Understanding Matthew 24: Unveiling Jesus's Prophecies

Understanding Matthew 24: Unveiling Jesus's Prophecies

Welcome to our second episode of our Prophecies of Hope series in case you're just catching us. Now, there was a previous video. This is video number two. It stands just fine on its own, but in case you're wondering what Video one was about, you can go back and look through those on our playlist. It was on Daniel chapter two.

For this one, we are focusing on Matthew chapter 24. This is what is has been referred to as an apocalyptic portion of the gospel. This is Jesus speaking, but it sounds a lot like the apocalypse or the Book of Revelation that comes much later, but they read this and it sounds like that, so they call it apocalyptic writing.

It becomes, became its own genre, and it's often related to the end of the world, which is kind of odd because the apocalypse or the revelation as the first, the introduction of the book of Revelation, it's really. The apocalypse is a Greek word that means revelation, and the book is really about the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So it's interesting that people are terrified of the apocalypse of Revelation or the end of the world when I don't think it's meant to be understood in that way. The Book of Revelation begins with the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants things that must shortly take place, and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John.

So that's the beginning of the Book of Revelation. That's why it's called Apocalypse or Revelation. If you speak other languages, like in Portuguese, I think Spanish, the same thing. They actually use the the Greek word, but, so this is actually a part of the gospel. Matthew 24, Jesus is speaking and it sounds a lot like Revelation apocalyptic writing in the heart of the gospel.

We're gonna jump into that in a bit, but I just want to welcome you to this series. My name is Marlon Seifert, and I just want to remind you that as we go through this series, the Bible. Will be our main source of information. This is our source of information that we trust. We're gonna pray to God to guide us as we study it, but we're gonna be getting our information right from the Bible.

So I hope you have your Bible and you'll follow along. We're gonna focus on Matthew 24. We're just gonna read through it just like we did with Daniel chapter two. I will give you some references as we go along to some other parts. We're not gonna jump to them because I really want to focus just on this chapter.

But should you have some questions, leave them in the comments below. Maybe we'll do a future video answering and tackling some. Of those questions. Thank you for joining me once again. Let's pray and jump into the text. Father in heaven, we understand that spiritual things are spiritually discerned.

Father, we want to understand Jesus's words here regarding the future. So please give us wisdom, give us understanding. You promise, Lord, that if we ask for the Holy Spirit, if we ask for wisdom, you will give it to us. So Father, we ask, give us the Holy Spirit. Fill us with wisdom. Help us to not only understand, but also know how to apply the things that you want to teach us from these words.

I pray that you would be with us in this study, I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Alright, so open your Bibles to Matthew 24. I am reading from New King James version. If you have a different version, there might be some slight differences in translation, but I think overall I. It's the same message and it should be just fine.

So starting with verse one, then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. So they go up on the hill, they look back and there's this beautiful, massive buildings of the temple, and they're so proud of it, and they're showing it off to Jesus.

Verse two. And Jesus said to them, do you not see all these things? Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now, this is really scary. This is surprising to the disciples. Why is Jesus saying this? What could possibly happen that would cause this beautiful, magnificent temple to be destroyed?

Especially since this is their pride. They feel like God loves the temple as much as they do, if not more. And God would surely protect his temple. These things couldn't happen, could they? So Jesus's words really shocks the disciples. So verse three, we get to an important question now, as he said on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be?

What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Now, I hope you pay attention to this question because the rest of Matthew 24 and Matthew 25, Jesus is going to spend answering these questions, right? Everything else that we're going to read is an answer to these questions. It's related to this question that the disciples asked Jesus.

What was the question once again? They said, tell us when will these things be? When Jesus said that the temple would be destroyed, they also said, and when and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Which is interesting because Jesus hasn't left right, but they're asking the, the sign of your coming and the end of the age.

This is what we would refer to as the second coming of Jesus the, the end of the world, right? This is the, this apocalypse scenario. Oh no, the end. So two questions. When will these things be? When will the temple be destroyed, just like Jesus said it would. And what will be the sign of your second coming?

So here's part of the trick with interpreting and, and reading what comes after this. Jesus is answering two questions and there's mistakes that we make and interpreting. There's two ditches that we can fall into. One is to say everything that Jesus says has to do only with the physical destruction of the temple, which took place in 70 ad by the Romans.

The second one is to say everything that Jesus is going to say only applies to the end of the age and, and the second coming and the end of the world. So, which is it? Well, we're gonna dive into it, but as we read through it, we want to keep in mind the question that Jesus is answering. And remember there's two questions built in there.

So some things Jesus is going to say applies to both. Some things that Jesus is going to say applies to the destruction of Jerusalem, some things, or the temple in Jerusalem, and some things that Jesus is gonna say applies to the second coming and the end of the world, which is which. Well, hopefully we can get some clarity as we go together.

And also, I'll be clear with you whenever, I'm not sure, and there are parts in here that I'm not sure, and maybe as as we go through this we'll, we'll gain some understanding and by the end of this video, we'll both understand this text a little bit better. So let's jump into it. Verse four. Jesus answered and said to them, take heed that no one deceives you.

So here's the thing. The question was, tell us when will these things be? What will be the signs of your coming and not the end of the age? The first thing that Jesus says, it's not about setting dates. It's not answering when or the signs. Jesus' main concern in his answer, the way he begins his answer.

Keep this in mind. This is the context for everything else we're going to read. We're gonna understand everything else. Everything else will make more sense when we understand Jesus' intention. In verse four, Jesus is very clear. Jesus answered and said to them, take heed that no one deceives you. Jesus' main concern regarding the signs of his coming, regarding the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem regarding future things is be careful that no one deceives you.

