Matthew 24 Is Knocking at Our Door

Well, good afternoon, everyone. It is awfully good to be here. What normally is a two-hour trip from Roanoke turned into a two-hour and 45-minute trip due to a lot of heavy rain and some traffic delays. It took a long time to kind of get out of the mountains of Virginia coming on down. But glad that we all made it. You had to weather a bit of rain yourself to get here, and maybe we're proving a point today. We're not fair-weather Christians, are we? We are here to worship regardless of the weather. Good to see all of you and looking forward to having a chance to fellowship and visit after the service. Did you ever hear the song by the legendary Johnny Cash, Matthew 24, knocking at the door? How many have heard that song? Anyone? I'm not sure exactly when this song came out, I think sometime back in the 70s or the 80s, probably. The words go like this, I heard on the radio rumors of war, people getting ready for battle, and there may be just one more. I heard about an earthquake and the toll it took away. These are the signs of the times we're in today. Matthew 24 is knocking at the door, and there can't be too much more to come to pass. Matthew 24 is knocking at the door, and a day or one day more could be the last.

The great bear from the Northland has risen from his sleep, and the army ranks in red are near two hundred million deep. The young and old now prophesy a coming prince of peace, and last night a dream of lightning in the east. Then, of course, again, Matthew 24 is knocking at the door, and there can't be too much more to come to pass. Matthew 24 is knocking at the door, and a day or one day more could be the last. Based upon Matthew 24, you can actually go online and listen to it if you'd like. It has a catchy little tune, and based on the prophecies that we all know about in Matthew 24. Obviously, written before the fall of the Soviet Union, talking about the great bear from the Northland and the army in red, two hundred million deep. There's no doubt that Matthew 24 is one, if not the, greatest prophecy in the Bible, spoken by the greatest prophet of them all, Jesus Christ. There's a lot of misunderstanding about Matthew 24. You can read the Adam Clark commentary, and he believes that all of Matthew 24 was fulfilled already in the first century when the Roman armies came in and destroyed the temple and the city of Jerusalem, and destroyed many, or killed many of the Jews. So he attributes all that happened there, the lightning that is described as, like the appearing of Christ coming from the east and shining to the west. Well, that was the Roman armies coming in. The great tribulation was the destruction of the Jewish people by the Roman armies back in 6970 AD. Well, again, there's a lot of misunderstanding about Matthew 24. The Expositor's Bible commentary says, few chapters of the Bible have called forth more disagreement among interpreters than Matthew 24. The history of the interpretation of this chapter is immensely complex, and the Expositor's Bible commentary goes on to have eight pages explaining about the various ways that Matthew 24 is interpreted. Well, I've decided to—I looked up a few things in my commentaries, and then I've decided to go online to just do a simple search into a few websites. But I noticed when I typed in Matthew 24 and hit the search button that there were 646 million results or places I could go to for information. Well, I went to one of them by the one website, getpurpose.org. And I'd like to read just a little bit from this website, getpurpose.org. Commentary on Matthew, chapter 24. Chapter 24 of Matthew is one of the most looked-to chapters in the New Testament regarding the future and the coming of the kingdom of God.

