you think? Can you imagine it? Most of us can't even imagine this now.
The reason for this was judgment. The false chapter just made it all very clear for us. Seven woes on the religion that had been established in Israel, that was absolutely leading people to hell. This is what Jesus was saying: "These these tribes and Pharisees make people twice as much sons of hell as themselves." And when that little widow was in the temple and she dropped her little mites in, Jesus said, "Look at her. That's what I'm after." And in the next breath he says, "All this is coming down. It's a shod It's a facade. People have rejected God. They're worshiping idols, and this is not the intention."
So Christ now addresses the second question first: "What is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" And in verses 4 through 14, we have a list of what I think you can say are signs plural of his coming that span the whole present age. But you'll notice in verse 30 that the sign singular is mentioned it is the sign of him appearing on the clouds of heaven when the elect are gathered from the four winds and by the way, that did not happen in AD 70. Anyone who's a full preterist that we have exams in our churches and if you're full Preterist, we call that heresy. You won't make it into the church. The elect were not gathered in 80 70 from the four corners of the earth.
So so you notice here that the sign is his coming, but he begins to speak and prepare them for that ultimate sign with you what you might call are a series of signs that mark the present age in which we we live. And that's important for us to study.
So what we have here are signs of the present age that lead to the sign of his return.
And so Jesus begins now this is very pastoral. I want to say that up front. It's sad that in dispensationalism and in so many eschatologies of our time, this has been used to scare people to death. That's not Jesus's intention. We'll see that here in a moment.
But verse four: "Watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name claiming, i am the christ and will deceive many."
The first thing he begins with is deception. The reality he says is: before I come, this age will be marked by moments and times of great deception. You have to appreciate that, in the midst of the hard things that happen in life, that in all the troubles of this world, and in all the problems of this world since fear grips people and worry grips people people want deliverance from all of this. And people seek for answers in the midst of all of this, and they want to overcome the world and all of its problems that the world faces. and Jesus says it's in that kind of soil that all kinds of deception comes for the people of the Lord. That in the midst of this, false saviors rise up who gain great followings. Some of these figures will blatantly claim that they're the Christ, but I think what Jesus is emphasizing here and what's so important for us is that the heart of people. It's the heart of the people will be captured by false messiahs. People promising deliverance from all the evils of this world.
I think you can see where we are right now. What is one of the greatest dangers in our time? And it's remarkable after what we've seen in the past with World War II and with the rise of somebody like Hitler: what are some of the greatest things that are happening in the moment? it one of the greatest dangers in our time whether you're on the political right or on the left is that we're ripe for some kind of totalitarianism, some figure to rise up who claims great power and acts as the great deliverer from all the evils in the world. And imagine if such a person could unite the peoples.
Jesus says, "Watch out for this. If we are caught up in a figure of this world and the political realm especially, who we think is our hero, Jesus is saying, I want to remind you, they are not the Christ. You are being deceived.
Jesus, in verse 6, says, "There will be all kinds of things that are going to, in the course of this age, wreck the stability of life. There's going to be wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you're not troubled."
Jesus says that one of the expectations of our age will be at moments, in great moments, increased intensity of peoples going into upheaval. Increased revolutions, if you will, politically, economically, in the nations of the world. Intensity of unstable governments and lawless people and tumults among the people, as the Psalms describe it. And people will always be set on edge for what they feel is always about to happen.
What is it? Always, do you always think that could break out at any moment? War. We're living with that. Everyone is thinking about this kind of thing. We experience that. These rumors or reports will dominate the consciousness of the people. So much hatred, so much tension. Everything hangs in the balance. You know, it wouldn't take much today for World War III to break open, would it? Really. We've had two of them. What would it take?
And somebody once asked Putin. They said, "Well, what would be the danger of having another world war like that?" And he said, "Afterward, everyone would be fighting with sticks." Scary.
What Jesus is saying is there's going to be many things happening that cause massive unrest among the peoples. It's Psalm 2. The nations at times will become incredibly restless.
And then Jesus says, "Not only that, but you can expect the ground to shake at the most unexpected moments under people's feet. It's going to do a lot of damage. And you can expect famines and pestilences and earthquakes."