Be careful not to fall for any deceptions. This is the main reason. This is why we study prophecy. This is why we're gonna take the time during this video to jump into this text and understand it's to avoid deception. Keep this in mind because people want to read this and set dates. They want to read this and you know, do all kinds of crazy things, but Jesus may.

Point here is for us not to be deceived. I think this is great and very important because we are in danger of being deceived, especially as we approach the last days. And I hope that this series will help you not be deceived as we dive into Jesus's words. So let's jump into the next verse, verse five.

Jesus says, for many will come in my name. Look, people will come in the name of Jesus and they'll say, I am the Christ and will deceive many. And you will hear, or we'll get to that verse six in a little bit. So people will come in the name of Jesus claiming to be Jesus. So that means that a lot of people who are looking for Jesus will see someone claiming to be Jesus and be like, well, I guess that's Jesus, and they will follow him, but we won't.

We know and how, how come we won't? Because we know. How do we know? Because we read the text. You see the benefit of reading and studying. Now when somebody shows up claiming to be Jesus, you're like, wait a minute. Ah, I was warned about you. You are not the Messiah, right? So, so we can avoid the deception because we're heeding, we're understanding we're studying the words of Jesus.

So we're gonna come back to this repeatedly as, as, as we go through this text. 'cause Jesus makes this point repeatedly. And then hopefully it'll become clear to you and to me, what is the main point that Jesus wants to get across with his words? So first thing he says, be careful that no one deceives you.

He says, many will come in my name, claiming to be. The Christ and we'll deceive many. And then verse six says, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, see that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. So I want you to remember this. 'cause many people will point out to the wars and to the rumors of wars and say, head for the hills.

Jesus is coming time to panic. No. Jesus says Yes. You will hear of wars, you will hear of rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. So why mention these things? I have a personal theory, this is the way that I interpret it, and you can let me know if it makes sense to you.

Leave me a comment in the video with your thoughts on this. But here's my thoughts. When we hear wars and rumors of wars, like, oh no, what's going on? What's happening in the world? Oh wait. Jesus said that this would happen. It reminds me of the words of Jesus. It reminds me that Jesus is coming again.

It reminds me that these things are supposed to happen, which means, okay, the the timeline is progressing, history is progressing in the way that Jesus said it would. Okay, so Jesus is onto something. He knew that these things would happen. Then it increases my faith in Jesus, my trust in him. It reminds me that he is coming again, but it's not a cause for panic.

Keep this in mind. These are reminders that Jesus is coming. These are reminders that Jesus told us that these things would happen. These are things that we hear of wars and rumors of wars. And by the way, there seem to be more and more as I'm recording this the current US president has been involved in talking about different wars and different world leaders, and people have all kinds of opinions, but there is wars happening.

Jesus said this would happen. I trust in Jesus. Let's see what else he said is going to happen. Verse seven says, for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places. Now this is interesting because this was written so long ago, right?

2000 years-ish ago. And Jesus was saying that there would be famines, pestilence, earthquakes in various places. Now with all the advances that we have in technology, especially if you look back at the industrial revolution, the scientific revolution, and, and suddenly people are curing diseases and they're understanding nature so much better.

And science and ex is exploding and advancing and so is technology. And people really hope. If you go back and you read through some of those old journal or newspaper articles and different things, people are so optimistic about their future, there will be no more hunger. There will be no more disease.

There will be right. And there was this hope. We are going to save ourselves and the future will be a utopia. People won't know what to do without the free time that they will have and they will live to be very, very old. And, and yes, and in many ways we are living. In the best of times compared to Earth's history, right?

We're, we're living longer, we have technology, we have access to information. But let me ask you, do you really feel like the quality of life is better now than it was for your grandparents or your great grandparents? And as hard as life was for them, it seems like we just traded for different kinds of struggles that we have nowadays.

And I think of all the things that we have going on, and even with all of our technology. There is still famine, there's still pestilence, there's still earthquakes in various places, and by pestilence is diseases of different kinds. We right, we, we think we would've cured the common cold or different things, but it's tricky.

The virus changes and then we had covid V and then they're saying something similar might come again, or, oh, Jesus said these things are going to happen. If we had indeed cured most diseases or all diseases, if there were no more feminines or pestilence, if we, because technically we kind of could, right?

With the technology that we have, there should be a lot less suffering except for the greed of humanity and we don't, anyway, we don't share as much as we should. There's sermon for a different topic. But all these things that Jesus said, even though at one point in history it seemed like it would stop, seem like it would not come true.

Still happening. There's still pestilence, there's still earthquakes, there's still feminist. Despite all of our advances, Jesus' words hold true. So as I see these things happening around me, I don't panic. I remember Jesus said these things would happen. What else did Jesus say? It brings me back to his word.

It reminds me that Jesus talked about the future and it's accurate. Verse eight, it says, all these things are the beginning of sorrows. Now there's different translations for this. And I looked up a few of them from Matthew 24, verse eight. If you go on a website like bible hub.com type Matthew 24 8, you see all the different translations.

And the NIV says these are the beginnings of birth pains. I like that one personally. There is evidence in the text that that is an intended meaning. When Jesus says the beginning of sorrows, the word is used also with reference to birth pains and some Bible translations have that, or the beginning of Travail American standard version.

And some others, you know, sim similar words, why do I like the beginning of birth pains? Because, well, I, I'm a father of two, right? I wash my wife, go into labor and I know what it's like. I don't know personally, I witness, I saw her struggling with contractions. And what does that mean? It starts kind of soft and it gets stronger and closer together.

And I remember we had just gotten. Smartphones as our kids were gonna be born and there was an app that you could keep track of the contractions and how far apart they are, and then at which point we go to the hospital. So with that in mind, I would interpret this to mean as these wars and rumors of wars and pestilence and famines and earthquakes in various places, as these things begin to happen to a stronger degree and closer and closer together.