It is common for people to read Matthew 24 and assume it's speaking only of the future. This is due in part to the fact that this chapter deals with comments Jesus made and questions the disciples asked, which at the time were indeed all-future. But we will see that this chapter actually speaks of events that would happen within a few years as well as events that would take place at least two thousand years later. At the time, the disciples would have had a hard time understanding this. After all, they were still having difficulty grasping the fact that Jesus would have to be crucified and die. They thought that Jesus would immediately assume the throne of Israel and restore the kingdom to Israel. Well, this comment is not too bad in some ways. We know that the prophecies there in Matthew 24 did have an application to the Roman armies coming in. They did destroy the temple, they did destroy the city of Jerusalem, and they did take the Jews into captivity. So some of that would have some fulfillment at that time. But we're going to look at Matthew 24 today and see that actually the focus, the major focus of this chapter is future. It was not what happened back in the first century. You know, there are some people—and this getpurpose.org commentary goes on in a paragraph just a bit later—there are some people that believe that all of the events, prophetic events, have been fulfilled, at least most of them. Some believe, some people believe nearly all of the Bible prophecies are already fulfilled. This is a belief that is more common among post-millennialists, those who believe that we're living after the millennium—that is, the millennium has already taken place—or they are millennialists, and those would be those who don't even believe there's going to be a millennium, and is known as preterism. Among—anybody ever heard the expression, the word preterism? Preterists are those who then do believe that the prophecies have been fulfilled. And I talked to one not too many years back who believed that Matthew 24, all of those things have already been fulfilled. They're just—it's like reading history. Even among the preterists, there are those who have different views resulting in full to partial preterism. So there's a lot of different opinions out there about Matthew chapter 24, and what I would like for us to do, since we are now beginning to enter into the fall Holy Day season—I know that it's just over a month away before we come to the Feast of Trumpets—to have us to begin to think about Bible prophecy. We've not talked about Bible prophecy that much lately, and I think it is good that we certainly read in this sermon, and maybe sermons to come, prophecies about the end of this age and the setting up of God's kingdom. And I couldn't think of a better place in the Bible to begin thinking about end-time prophecy and setting up God's kingdom than Matthew 24. So we're going to look at Matthew 24 today. First of all, before we go there, realize that there are certain important keys that we are aware of and that God has given to His church, which have not been given to the world. First of all, we understand and know that many of the Bible prophecies have simply not been—it's not been possible to understand them until the age that we're living in. Daniel was told in Daniel 12 and verse 4, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. So Bible prophecies, the ones he wrote down as well as many other prophecies, have been simply shut up and sealed until the time of the end. But beginning with Mr. Herbert Armstrong, these prophecies begin to be understood.

Prophecies of things to happen in Europe, things to happen in the Middle East, at the end of this age and before the setting up of God's kingdom. So we understand that it's important then that we do understand that these prophecies have been opened up for us to understand prophecies in the book of Revelation. And it's not that we understand all of the prophecies. We don't. There are many question marks. There are many things that we simply don't know. And it's important for us not to go further than we should in Bible prophecy. And when we don't know something, just to simply say we don't know yet, but this will become clear in due time. There are many portions of Bible prophecy that we'll have to wait until later before we fully understand it. But we do have a good outline of events that happen, prophecies at the end of this age, the coming of Christ and the setting up of God's kingdom. Another important key or verse in the Bible is in Daniel 12 and verse 10, None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Who are the wise? Well, I think there'd be many verses in the Bible to prove that the wise are those who obey God's commandments. The wise are those who are striving to do God's will as revealed in the Bible. The wise would be those who keep the fourth commandment, for example, who keep the holy days, who obey God and strive to do what is right in God's sight. But none of the wicked—who are the wicked? Well, they're the ones who haven't been given understanding yet, actually, and those who disobey God's laws sometimes, or in some cases even think God's laws have been done away.

So none of the wicked shall understand. So no wonder there's so much confusion in the Christian world about Matthew 24 and other prophecies of the Bible. But the wise, those who obey God, those that God has called to His church, will or shall understand.

Another important principle that we understand about Bible prophecy is found in Isaiah 28 in verse 13. Precept must be upon precept. We have to put the knowledge together properly. It's just like a jigsaw puzzle. There's only one way that it's going to really fit together. Precept upon precept, line upon line. Hear a little. They're a little. And so we must read all the prophecies then in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the minor prophets, prophecies in the Gospels and in the writings of the Apostle Paul and in the book of Revelation. And it must be here a little, there a little then. Line upon line. Precept upon precept. And as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2.15, rightly dividing the word of truth. God's word must be rightly put together and understood. And what that actually means is let the Bible interpret itself. And we must not read our interpretation into the Bible. So these are just some of the principles that we must use as we think about the Bible at large and certainly as we think about Bible prophecy. But God has certainly opened up Matthew 24 to the understanding of His church. And let's go there and then read these prophecies and benefit from them. As we're turning to Matthew 24, let me just give you a little setting here. Jesus had come into Jerusalem just two or three days before and that's when they put the palm branches out and He wrote upon the donkey coming in. And we know that that story, just a chapter or two before Matthew 24. And it was when He came into Jerusalem five days before His crucif...before the Passover and His crucifixion. You know the Protestant world actually has the right length of time. They believe it was Palm Sunday and that Jesus was crucified five days later on Good Friday, right? A five-day period. Well, that five-day period is correct, but Palm Sunday is not correct. It would have been Palm Friday when Jesus came into Jerusalem on a Friday and then five days later would have been the Passover on a Wednesday. So since they miss the correct day for the crucifixion for the Passover, then they also miss when the day of the palm branches and the writing on the coat occurred. It was on a Friday, five days before His crucifixion.