And then he says, in verses 9 through 14, times of persecution will come. And at times, they're going to hand you over and put you to death. And betrayal will mark life. There will be moments, at times of persecution, for God's people. Intense persecution. And it happens all over the world.
"They'll deliver you up to tribulation. You'll be hated by all nations for my namesake.
Now, how are you feeling so far? Is that helpful? It's all validated, isn't it? Has anything I said not validated? So the question is: is it just hard to hear? Because we can certainly say everything he's just said has been validated throughout history over and over and over again.
The interesting thing is, in verse 8, he says, "These things are the beginnings of birth pains."
The basic truth there is that like birth pains, everything is leading to the final judgment. They're telling you that when you see the ravaging of nations, when you see forces at work and creation that cannot be stopped, Jesus is saying all these things are a reminder that the end is coming soon.
There are real contractions like birth pains when a woman is in labor and ready to give birth to a child. You know, when the child comes, they don't remember any of those birth pains. But those contractions i've been told are awful. There's no pain like it. I'm told.
What he's telling the disciples, and what he's telling us, is these things will come to pass. But it's these things that cause the most fear. And he knows what Christians do in the midst of all of this: we get we? get discouraged don't We we easily become overwhelmed because of these things. Our hearts are are consumed in all these causes and all the worry that comes with them, and all the fear that drives people in this world.
If you look at what's happening right now in the nation, in the turbulence, it's fear driving people and disillusionment, and we are thrown off balance when it happens.
And Jesus seems to assume here that his people will forget, at moments like this, everything they've been taught. And it's here that he consoles us. It's here that he speaks in ways that are so profoundly comforting and beautiful. He says, "See, I've told you beforehand." And listen to it: "See to see to it you are not troubled."
Now, when our Lord says "See, I've told you beforehand," the right effect of that is to say that he knows this because he's directing it. The Christian is never to think that the things that are happening in the world are happening outside of the sovereign appointment and control of God. It's he who holds history in his hand is is the whole point that he's making here. And it's he that governs everything. He's seated on the throne. And as the world becomes fixated on all these problems and lives to solve all these problems, he is directing his people to an entirely different outlook.
Now listen to this: "Don't be troubled."
Now, who could say that? Could I say that? In myself? There's wars and rumors of wars. There's famines. There's pestilences and earthquakes in various places, and people are suffering greatly. And you're telling me, "Don't be troubled?" I can't say that.
It was Barnhouse who once said, "Either these are the words of a madman, or they're God's words: Don't be troubled."
"It is not my will for you to be troubled in the midst of all this. I can't help but think of Psalm 131: Oh, Lord, 131, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me, but I've calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child, my soul within me. Oh, Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
The Christian sees through it all. And what do we see?
And that's where I think you have to pause and ask the question: Why does it have to be this way? Why? And the answer is that the scriptures give us is that this is a great reminder to us all, beloved. History has an end. The world has an end. That's what all these things are telling you. You can go on any news report and look, and all of it is telling us that is not peace. And you see the effect: knowing that Jesus has told us about this is a reminder to not think that life will go on as it always has.
Isn't that what Peter said is the great problem? There are so many in this life going on, thinking that life will always continue as it's always gone, and the end will not come. And as if we can create in this life some utopia. He wants us to see that these things are happening and come to the great conclusion: these things are reminders that the end is coming really soon.
And you see that has a healthy effect: that when we face the awful things, that it wakes us up to what's most important.
I think some of us and I have to constantly be reminded to be to be awake to take faith seriously to take the worship of god seriously to remember who i am to remember why i'm here to remember what this is about, and what the purposes of God are for us in this life and in what is to come.
Tragedy has the effect of tearing out self-security and self-reliance in the things that are wrong for us, so that we don't think life is just a jolly ride of fun events and camping trips as important as camping trips are.
Remember how you felt when the Twin Towers fell? I'm showing my age. It was devastating. was scary.
In the midst of this, he says, verse six "See to it you're not troubled."