It's a sign that the coming of Jesus is closer, right? It gives us a sense of urgency. Not of panic. Not of despair, but it reminds us, Jesus said these things would happen. And it seems like they're happening more and more often. It seems like they're happening to larger degrees. And it reminds us to, what else did Jesus say?

Let me get back into the word of God. And I think this is the benefit of being familiar with prophecy. One, you avoid deception. Two, as you see these things happening, you should deepen and strengthen your faith, bring you back to the word of God. So verse nine says, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

So we can stop there and and say, well, yes. After Jesus died and rose again, early Christianity was persecuted in this way and this happened. Before and after the destruction of Jerusalem. This is something that applies back then. Now, let me ask you this. Have you heard about Christians being persecuted?

It's happening. It's happening in many parts of the world, not here where I live right now in the us but I have family that fled to Brazil from different countries in Europe because they were being persecuted for their beliefs, because they were Protestants, because they believed differently than the church of the state or the main religion.

And then they had to flee because they didn't flee to America. They came to South America to have freedom to worship. So, you know, this has happened. Christians have persecuted Christians and non-Christians have persecuted Christians. The Romans persecuted Christians and Christians are persecuted in many countries in the world today.

So just because we may not be experiencing this in America right now, but some could argue there is a level of persecution that has taken place even here in the United States against Christians or Christian values or biblical values. Jesus said these things are going to happen. I believe this applied to the audience back then.

It applies to us today. And I believe as we get closer to the second coming of Jesus, it will get worse. And the Book of Revelation has a lot more to say on that in some other places as well. But let's, let's keep going. So it says that they will deliver you up to tri to tribulation, to kill You will be hated by all nations.

For my name's sake. Which is different than being hated because you did something terrible. This is gonna be because of the name of Jesus. Verse 10, and many will be offended. Yep. Definitely feels like that's happening and will betray one another and will hate one another. This is terrible. Jesus said These things are going to happen.

People will betray one another, hate one another. Verse 11, I'll pay attention. Then many false profits will rise up and deceive many. Once again, the focus to avoid deception, there will be false profits. Now I want to highlight this because there is no such thing as a fake $25 bill. What's this a random thing to say?

Why would I say that There's no fake 20. If I gave you a $25 bill, you don't even have to check against the light or something to see if it's real. You know it's fake. Why do you know it's fake? Because there are no $25 bills. Jesus says there will be false prophets that will rise up. So if there's false profits, well, lemme say it this way, if there would be no true profits, then he doesn't have to warn us about false profits.

Just says there's no more profits after this. But he says, beware of false profits, which would indicate that there would be true profits in the last days. I'm not saying I know who the true prophets are. I'm saying we have to be careful with false profits, but also don't discount anybody that claims to have the gift to prophecy.

I'm just saying be careful with that one. If there will be false prophets, then there will also be true prophets. And the reason why I say this is because if there would be none, then Jesus would've just said, don't listen to any prophets from this point forward. Anyway. Those are my thoughts on verse 11.

But we are to be careful with false prophets. Just because somebody says the Lord has revealed to me, or I saw God in a vision, doesn't mean it's really from God. Doesn't mean you can trust him, doesn't mean it's true. Jesus says, be careful. And you can look at their fruit and there's lots of other bible verses that can help you decipher and tell a true prophet from a false prophet.

The thing is, it could be a true prophet, but don't necessarily believe everybody that claims to be a prophet. Verse 12, because lawlessness will abound. The love of many will grow cold. There is evidence of that in the world, seems to be getting worse. But that could be just my personal perspective and maybe I just looked at the news too much.

I spent too much time on the internet and it sure feels like the love of many is growing cold. Verse 13, but he or she, right? The person who endures to the end shall be saved. Jesus is saying all of these things and it's not for you to panic and head for the hills. And what do I do? Simple, not easy, but simple.

But he or she, the person who endures to the end, shall be saved, remain, abide. Don't quit. Don't give up. Don't walk away. He who remains to the end will be saved. Stay with Jesus. You are saved. You had the assurance of salvation in Jesus. You gave your life to him. You were born again. Christian. Just remain.

That's it. Don't quit. Your salvation is guaranteed in Jesus. All you have to do is remain. Now. He says things are gonna get hard. You're gonna get persecuted because of your love. For me, Jesus is saying things will become more difficult, but hang in there and salvation is yours. So good news. What do I do in the midst of all this craziness?

Remain faithful to God. Don't deny him, don't walk away from him. Expect things to get more challenging and also expect God to show up and to save and to deliver. Now, verse 14, I really like verse 14, and this is where we're gonna pause and look at some other verses as well. It says, in this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations.

And then the end will come. So up until now, Jesus says there will be wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, earthquakes famines, all of these things. And he says, but the end is not yet, but the end is not yet. And you'll be persecuted and, and betrayed. And, and the love of many will grow cold. But the end is not yet.

The end is not yet. But there's this one thing. He says, this is going to happen, and then the end will come. And what is this thing? It's the preaching of the gospel. To the whole world. This is exciting because this is something that you and I can engage in. We can participate, we can be a part of hastening the second coming of Jesus, because if the gospel has to be preached to the whole world, well, we can help with that.

And there's other parts of the Bible. Jesus himself says, you know, the people stop raising me, the rocks will cry out. So I believe it. You know, if, if we really refuse to do it, God will find a way whether he'll send angels, children the rocks, something will happen. But I, I hope it doesn't come to that. I hope we are willing to share.

It's part of the reason why we're doing this series on Bible prophecy is a part of preaching this gospel to the whole world as a witness to all nations. And then the end will come. By the way, if you don't feel comfortable sharing completely, you should, but let's say you're not comfortable right now.