So here Jesus had just come into Jerusalem. It was just before He would be crucified.

This, in fact, is a couple of days we're going to see as we read on through these through these Matthew 24 and a little bit in Matthew 25 and 26. We'll see that this prophecy was actually the last major thing that Jesus gave to His disciples outside of the instruction He gave to them on the Passover night. So He gave this prophecy last. I think it's significant that He gave it last because it is about the setting up of God's kingdom. It's about the end of this age. It's about His second coming. And so it's very fitting that He, just before He would die and then be resurrected and then later descend to God's throne, that He would give this prophecy just days before He was crucified. Well, let's begin in Matthew 24 in verse 1. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple. He had come to the temple, and this would have been possibly on the Sabbath or possibly on Sunday before He would be crucified on Wednesday. So He departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. It was a beautiful temple. Herod had built it. And Josephus says, Josephus, according to Clark's commentary, says that the stones were white and strong and that they were 50 feet long. That's how on earth did they move something that massive, 50 feet long, 24 feet broad, and 16 feet thick. And Jesus said to hear you, Do you see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. The Roman army came in, and they did a pretty thorough job in this. If there's any further fulfillment of this, it will be at the end of this age. I think there are a few stones on top of each other. But the destruction, basically, largely of the temple at that time, took place by the Roman armies in 69 and 70 A.D. Well, we began the prophecy in Matthew 24 then at the temple, but guess what? The scene moves quickly to an area just east of the old city of Jerusalem. And in verse 3, Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, so Jesus and his disciples went to the Mount of Olives just a short distance to the east of the temple area on the east side of Jerusalem. It was a mount that was around 2,600 feet high, I believe the highest point, and it was about a mile or so long just on the east side of the city of Jerusalem.

And the Mount of Olives then, from which Jesus gave this prophecy, gives the name to, we often call this the Olivet prophecy, Mount of Olives. Olivet comes from Olive, so the Mount of Olives or the Olivet prophecy. The disciples came to him privately then, saying, tell us, they were really that which Jesus said in verses 1 and 2 really had stuck in their mind.

You name one. Not one stone is going to be left upon another. This is going to be destroyed. And they put this together with other things that they had been taught by Jesus, and they said, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And so we see there are three questions here that they're asking. When are all these things going to happen? And what will be the sign of your coming? And what will be the sign of the end of the age? So three questions that they're asking, and we're going to notice that Jesus more than answered all three of these questions. He answered them. And let's go ahead then and see that he did in the well, in the next 20 or 30 or 40 verses here in this chapter, he answered their questions fully.

30 or 35 questions or verses. Let's begin in verse 4. Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many. Many will come and claim to be Christian. And they'll profess and say that Christ, that one that lived, the one that lived almost 2,000 years ago, they'll say that he was the Christ, but yet deceiving many. Because even though they say that Jesus was the Christ, they don't teach his message and they don't practice or live the way, a type of life the way he lived. So he warns about religious deception, and then he warns about wars. You will hear 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. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

And so there will be wars. And then there will be third here famines, food shortage, and famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

You know, we have come to see, and I think others outside of just the Church of God understand or come to see this as well, that Jesus here is following the same progression as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, which we find in Revelation chapter 6. The first horse was a white horse, and the second was a red. Well, we believe the white horse then to be that of religious deception, representing religion, going out to conquer, but it is false religion. And then the red horse representing war. And then the black horse representing famine, food shortage.

And then the pale horse representing pestilence, where one-quarter of the people on the earth are killed with hunger and war and starvation and disease, no doubt pestilence. So these follow directly with the seven seals of Revelation, and the first four seals are the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. And then the next one is religious martyrdom that we read about in Revelation, the fifth seal. And notice how that follows too in verse 9. Then they will deliver you, you, the Christians, those who are in God's church, they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated of all nations for my name's sake. So martyrdom of God's people would occur. And certainly, you know, as our booklet on the book of Revelation unveiled brings out, we believe that these prophecies here actually begin to have their fulfillment in that time, in the first century even, and then down through the centuries on down to our time today. They begin to have their fulfillment. But they're going to crescendo, and the ultimate fulfillment is going to come at the end of this age when we are going to have religious deception like we've never had before. I mean, someone calling fire down from heaven will read about that in a few minutes. And when there will be world war, a man will be ready to destroy himself, and there will be famine, and like there's never been before, and pestilence, and disease, and earthquakes like have never been before as well. And so we believe that the focus, the major focus of these prophecies come on down to the end time just before the second coming of Christ.