When we see the terrible atrocities in the world, Jesus says, "I don't want you alarmed. History's moving it's moving toward a goal. And you see what Jesus is doing for us? He's calming us. These are his words. I don't want you to think that that these things and i don't want these things to become obstacles to your faith."
You see the pastoral nature here of the good shepherd. He gives an encouragement to the believer. You see, he doesn't want all of this to draw us away from him, but he wants us to draw it all to him.
Notice what he says: "Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold."
He's shepherding, I think. He's thinking of his people: love growing cold through all this. When tragedy comes in, difficulty sometimes it drives people away and jesus saying it should drive you to me a cold people is a people who forget their salvation and where their history is leading this is why Jesus redirects us in the midst of this. What should we be doing? What is the great purpose is? is amazing because he doesn't leave us without purpose and meaning in this life and value in this life. There's real value in this life. What do we need to be doing? And he redirects us to the readiness, and what we as believers need to be about.
What does he want us to know? Well, he wants you to be ready. "If he were to come today, who then is this whole rest of this chapter? After the next section, is all about readiness who then is the wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food and do season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing
You probably know that Luther once said that if he knew the Lord was coming tomorrow, he would plant a tree today.
And that's verse 14. It's the one sign that speaks to this the sign that we are to be most active in.
Verse 14: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
You have to ponder that. That's where I want you focused.
You see the encouragement? I've never i've never saw this in this light before. In the midst of all this instability, in the midst of all this, everything that is shaky nations that come and go. Think of Rome. Gone. Where do you see light in this world? And where is the one thing that is stable and certain and true that continues to happen and that no generation has ever put out? It's as if Jesus just said, "There's nothing certain in this age but one thing, and you're involved in it. Here is one thing that endures all the turbulence. Here is one thing that endures all the threats. Here's one thing that endures all the evil. The sign that you're a part of now is the advancement of the gospel to the ends of the earth. Amazing."
"You are my witnesses. You bear a message of power. Remember Revelation? the cowardly. are left outside of the kingdom. We're not the cowardly. We're not living in fear of all this. We bear a great, powerful message of a Savior who sits in throne, who lived and died and rose again."
And Jesus is saying, "No matter what happens, do not fear. I am in control. I'm the author of history. I am the Lord of history. I am the Alpha and the Omega. I promised you not one sheep will be plucked from my hand through this all. Have I not? Don't forget verse 31 that with a great sound of a trumpet it will sound, and I will gather my elect. The angels will gather the elect from the four winds, from one heaven side of heaven to the other. The gospel will continue to go out, and he will not lose you. And all these things are opportunities for us to demonstrate faith in the midst of his promise to uphold us."
Jesus says there will be betrayal. People will be handed over. Who really faced all that? Jesus himself.
This is what the disciples are about to see: the betrayal of the Son of God. On the night of his own betrayal, what did he do? He broke bread, and he said, "Take, eat. This is my body. This is my blood for you." He instituted the supper to strengthen you, to give you a sacrament for the battle, a nourishment for the soul, that whatever we see happen, this is certain.
The supper proclaims something is certain. What is certain in this life? He will come again, and he will take us to be with him where he is.
I think the great encouragement here is that we would be about believing and advancing his life, death, and resurrection to the ends of the earth.
And remember: why we're left here to begin with? "I pray that you do not take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. Why? Because you're his witnesses. You have meaning. You have purpose. The gospel he once ministered and preached and believed so that people can know that they're saved from the final judgment.
And beloved, if we're still here and we're still going, you know what that means? The elect have not all come in. The elect god's sovereign predestinating choice of people he's not brought them all in yet. That's why you're here. And he's not slow to give you the promise, but he's long suffering toward us, not willing that any of his elect should perish. That's how good he is.
And so be encouraged. No matter what you see in this world today, the supper is held out to you. He will keep you. Don't live in fear. The world lives in fear. Don't live in fear. "I am with you," says the Lord. "Do not be troubled. I've told you beforehand. You're my sheep. I will keep you. Believe my word."
Let's pray.
Gracious Lord, thank you for such wonderful news to us. Bless us now as we come to the table that we might come in confidence and in faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.