Let sharing this video as a way of doing that. Share it with somebody who you think would benefit from the study that we're doing, or you yourself, just take some notes, take somebody else through Matthew 24, just verse by verse, just like we're doing here in this video. You can do this, and this is part of what we should be doing.

This is what needs to happen. Before the end comes this gospel of the kingdom being preached in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end will come. So if you want to read more about this, I would say read Matthew 28 verses 1919 through 20. That's the great commission. Look at Acts one, eight, the gospel being preached.

Revelation 10, 11 and 14, verse six. So I'll repeat that one more time so you can write this down and then look at it later. Matthew 28, 19 through 20, acts one, eight, revelation 10, 11 and 14, verse six. Now there is more to this, but I'll just give you those as in case you wanna go a little bit deeper and explore this further.

But this is one of the emphasis of Jesus's message. First, don't be deceived. Second, what should we be doing? Sharing the gospel with everybody in the whole world. 'cause that has to happen before Jesus comes again. Verse 15, continuing. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand.

Now, this is one of those tricky parts. So this seems to be, at least from my perspective, a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in AD 70. Rome came to attack. The Jews, if I remember correctly, were rebelling and, and causing trouble. And the Romans were not supposed to destroy the temple, but the people would flee into the temple because it's kind like if you ever played as, as a child, right?

Like, oh, this is base. You can't, you can't get me. I I'm at base. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. And somebody threw a torch in there and it caught on fire. And what happened is the, the temple just burst into flames. Everything was destroyed. And there was so much gold in the temple. Things made out of gold. Decorated with gold, overlaid with gold, that the gold melted and fell between the rocks.

Well. People came by after the facts and realize, hey, there is gold here. And they moved the rock so that there was no rock left on top of one another. Just like Jesus says, that temple was completely destroyed. You can say, but Marlon, wait a minute. What about the whaling wall? Yes. The whaling wall was one of the outer walls far away way on the outskirts of the temple.

The temple itself is completely gone. Those are the rocks from a wall outer wall way out of the way. Yes, those did survive. Everything else was destroyed. And the passage in Daniel that this seems to be referencing right, Jesus says the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place.

This seems to be a reference to Daniel chapter nine verses 26 through 27, and Daniel 11, verse 31. There's still some debate over details and other things, but it seems to me that it's pretty clear that this was a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem when the temple physically existed at that time.

So this would've been a warning for people to flee before the Jerusalem was besieged for, for a long time. Anyway, there is, there is history about this. You can look up and read up on the destruction of Jerusalem. There's a book called the Great Controversy. It, it talks about that in quite a bit of detail, but there's other resources too.

Leave me a message and, and I can tell you more if you wanna learn more about the destruction of Jerusalem as a historical event. It's not in the Bible, but there seems to be a clear reference to that so that the Christians, when they saw these signs, they fled Jerusalem and, or, you know, the, the Jews that believed in Jesus.

They were, I don't think they were called Christians yet, so they, they fled and avoided the, the famine. They avoided the fighting and all the death and other things that happened when Jerusalem was besieged and ultimately the temple was destroyed. And so these next parts seem to be a reference to the physical destruction of Jerusalem, of, of the temple that, or Jerusalem in general, I guess.

But the temple specifically, that happened in the year 80 70. And Jesus says, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who's in the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house and let him who's in the field not go back to get his clothes, but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days, and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath, which is interesting.

Jesus making a reference to the Sabbath. He knew that this would happen way in the future, but it was still a concern for his followers. He's saying, Hey, pray that this doesn't happen on the Sabbath or. In the winter. And now starting with verse 21 comes a portion that I have asked about. I continue to study this and I'm not sure if from verse 21 and on this is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem or to the end times in the second coming of Jesus.

So follow along with me. Verse 21 says, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world. Until this time, no nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But the elect for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. I think the consensus is this is talking about the time of the end.

Things are gonna get so bad, God is gonna cut those days short for our sake, I. As we live through that. So this has something to say, I think to those who think that the elect will not have to go through the tribulation here. Jesus is saying that for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

He also says and unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. We would kill ourselves if Jesus didn't step in. So something to think about and, and it definitely sounds like to me as I read through this text, that the church, those who love Jesus, those who are faithful, he refers to here as the elect will be present during this tribulation.

And they are, we are the reason why those days will be shortened. Something to think about. Verse 23. Then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ or there, do not believe it for false Christ, and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible. Even the elect, Jesus says, if it was possible, even the elect would be deceived.

Well then why aren't they elect deceived? Well, the next verse tells us. Jesus says, see, I have told you beforehand. This is that thing that keeps repeating that I mentioned. Jesus keeps saying, be careful that no one deceives you. There will be false Christ. There will be false prophets. Be careful that nobody deceives you.

I'm telling you ahead of time. The only reason we are not deceived is because we heed. We understand we have studied Jesus's words. If Jesus had not warned us, if he had not told us beforehand, as it says in verse 25, we would fall from it for it. Imagine somebody shows up. Right. Some really amazing public speaker, very charismatic, and he's healing people.

And the, the blind they're seeing and the lame we're walking, you're like, wow, this, this person sounds like Jesus. And he says, I am Jesus. By the way. I changed my mind. I'm not gonna come in the clouds with great glory and power. Actually we're starting a revolution in my name. Let's unite under me and overthrow the government.

I don't know, something people would totally fall for it. Like, yes, down with the government. Let's follow Jesus into war. And Jesus is warning us. It's not him. Somebody shows up. It doesn't matter. The great signs and wonders they can be working miracles. Jesus says, it's not me. We're gonna read more. He's gonna describe his second coming.

Anybody who shows up and claims to be Jesus is not Jesus. Keep this in mind. We have to know this. Otherwise we will fall for it. There are so many people that I see they're looking for a church, and that is instead of looking at the Bible and what it teaches and finding a church that is in line with biblical teachings, they're looking for signs and wonders.