But these conditions have been around. They've been present. They've been building down through the centuries, but they're going to escalate at the end of the age just before Christ comes.

Jesus then gives some insight into conditions within the church in verse 10.

And then many will be offended. And it's talking about the church here being martyred in verse 9. Many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. So it certainly shows that even within the church there would be ones to be offended and begin to hate one another. And in verse 12 it goes on to say, because lawlessness will abound. And I think this certainly brings us on to our age today, because we live in an age that is so lawless and people want to make up their own rules. They want to do what they want to do, what seems right to them, like in ancient Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes. And because lawlessness will abound, and it does, the love of many will grow cold. The love of many Christians will grow cold. And so here's a warning here in these verses about conditions within the church. And I think that's something we all should take to heart, that we keep our love. What does he mean? The love of what will grow cold? Well, the love for God, and His truth, and His way of life. The love for fellow man, and how to love and treat others.

And the love for God's Word, the love for God's kingdom, the love of many will grow cold. There's a warning, isn't it, to us in the church. We've seen a lot of things to happen. We can identify, or we can, yes, we can identify with verse 10, many will be offended and will betray one another, and many false teachings that have gone forth, and the love of many growing cold. It's a warning to us. Jesus went on to say in verse 13, He who endures to the end shall be saved. And this verse takes on new meaning, I think, in the times in which we are living, enduring to the end. We have to keep right on going, doing the work of God, growing individually and personally, and going right on to the finish line. It's the one that goes to the finish line that will be saved. It's not the one that goes 90% or 95%, almost made it. You know, if you were heading on a a trip across the country and you got out there in the desert somewhere and stopped, you would almost have made it across the country. But not quite. You can't say that you completed the journey. So we have to complete the spiritual journey that we are on if we are to be saved and endure to the end. In verse 14, in verse 14, we have a major prophecy, a key verse, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. Of course, the Adam Clark commentary again says that this happened. The early church took the gospel to the extent of the Roman Empire and that world at that time. And therefore, Adam Clark feels that this verse was fulfilled in the days of the apostles.

But we believe, no, the gospel didn't go to all the world. It didn't go to all nations. There were nations over in China, other areas, where we don't believe it went. And we believe this is talking about our time. We believe that the major focus of this chapter is about the age we're living in today. Just before Christ returns and sets up God's kingdom, he's answering the question, what would be the sign of your coming? You know, the disciples realized Jesus was going away.

And so what would be the sign of His second coming and the end of the age? And one of the big signs right here in verse 14, this gospel of the kingdom of God will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. You know, we're doing that today. Mr. Armstrong began to take the gospel all over the earth. And today, through the not only television, but also television and the printed Word, but also by the Internet, we are able to take this message all around the world. People tune in. You never know where. One recently that came to me, a question in personal correspondence, a Jordanian who has moved to Saudi Arabia, and he says he used to be Muslim, but now he is Christian. He believes in the Bible. He believes in Christ. And he wanted to know, is he supposed to keep his new beliefs a secret? Because he could be killed if people knew what he now believes. So we recommended, yes, it would be wise for you to keep it secret, and it would be wise to just set a good example and let your light so shine. We have to be careful then and consider the circumstances in which we live. So this gospel is going to nations all over the earth, and people are tuning in via the Internet and other ways. So it's exciting to be a part of preaching the gospel to all nations.

Begunned by Mr. Herbert Armstrong, and we are continuing that work today, United Church of God.

We come to verse 15 now, and Jesus said, "'Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand.'" Let's just stop then right here and say, what about this abomination of desolation? Standing in the holy place, that would certainly indicate that it would be in Jerusalem, and would it even be in the area of the temple?