They're looking for the church that will make them rich. They're looking for the church that will heal them of all their diseases. They're looking for the church that will offer them miracles in an easy life when Jesus does not promise that anywhere. He promises to be with us to never leave us, to never forsake us.

He promises that if we endure to the end, we will be saved. He promises that he will cut those days of tribulation short because otherwise nobody would survive. So for the sake of the elect, he will do that. But he never promises an easy life. Keep that in mind. Early Christians went through tribulations.

Christianity throughout history have gone through troubles. You look at the children of Israel, they went through troubles. God's people have never had an easy life. God's people have always had the strength of God with them. God has brought them through, delivered, provided in miraculous ways, but by no means could their lives be described as an easy life.

So we continue. Jesus warned us ahead of time. This is why we don't fall for these tricks. Verse 26 says, therefore, if they say to you, look, he's in the desert. Do not go out or look, he's in inner rooms. Do not believe it. For as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west. So will the coming of the son of man be so as lightning flashes from the east to the west, so will the coming of the son of man be meaning?

It will not be secret, it will be visible as visible as lightning. The cool thing with lightning, you can close your eyes and you still know that lightning has struck right? It's that bright. It's the brightest thing at the time. So Jesus references that like a flesh of lightning. That will be the what The son of the coming of the son of man.

Will be. So wherever verse 28, the carcass is there. The eagles will be gathered together. So you see the vultures, you see the birds of praise circling. It's a carcass. It's death. It's not Jesus. It's not what God has promised. It's not the second coming. It's death. Don't go to it. This is the warning that Jesus is giving here.

Let's continue. Verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened. The moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven of the heavens will be shaken. So here's an interesting point. There is quite a bit of debate over this. There are a few times that this has happened in European history.

I. Where there is this reference of the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light. The stars falling from heaven and the powers of heaven been shaken. So there is the Lisbon earthquake 1780, the sun there was a dark sun and a red moon. 1833, there was a, a falling of stars. And, and why do I mention these dates?

These were events that were so big that there was newspaper articles about it. People were talking about the end of the world. Some of these events in history sparked a revival amongst Christians. So I mentioned these, not that they are unique necessarily than other falling of the stars or earthquakes or things.

It's just these were. Whenever something like this happens, whether there's a, a major, you know, falling, a star, meteor, shower, whatever you want to call it, or a dark sun or a red moon, people tend to think about the end of the world. It brings them back to prophecy. What did Jesus say about these things? So these signs are not setting dates.

These signs are reminding us, Jesus said he's coming again. What's my walk with Jesus like, what's my spiritual life like? I forgot. That's right. Jesus is coming. What is life really all about? Right? Is it about the physical things that I accumulate is about the way that I serve others with what's the most important thing in life?

As these signs happen in the heavens, as we behold them, we're reminded of Jesus's words, it should draw us closer to God. It should cause us to be more interested or interested once again in the study of the word of God. So these signs. Yeah, the wars and rumors of wars, pestilence the love of many growing cold and all of these different things.

I think these are reminders that bring us back to the word of God. Not things that are setting dates. Oh, but those things happen. And Jesus never came. Well, he didn't say he was gonna come when these things happen. He said, when these things happen, remember I am coming. So here, verse 30, for the first time in all of this, these things that Jesus has been saying, he talks about a sign, the only time he mentions a sign.

So listen to this verse 30. Then the sign of the son of man will appear in heaven. So, okay, the sun is dark and the the moon is bloodshot. The stars are falling, but that's not yet the sign. Keep in mind. But after this, there will be a sign. Then the sign of the Sun of men will appear in heaven. 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.

How can I know for sure that someone claiming to be Jesus and maybe raising someone from the dead, like clearly this has to be God. How do I know that that's a false Christ? If a prophet shows up and says, by the way, Jesus changed his mind is not coming back and it's gonna be something different, how do I know that that's a false prophet?

Well, we're gonna talk about prophecy, I think, and what we are talking about prophecy, but false prophets later on that can do a whole study on that. But part of the way that you know, you can tell a false prophet. Is if the prophecy contradicts previous light that's in the Bible all the prophecies in the Bible, all the things, it, it always matches with itself.

It doesn't contradict other parts of the Bible. So we, we did mention that there are some prophecies, there are conditional that depends on our reaction, our behavior. We mentioned Jonah when he went to NVE and they repented and then God didn't destroy them. We talked about Sodom and Gomorrah, how if God had found 10 righteous people, he wouldn't have destroyed it.

But since he didn't, then he destroyed it. So there are these different things. There are conditional prophecies, but the, the second coming of Jesus is not a conditional prophecy. It's going to happen. And anybody that's saying otherwise, it's a false prophet or a false Christ, how do I know the real Christ will come in the clouds of heaven?

This is the sign, the sign of the son of man will appear in heaven and all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Not a baby born in a stable the second time, right? It's gonna come with great power and glory or power in great glory.

So this is how you know that it's Jesus coming. If it's somebody walking on earth, obviously it's not Jesus. And it's important to know this 'cause Jesus says there will be false Christ and false prophets. There's already been several. We don't see them too much here in the us but in other parts of the world, just, just Google it.

People claiming to be Jesus. There's lots of them. And how do we know if that they're not? Maybe it is. Well, unless they're coming with the angels in the clouds with power and great glory, it's not Jesus. How do you know for sure? Because Jesus told us. And this is the only way that we avoid deception.

Our senses can be misled, we can be confused. We can be tricked if we trust in our senses. But if we trust in prophecy in the word of God, then we will not be deceived. Well, how do you know? Because Jesus said it. He says, this is why I'm telling you all of this so that you won't be deceived. Otherwise you would be deceived.