It possibly could be in that vicinity or area. We don't know yet just how all of these prophecies are going to materialize. We try to be careful not to go beyond where we should as far as Bible prophecy and just exactly are there going to be sacrifices that will be reinstituted. Well, that is certainly a possibility, and we have felt that that could certainly happen. Let's go back to Daniel 12, and we'll read about the abomination of desolation in Daniel 12 and verse 11.

From the time that the daily sacrifice – now, the word sacrifice is in italics – will sacrifices be reinstituted? That certainly could be the indication here. Or if not, there's some other fulfillment that we don't know about. From the time that the daily – whatever – sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days – 1,290 days from the time that the abomination of desolation is set up – until what? Well, he's answering the question in verse 6.

At the end of verse 6, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? And so, he's being told then something about the time element that is involved in the fulfillment of these wonders he had been writing about. And then one of the time elements is given in verse 11, that from the time that the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. And then we have this strange number in verse 12, blessed is he who waits and comes to the 1,335 days.

And we've basically understood this to be that the Great Tribulation is going to be 1,260 days, three and one-half years, and then the 1,290 days would be 30 days longer. So, beginning 30 days before the Great Tribulation would be the setting up of the abomination of desolation. And then the 1,335 would be an additional 45 days.

Could that be in some way how the Church of God will be doing its work, but the time will come that we're not able to do the work anymore, and the Church will be taken to its place in the wilderness? Well, that could be. And again, we have to say that we are not dogmatic in every way in just how the abomination of desolation is to be fulfilled, but we know that it's there, and it's something we'll be watching for in something that is going to stand in the Holy Place. It hasn't happened yet, and it doesn't appear that it's going to happen in the next week or month or maybe year, but sometime in the not-too-distant future, we believe that this will take place.

Let's go back to Matthew 24 now, and we'll read verse 15 on down, verse 15 again, and then go on down from there. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken about Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. There's a fleeing of God's people. Now, they're mentioned in Judea, but I think other verses we'll turn to in just a moment would indicate that there's actually a fleeing of the woman in Revelation 12.

We'll read that in just a moment. But here, those in Judea flee to the mountains, let them who are on the housetop not come down to take anything out of the house. Let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes, and woe to those who are pregnant and those with nursing babies in those days. And pray that your flight be not in the winter, hard time for travel, and on the Sabbath not a good time for travel either. For them will be great tribulation.

We'll come back to verse 21 later, but there's a flight here, isn't there, of the people of God, and it's in the context of the abomination of desolation being set up as the starting point of this flight of God's people. Let's go to Revelation now, chapter 12. Keep your finger in Matthew 24, because we'll be coming back.

That's our home base for this sermon. In Revelation chapter 12 and verse 12, obviously here talking about the end of this age and the time of Satan's great wrath and anger in Revelation 12 and verse 12, therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows he has a short time. So this would indicate then right at the end of this age, Satan is going to be cast down and he will have great wrath. And in verse 13, when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, then he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.

The woman here represents the church. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, to her place. Some have thought maybe this shows flying on an airplane to whatever place this is that the woman, the church, will be taken. We just don't know, again, whether it will be or it could be, but it may just be symbolic of God supernaturally taking his people to this place in the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time. A year plus two years and plus half a year would be three and one half years from the presence of the serpent.

And of course, the serpent tried to devour the woman with a flood and the earth helped the woman. But this then ties in with the church or the fleeing that we read about in Matthew chapter 24, just before the time of great tribulation. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 24 now, and we'll have to kind of wait and see how that 1290 days, when the abomination of desolation is set up, how that materializes and comes together, and the 1335 days also. But in due time, it will become crystal clear. Those prophecies are sure they will be fulfilled, and they will fit together just right. As we come closer to them, I think we'll begin to understand them more fully.

Well, in verses 21 and 22, we read about the great tribulation. 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.

Brother, we're living in that time when nuclear weapons were first used in 1945, and then later that was the atomic bomb, and then later hydrogen bombs, much more destructive, were created. Then we came to this period of time that man is able to destroy life on the earth, as it goes on the site in verse 22. Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, and that would be the people of God, the ones God has chosen, those days will be shortened. So unless the days were shortened by the second coming of Christ, then man would destroy himself.

I'll tell you today, we have a lot of nuclear weapons stored up, and other nations are wanting to become members of the nuclear club, and ones that would not be afraid to use these weapons.