So this is why it's important to study this. It's not to set a date, it's to avoid deception. It's to be reminded that Jesus is coming soon and then allow that information, that knowledge, that understanding to change and shape the way that we live our lives. So let's continue. Verse 31, it says, and he will send his angels with great sound of the trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to another.

The four winds is like north, south, east, west, right? The earth is, is round. It's a, it's a balls. You, you can't. There's no four corners or four winds, but the directions, the whole world, the whole heavens. This is the, the end, right? The angels will come and gather the elect. So you could call this a rapture.

You could, they will be raptured brought up, but it's nothing, there's nothing secret about this power and great glory. The sound of the trumpet. And then the angels come and gather God's people. Is there a rapture? Yes. Is it secret? No. At, at least not based on this text. And we're gonna read on we want to, I wanna be sensitive with the time, but if you're listening to this as a podcast or in a video, I guess you can just listen to it in parts.

But I do want to go through every verse and, and just study it. So let's keep going. Now. Learn this parable from the fig tree. Verse 32, when the branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know, that summer is near. So I live in Idaho and spring is near. And you can tell from the tips of the, the branches on the trees there are bear, they begin to turn red.

And you can see I lived in Massachusetts for a while. Same thing. You can tell that spring is coming. So Jesus says, you can look at nature and tell when something's about to happen. Verse 33. So you also know when you see all these things, know that it is near even at the doors. So Jesus is saying it's near when you see these signs.

I'm coming soon. Be reminded of that. And we're about to get into a verse here that's really tricky. And I just wanna set this up properly. Jesus says, look at the signs. See the wars, the rumors of wars, the pestilence, all of these things. Let these signs remind you like, oh yeah, Jesus said these things would happen.

He's coming soon. And you can say, yeah, but these things have been happening forever. There's been wars and rumors of wars and pestilence as an earthquakes ever since the time of Jesus. There have been, you know, meteor showers and the, the dark sun, right? With and eclipse and, and red moons, blood moons.

These things happen and Jesus hasn't come yet. What do you mean he's coming soon? Even at the doors throughout the Bible, the date for the coming of Jesus is soon. It's always soon. Some people get frustrated. I've been waiting for so long, I've been waiting for a lifetime, and Jesus hasn't come yet. What do you mean?

He's coming Soon? He is. Now, think about this. If Jesus comes in my lifetime. Or if it takes a thousand years to come, which I don't think he will, but let's say he does. How long do I wait? The longest I can wait is one lifetime. How long is one lifetime? It depends. Depends on my choices. Depends on my environment.

It depends on choices of people around me. I don't know how long I'm gonna live. I don't know if I'll make it to the end of today, but in my mind, if somebody asks me When is Jesus coming? The answer is always soon, which means today I am ready. If he came and tomorrow I want to be ready. If he comes and the other day.

And the other day. But why? Because the longest I can wait is one lifetime. The date doesn't matter that much. If I die tomorrow, it doesn't matter if he comes next week. Right? My, my opportunity to make choices and make decisions, it's only while I'm alive. Something to keep in mind in this sense. It's always soon, all these signs remind us, Jesus is coming.

Let me adjust my life accordingly. And my living according what are my values? How am I spending my time? Think about these things, reflect on these things and avoid deception. This is the purpose of this, not setting dates. Now, here is a challenge. Verse 34. Jesus says, assuredly I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away to all these things take place.

Is Jesus a false prophet? Because he said maybe he got the date wrong. Maybe he thought he was gonna come real soon, and then he didn't. Or another way of interpreting this, and let me find the verses by the way, I, I, I saw my notes here and I had missed it and I didn't go back to it. But if you wanna write these down, this is back to a reference of Matthew 21 and 22 talking about the great fibrillation, as such has never been before.

You can compare that with First Thessalonians five, three second Timothy three, one through five, second Peter three, three through four, Daniel 7 21 through 26. All these verses seem to reference that time of tribulation at the end, whether it was destruction of Jerusalem or at the end of times, or both, which is also a possibility.

So some notes for you to look at. Now this reference to the, this generation and, and this is something that let, let me get to here in my notes. So this generation is a negative verdict by Jesus on those who are rejecting him. And you can see this by looking at Matthew 11 16, 12 41 through 42 and 45 and 2336.

Yeah. Every time Jesus makes a reference to this generation, it's a negative verdict. It's people who are rejecting him. So this is not when Jesus said no until this generation these things, sorry, assuredly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away to all these things take place. I think that this is a reference that Jesus is making to the destruction of Jerusalem.

And those people who were rejecting Jesus were going to witness the destruction of Jerusalem and know that he spoke truth and these, that these things indeed came to happen. So that's one way of interpreting this text and maybe it's not good enough for you. It's good enough for me. I don't know of a better way of interpreting this.

I don't think Jesus was mistaken. I think this is one of those things where we're reading through and it's like, is it the destruction of Jerusalem? Is it the end of time? There's a lot that applies to both. I believe that this is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem. I'd love to know your thoughts on this.

In verse 35, he says, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. So Jesus' words are true. They will not change. So. I believe in what he's saying and I believe that his reference to this generation is to those who were rejecting him. And it's a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem that did happen within the lifetime of his listeners.

Now we're getting close to the end here. Let's plow through verse 36, but of the day and the hour. No one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my father only. Now, please, please, please, if you have your Bibles with you, mark this, highlight this, circle it. Put stars next to it. And the reason why I say this is 'cause I have had people in my churches where I am the pastor or the spiritual leader, I've had people trying to make the claim that they figured out the date.

As a denomination, we do not believe that as a Bible believing Christian. I don't believe that. And if anybody claims to have figured it out, they are not. Speaking truth, maybe they think they have, they are deceived. They have managed to deceive themselves. Nobody knows Jesus is not telling us so that we can figure out the dates because like I said before, the date doesn't really matter.