So it's a frightening age that we live in. But you notice, not overall people today are not afraid like they were back in the 1950s and the 1960s. People built bomb shelters. It seems like the world, as people on the earth, have gotten used to living with the bomb. And so they just kind of feel like nobody would ever use them because they're just so awesome and fearsome. But many scriptures indicate they will be used, and we certainly need to realize that mankind has that ability to fulfill what is written here in verses 21 and 22. It's going to be a time of trouble, then, like has never been, such as has not been since the beginning of the world. Let's keep our finger right here in Matthew 24, but let's turn back to Jeremiah 30 and verse 7. And we'll see that actually this great tribulation is the time of Jacob's trouble, the time that God is going to punish modern-day Israel, which is very thoroughly described in our booklet, The United States and written in Bible Prophecy. In Isaiah chapter 30, he's talking...

Did I say Isaiah? I mean Jeremiah. I'm sorry. Let's make sure we get the right book here. In Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 3 is talking about the captivity of my people, Israel and Judah and how God is going to bring them out of that captivity. And then it goes to describe the captivity beginning in verse 5. We've heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

Ask now and see whether a man is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces turn pale? This is talking about the days ahead for our own people. And verse 7, And so the good news is that God is going to deliver Israel out of that captivity. But it is the time of Jacob's trouble, and it's a day so great that none is like it. Same language as in Matthew 24 verse 21. Let's also read from Daniel chapter 12. Daniel talks about this time of trouble also for Israel. Daniel chapter 12, and let's read the first couple of verses here. Daniel 12 verse 1, So it goes on to talk about the time of the resurrection. It will be the resurrection of the righteous at the second coming of Christ. And so the great tribulation, let's go back to Matthew 24 now. Jesus foretold this time that man would come to. Remember, he's just a couple of days before his crucifixion. Here he's telling about events which would be right before his second coming. And he says it would get so bad that that man would be ready to destroy himself. No flesh would be saved. But the days will be shortened. And how? He gets right into that in verse 23. They will be shortened by the coming of Christ. Then if anyone says to you, look, here is Christ, or there. Do not believe it. I think today they're mainly man is trying to set dates for the return of Christ. I don't know of anybody that's saying he's out in the desert or in this hidden room somewhere. But near the end of this age, that certainly could happen. If anybody says, here is Christ, or there is Christ, do not believe it. For false Christ and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. The great false prophet at the end of this age, the false prophet of Revelation, also mentioned in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, is able to do great signs and wonders, even calling fire down from heaven. So, and notice that it's not possible to deceive the elect.

But the world can be drawn into it. If a religious leader sounds very plausible, he's likable, he appeals to people, and then he does signs and wonders on top of that, and just seems like a good person, and he says, come on, let's all worship together every Sunday morning. The world's going to be drawn into that. God's people will know better. We don't worship God every Sunday morning. We keep the Sabbath, and so it's not possible to deceive the very elect of God. Verse 25, see, I have told you beforehand. So now we've been told by Christ what to be looking for. Therefore, if they say to you, look, he's in the desert, do not go out. Look, he's in the inner rooms. Do not believe it. And then he shows how his Second Coming will be. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. You know, when the lightning is up there, you can see it. And Jesus is telling us that his Second Coming will be visible. For the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

And then he gives the progression of events at the end time, kind of a summary of things leading up to his Second Coming immediately after the tribulation of those days. So first of all, we have the tribulation. We believe the tribulation to be two and one-half years long.

And then what will happen? Well, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Guess what? In Revelation 6, the sixth seal is the heavenly signs. So we have the great tribulation, and then we have the heavenly signs, and then we have the day of the Lord, which we believe the day of the Lord will last a year. And the total time of the great tribulation and the day of the Lord will be three and one-half years. Verse 30, then the sign of the Son of Man 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. And he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet. We know that will be the seventh trump, the last trump. And they will gather together his elect. Some of the elect, many of them will be resurrected Christians, and others will be ones that are alive at the time that Christ returns. But they will gather together his elect from before wins, from one end of heaven to the other. And so these verses, then, are answering the question, aren't they? Jesus is telling them what is going to happen. And remember the question, well, when will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? And Jesus is answering rather thoroughly the questions that they had about his second coming. So he gives the progression here. There will be the great tribulation. There will be then heavenly signs. And then after that, there will be the day of the Lord and the second coming of Jesus Christ. So Jesus is answering the question. But guess what? He doesn't just answer the three questions they had, but now he tells them what they should be doing with this knowledge.