What matters is how you live your life. The longest you can wait is a lifetime. Otherwise, we would want to wait all the way to the last minute and then repent just before Jesus comes back. I remember a, a pastor I was talking to, shared this story of they had a teacher, and I forget if they were fifth grade or sixth grade.

Anyway, it was middle school and this was the most demanding teacher that he ever had. He said, even compared to graduate school and when she would leave the classroom, now they, they goof around and, and play around and be loud or whatever, but she always wore heels and they could heal. Hear her coming down the hallway.

Duck, duck, duck, duck, duck. They hear her footsteps, so they get back into their seats and, you know, and sit upright and, and behave nice. So when she comes in, everybody's just looking nice, right? So the idea is, oh, well we're gonna get to, to some of this. Don't try to set dates. Don't think, oh, when Jesus, when we get closer, then I'll get my act together.

Then I'll start, you know, I'll give my heart to Jesus, then I'll, I just wanna try sin a little bit more. It's not the point. Jesus is coming soon. How soon? When is the date He's coming? Soon. Even at the door. You should be ready today. That's the best advice for everyone. Be ready today. And there's more information on this.

But the main thing I want you to know in all of this, that Jesus is saying, setting the date is not the point. It's for you to avoid deception. It's for you to know that the gospel has to be preached in the whole world. It's for you to know how he's gonna come back so you don't fall for a false prophet or a false Christ.

And it's not for you to set dates. If you're studying prophecy to set dates, you're missing the point. You're missing what Jesus actually wants to tell you because you're looking for information that he's not trying to give you all this information. In my mind, the way that I interpret it is to remind us of the importance of seeking God to, for us to strengthen our relationship with him, to remind us that he is coming again, but not to set a date.

Verse 37, listen to this. But as the days of Noah, were so also, will the coming of the son of man be for as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the arc and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the son of man B.

So let's pause there real quick. As in the days of Noah, right? Nobody knows the day or the hour. So I've seen preachers talk about the days of Noah and they'll talk about how people were wicked and just completely bad and bad all the time, you know, consistently. And and, and they'll go off into that and say, oh, the days are just like the days of Noah.

People are bad and all that. I don't disagree with that. I'm not saying they're wrong, but when I read the text and I see what Jesus highlighted about the days of Noah, he does not mention how wicked the people were. Maybe he doesn't need to because we know, we know the story. Or maybe what Jesus is highlighting by his words.

He says in the days of Noah, before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. They're not doing bad things. They're going through life as usual. What I take this to understand, to mean, what I understand this to mean is that life will be going on as usual.

People are gonna be getting married and eating and drinking and partying and living life until the, and then the end comes, it's going to catch people by surprise. No. When into the ark, Noah was listening to God, no one knew what was going on. Nobody else did. They were oblivious to it. They didn't know it was going to happen, even though Noah tried to warn them.

And I think that this is the main point. It's not going to be obvious that Jesus is coming again to those who have not studied prophecy to those who are not paying attention to the signs, to those who don't have a relationship with Jesus. It's going to happen and catch them by surprise. And you can say, but, but Marlon, you just said that we're not setting dates, that these sins are just to bring us closer to Jesus.

How? How, how do you mean? We're not gonna be caught by surprise if we don't know the date or the hour? I'll ask you this. How do you prepare for a pop quiz, right? I had a teacher in high school, loved pop quizzes. He was a math teacher, and I'm not great at math. I struggled. Math humbled me. I got decent grades, but it was through a lot of hard work.

It did not come easily to me, and I hated the pop quizzes. So what does that mean? I had to always be studying. I had to make sure I was doing my homework, make sure I was asking questions. If I didn't understand something, I had to make sure I was learning the material because at any moment he could say, put your books away, pop quiz ta.

How do you prepare for something when you don't know what's going to happen? You just stay prepared all the time. How do you prepare for the second coming of Jesus? Just turn to Jesus. Invite him into your heart. Accept him as Lord and Savior, and then just walk with him. Just abide with him. Just stay, remain faithful.

That's it. The, the date doesn't matter. If he came today, I'm good with that. If he came next week, I'm okay with that. If he came a hundred years from now, that's fine too. I'll die before then and that's okay. The point is not setting a date, the point is being ready. The people at the time of Noah, even though Noah was preaching, even though there was this big boat, they're like, ah, it's never gonna happen.

Just like that. People will be, when Jesus comes again, it's not gonna be super obvious to everyone. Most people will not be paying attention. They will not notice the signs. They have not read the scriptures and they will miss it. And this is why Jesus calls on us to share the gospel with them. And I believe the gospel includes prophecy because this is how we avoid deception.

So let's keep going here. I. So we stopped on verse 40, I believe. 'cause verse 39 says, and they did not know until the flood came and took 'em all away. So also the son of the coming of the son of men be verse 40, then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left, two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left Watch.

Therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming. Some people will take these verses and talk about a secret rapture. See, two people will be there, one will be taken and the other won't true. The text does say this, it doesn't say anywhere that it's a secret. We just saw earlier that it's gonna be with, you know, the angels and great glory and the, the trumpet sound.

The angels will gather the people. So I could be with someone plowing in the field. The there is Jesus is coming. Angels, glory, sound. The angels takes me and leaves my friend. It doesn't have to be secret for me to be taken and my friend left. It doesn't say it's silent anywhere. People think I would just disappear.

Oh, maybe. But the second coming will be loud and visible. It's not going to be a secret. It's just saying what it's saying. One person will be taken, the other will be left. What does this mean? Being really good friends or coworkers with or you know, married to someone who has a really strong, healthy relationship with Jesus, who has received salvation as a free gift, does not mean that you have it too, just because you work with them, just because you're friends with them.