And basically what he is telling them, hey, take action with this knowledge and use it. Let it affect your life and the way that you live. And brethren, that's what we should do. There is then an exhortation here. There's an admonition. First of all, Jesus wants to give a little bit more about the time element of when these things would happen. Verse 32, when this parable, now learn this parable from the fig tree, when its branches already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the very doors. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things are fulfilled. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

So these things are going to happen, Jesus said. You can count on them. And when we see them begin to happen, but notice He said when you see all these things, we are not yet seeing all of these things. We don't see the abomination of desolation set up yet. We believe that is to come out of the ten nations in Europe. There will be a powerful political and military leader with a powerful religious leader called the false prophet working together out of the ten nations which will rise in Europe. And this is more fully described in our booklet, You Can Understand Bible Prophecy. It gets into the four empires of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 and also Revelation 13 and 17. Revelation 17 says those ten kings that are going to give their authority to the base that they're going to fight against Christ and that they will then be defeated at the coming of Christ. And so it all comes together then as far as those prophecies given to Daniel and that we read also about in the book of Revelation. But when you see all these things, so we have to realize we don't see all of these things yet. The ten nations are not united in Europe. That could happen in a relatively short period of time. We don't see the king of the south, but we are watching events like in Egypt that is significant what's going to come out of all the unrest that is going on in Egypt, in Syria, and other nations in the Middle East. There's going to be a king of the south somewhere that is going to rise, a powerful leader, the king of the south. So we have to be watching for that. So not all of these things have not yet come to pass, but Jesus said when you see all these things know that it is near at the very doors. So it would appear that we have a little bit of time to preach the gospel to the world. The time element, as Jesus will now go on to inform his disciples, and we are his disciples today, the time element is not in our hands. So we don't worry too much about that, and we certainly don't try to set dates. It goes on to say in verse 36, But of that day and hour no one knows, No, not even the angels of heaven. Another of the gospel says not even the Son. Christ himself doesn't know. But my Father only. God the Father will know just when is the right time. Only he knows. And maybe even today we keep going and we wonder when will the end time events come to pass and then God's kingdom will be set up.

But don't worry too much about it. It's in good hands, and the Father will keep it going just as long as it should. Maybe that's why he keeps our national economy going. It's not strong, but yet our national economy is strong enough to support the work that is being done by the church. So maybe God is holding this up just for that purpose of preaching more of the gospel to the world for just a bit longer. And when that is complete, when the gospel has been preached to all nations as a witness to the extent that the Father wants it to be, then the end will come.

And we'll begin to see things really happen probably rather quickly. We'll see the fall of our economy and maybe the social unrest and conditions. Our social fabric is already very weak as we see. And we'll see also the nations in Europe to rise. And we'll see a king of the south down in the Middle East. And we will then see an abomination of desolation to be set up in the holy place. These things will begin to come to pass. Again, of that day and hour, no one knows but the Father. But He then gives how the world would not be aware of what is going on. But we must not be like the world. In verse 37, as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were just eating and drinking. Nothing wrong with that necessarily. Eating and drinking if you're doing it the right way.

Marrying and giving in marriage. Again, it just kind of indicates ordinary life was going on until the day that Noah entered the ark. Of course, there was a lot of evil eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, no doubt before the flood, just as there is in our time. But people going on with their daily lives, they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the Son of Man be. And this indicates when other verse says it will come as a snare that people will be surprised by all these events that will happen. And so the coming of Christ then will be like it was before the flood. It will be sudden and unexpected.

Two men will be in the field, one will be taken, and the other left. Well, the word men is italicized. Two will be in the field. Then verse 41, two women will be grinding at the mill, one taken, the other left. Is that referring to people that rise up to meet Christ in the air?

You know, it's a little bit ambiguous how that might be fulfilled. But in verse 42, the main point for us, the admonition, the exhortation, is for the disciples of Christ today. Watch, therefore, for you do not know what our your Lord is coming. We're to watch world events in prophecy, and we are to watch our own spiritual life and our spiritual condition.

But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the faith would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him. So you see, after Jesus answered the questions, he proceeded to give some exhortations that are very important.

And since the majority, the focus of the prophecies are for our time, guess what? The exhortation is for our time. The admonition is for us today. It's for the church here and now.