Just because you live in the same house. Just because you share a bed, just because you're related to by blood to someone who is saved does not save you. I believe this is the point that Jesus is making. It's not enough to be really close to someone that's saved. You need to have that salvation for yourself because they will be taken and you will be left.

Not that they're taken secretly, it's just that salvation is individual thing. I believe people will be saved in all kinds of different churches and religions and different beliefs, and we can talk more about that. They're gonna be saved by grace through faith. And because of the sacrifice of Jesus. But anyway the idea is it's not enough for you to be close enough to someone who's saved.

You need to have that experience with Jesus for yourself. You need to make that decision to accept him as Lord and Savior to be born again as a follower of Jesus. Otherwise, one person will be taken, the other one will be left. Watch. Therefore, verse 42, you do not know what hour the Lord is coming.

We're not gonna know the date. So how do we prepare? Be prepared. Verse 43. But know this, that if the master of the house had known the hour, the thief would come. He would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. People say, see secret rapture, you know, like a thief. It doesn't mean that the thief is quiet.

We watching too many heist movies. A lot of times a thief will come in, smash a window, be noisy, they'll just come when you're not home. It's very rare for a thief to come in when you're asleep. Right. The this quiet thing, it, it doesn't say that it's going to be quiet, but it does say like a thief. A thief wants to come when you're not ready, when you're not expecting when you left the back door unlocked.

Right. So, I'm a Brazilian. I, I grew up in Brazil. I lock everything all the time. So my wife's the kind of, kind of person that wakes up in the middle of the night. Did you set the alarm? Did you lock all the doors? Did you lock all the windows? Like, yes honey. Yes. It doesn't mean that there's a thief coming at the area here.

Seems to be really nice. I'm not concerned. But that part of me of growing up is just let's just make sure. Right? Just in case. So this is how you prepare. You just always lock everything. That way. It doesn't matter if the thief comes or what time the thief comes, or how quiet or how loud the thief is. The doors are locked, the alarm is set.

We're safe. So like I've said, again, I keep repeating this, it's not about the date, it's about being ready. As I see the signs of wars and the rumors of wars and persecutions and all these things like, oh, Jesus is coming soon. What's my spiritual journey like? So I don't wanna belabor the point.

Let's keep going.  So broken into verse 44. Therefore, you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour. You do not expect as much as you look at the signs and know he's coming soon. It'll still surprise you and that's okay. It's okay because you're ready for it. This is the main idea. You're not gonna know the time.

You're still gonna be surprised it's coming at an hour. You do not expect Verse 45, who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season. So God has blessed a good and faithful servant. God has made him or her master and ruler over this household to give food in due season, right?

So we are made responsible. God holds us responsible for making food available to others. You can make this spiritual food caring for others, sharing the gospel, being a decent human being, and not taking advantage of those that you are over. Right? If you are a made ruler, master boss, you own your own business.

You have people working under, you're a parent. You have children, right? People under your influence. God expects you to care for them and do season right. Pay 'em what they're worth. Make sure they're not going through. Unnecessary hardship that you're there to support those around you. We are called to do this as believers in God.

Verse 46, it says, blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes will find. So doing. What does that mean? Be a decent Christian, followed the will of God when he comes. You're doing what you're supposed to do and it's all great. There is no problem. There is no issues. You are doing what you're supposed to do.

Now here's the contrast. Jesus says, I surely, sorry not the contrast yet I surely I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. Right? There's a reward now, verse 48. But if the evil servant says in his heart, now listen to this, the evil servant, listen to what he says in his heart. He says, my master is delaying his coming.

And he begins to beat his fellow servants to eat and drink with the drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and that an hour he is not aware of and he will cut him into and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The problem is not that the master didn't announce his coming. The problem is that the servant thought the master is taking forever. Let me take advantage of those that have power over them. Let me beat them. Let me cause them to suffer. Let me party and drink and do all of these different things. The master isn't coming.

That's the danger I. The danger is saying, ah, Jesus isn't coming. I'm just gonna live my life. Take advantage of people. Climb the ladder, step on everybody else on the way. This is what life is all about. And then Jesus comes and they're like, oh, my bad. But if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, the good and faithful servant giving food and due season, it doesn't matter.

When the master comes, I want the master to come, right? I love the master. I can't wait for the master to come. It doesn't matter. I don't, I'm not having, I don't have anything to hide. So this is the key. I believe of Jesus's words. He is coming. The signs are all around us. Don't try to set a date, just be ready and please don't fall for the false Christ and the false prophets.

I hope you found this helpful. This is our study of Matthew 24. If you want some homework bonus on your own. Read through Matthew 25. Matthew 25 gives you more parables. And I think this helps clarify how do I live my life in anticipation of the coming master of the second coming of Jesus? Is it a life of panic or fear?

Do I head for the hills? Do I go off to live by myself? I don't think so. Matthew 24 and 25 gives us some practical applications, practical tips. Jesus tells some parables that will guide you in how you should live your life. So let me know if you have any questions or comments on that. Thank you so much for joining us for study number two of our series and Prophecies of Hope.

I hope you will join us for our next study. The next one will be How Evil Entered Our World. I. This is important. It has some prophecy in it. It has some things that are not prophecy, but I think it helps us understand what's happening overall. So join us for our next episode. How Evil Enter the World. Why is there so much suffering?

We will tackle that next, but let's close with prayer. Father in heaven, thank you for the words that Jesus left us reminding us that he's coming again, that he's coming soon giving us information so that we are not deceived. And Lord, may we be motivated to share the good news with others. We don't have to be afraid of the second coming.

 We just have to be ready and we can receive salvation as a gift. Thank you for that. Bless us and keep us safe. Until next time, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen. May God bless you.