It goes on to say in 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 who is the faithful one who's going to be actually a king and priest and reign with Christ and give food? We'll give food physically and spiritually to this world. Well, blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. So blessed is that servant that is found so doing. I say to you that he will make him ruler of all his goods, and we'll be made kings and priests, and we will reign with Christ. But if that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of the servant will come in a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour he is not aware and cut him into and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So if somebody begins to think, well, Christ delays his coming, begins to let down, brethren, the warning again is for us. The focus of the prophecy is for our time, and the focus of the admonition is also for our time, and we must heed it. I'm not going to take time today. I see that our time has run out, but I wanted to just say that you could go on and read Matthew chapter 25. Matthew includes something the other gospels do not include, Mark and Luke. You don't find anything like chapter 25 in Mark and Luke, but here it is in Matthew. There are two parables, and the first one is the ten virgins, five wise and five foolish. The reason Jesus gave this is that we be careful not to run out of oil, not to run out of the power of God's Spirit. And he said in verse 13, watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

So the reason Jesus gave this parable is it's a part of the Olivet prophecy. It's a part of Matthew 24. In a way, it's unfortunate we don't just have one chapter here because you think, well chapter 25 is different. No, Jesus just continued instructing his disciples to watch. Then you have the parable of the talents in verse 14, and he gave five talents to one. He gave two talents to another. He gave one talent to yet another, and we know that the five and the two doubled, and the other one buried his talent. And the point is that we must be so doing the work of God, using our spiritual talents. We've had some sermons or instruction on spiritual gifts, using our spiritual gifts to do the work of God and being faithful. And then finally, in Matthew 25, in verse 31, the Son of Man will judge. He'll put the sheep on the one hand and the goats on the other. And in verse 34, he'll say to the sheep, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I was hungry. You gave me food. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. As a stranger, you took me in naked. You clothed me sick and you visited me. Well, then he says to the goats on the left hand, they did not do these things. And so this is not a parable here, but it's instruction that we need to make sure that we are ministering to one another. We're using our spiritual gifts and we're rising to the needs of fellow Christians and fellow mankind. So Matthew 25 is a part of the Olivet prophecy. And then look at chapter 26. We've just got a couple of verses here. Now, it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings.

Matthew 24 and Matthew 25, the Olivet prophecy, when he had finished these sayings, he said to his disciples, You know that after two days is the Passover and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. So the Olivet prophecy was completed just a couple of days before Jesus was crucified. Brethren, we are living in the time of Matthew 24 and Matthew 25. As Johnny Cash sang in that song, Matthew 24 is knocking at the door. It is. We see these events.

These prophecies are powerful prophecies of this age that we are living in. Jesus wants us because the focus of the prophecies is our time. He wants us to know the answers to those three important questions. When and how will these events happen? What will lead up to the end of the age? What will be the sign of your Second Coming? He wants us to know. And he wants us to be acting on the admonition and the exhortation that he gives, that he gave his disciples, actually for us, to be watchful of world events and prophecy, to watch our own spiritual life, to love God and to love fellow man, to love the truth, to love God's laws and to love his kingdom and pray for it every day. Well, for the concluding verses, oddly enough, we're going to go to the Olivet Prophecy according to Mark. It's still the Olivet Prophecy. It's just Mark's version. Mark 13. We'll let these be the concluding verses of the sermon. Mark 13, verse 32. And it's still the Olivet Prophecy as Mark wrote it down. Mark 13, verse 32. But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed. So here's the admonition for us. Take heed. Be careful. Watch and pray. Stay close to God. Walk with God in this evil age that we're living in. Just like Noah walked with God in his time. Watch and pray. For you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country who left his house and gave authority to his servants. God has given authority to his church to preach the gospel and to do the work of God. And notice, to each his work. And I think in considering spiritual gifts recently, we said that each person has been given spiritual gifts. Well, God has given each of us our work to do.

And commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch, therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming in the evening, at midnight, or the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning.

Lest coming, suddenly he finds you sleeping. We don't want to be drowsy spiritually. Stay close to God in prayer, study. How about a faster every now and then? You know, we certainly do need that. And we do not want to be found sleeping. And what I, in Jesus, in verse 37, say, What I say to you, I say to all, watch.