Matthew 24:29-35 | Dave Stough

[0:00] You guys can hear me? All right. Good, good. It's an important item. As a minute, I'm going to get some help from this for an illustration even.

[0:15] ! When I was prepping for this, we're in Matthew 24, okay? And as I was prepping for this message today, I felt like a person who was at a smorgasbord meal.

[0:30] And have you ever been to one where there's just so many good things, you can't even sample everything that you like? You know, and there was so much that came out of this passage in Matthew 24 that you really had to pray a lot about what's the most important thing here, Lord.

[0:46] And so I feel, after reading Matthew 24, verses 29 through 35, which is where we'll be in a little bit, I felt compelled to talk about God's glory.

[1:04] So today we have this passage in Matthew where God's glory is physically seen by people who are rejecting God.

[1:16] So before we get into that, though, I'd like to talk a little bit about God's glory itself, like what it is and like where it came from. And to do that, I have water, believe it or not.

[1:33] So when we're dry, like I kind of am right now, we like water. And why is that?

[1:43] Because water is, of course, wet. You cannot have water without wetness, right? Wetness is intrinsic to water.

[2:00] In the same way, you cannot have God without glory. God's glory is intrinsic to his person.

[2:14] His very person radiates glory. This was a great thing to think about for a while.

[2:27] We read in Isaiah 6, the seraphim, Isaiah sees in a vision, the seraphim, I guess it's a vision, but he sees them worshiping the Lord and they say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

[2:43] The whole earth is full of his... They didn't say holiness. They said glory, right? And so when we speak about God's glory, we're speaking about the worth of his person.

[2:56] There is no one above or there is no one even beside God. No one else has always been and always will be.

[3:08] No one else had no beginning. Think about that. No beginning. By the way, that's going to be a concept we try to convey to kids at camp.

[3:20] You can talk about prayer for messages. Today's message. I was praying ditto for what was shared by Joseph there. Lord, let me speak the things that are pleasing to you.

[3:34] So God had no beginning. There's no one else above him or beside him. He's always been. He always will be. He created time. No one else has all power.

[3:48] Think about it. He brought things into existence just by speaking. He created things.

[3:59] We don't understand that, but he created things just by speaking. God is eternally holy. He cannot sin. No one else can say that. The law he gave emanated from his very being.

[4:16] And that holiness that's a part of him is involved in all that he is and does. When God loves, God is love.

[4:27] And when God loves, he loves in holiness. When God forgives, he forgives in holiness. And when God judges, he judges in absolute holiness.

[4:39] So when we talk about the glory of God, we are speaking about the worth of his character. Whether or not mankind acknowledges his glory does not change the fact that God is glorious.

[4:52] But unlike water, we cannot easily see his glory. We read in his word that his character actually reflects light.

[5:04] In our fallen sinful state, we cannot physically see God in all of his glory. Moses, who was redeemed, chosen by God to reveal his law, seen glimpses of God's glory.

[5:21] But he told Moses, you cannot see my face for no man shall see me and live. But God in his grace revealed his glory through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:35] God's glory, excuse me, God's glory was veiled in human flesh. We beheld his glory, says in John, we beheld his glory.

[5:46] The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. For those who have put their faith in him and have become children of God, we will one day be changed.

[6:02] changed. And when we see him face to face, we too will share in that glory. Now, today's text, there's going to be unbelievers who see that glory, but they do not share in that glory.

[6:20] He does this when he returns to the earth, judges, those who are left in the world, and he sets up his kingdom. If you've been here either the last two weeks, you know that we've entered a prophetic portion of Matthew's gospel.

[6:37] Matthew 24 records for us extraordinary events, most of which are still yet future. So we're going to read those verses in 29 through 35, but first, a little bit of review to keep us in context and catch up those who haven't been here.

[6:57] So you remember, Matthew wrote his gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He directed it to primarily Jewish people.

[7:10] You can see that he wanted to answer the questions a Jewish mind would have after Jesus left this earth. Like, how can I know that Jesus is really the Messiah?

[7:24] And, if he is the Messiah, what happened to that kingdom we were promised in the Old Testament? So, excuse me, Matthew, I think I need another drink of water here.

[7:38] Got the frog factory going on down here. So, Matthew records the answers to those questions, those two main questions throughout his gospel.

[7:56] He answers the question about how can you know that Jesus is the Messiah by showing how Christ fulfilled prophecy. Prophecy in his birth, prophecy just in his life, and the miracles he did in his death, burial, and resurrection.

[8:13] Only these things could be done by the Messiah, Matthew is saying. Matthew answers the question about the promised kingdom coming through parables that we see in, like, what happened to the kingdom?

[8:27] Well, he tells us in Matthew 13 and also here in Matthew 24. In the parables in Matthew 13, the Lord, in essence, tells the disciples that for a while during the church age, the kingdom is going to be spiritual in nature until he comes back later and sets it up physically in Jerusalem.

[8:55] Those parables give instruction to us on how to live for the king between his first and second comings. That's what Matthew's teaching. At the beginning of Matthew 24, the disciples want to know about his second coming.

[9:11] Remember the question they ask? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Matthew 24 and 25, that's what they're about.

[9:24] They answer that question. So in Matthew 24, there's this time period that's known as the great tribulation or as the day of the Lord elsewhere in Scripture.

[9:38] It's a seven-year time period that will precede the return of Christ to this earth when he comes in power and great glory.

[9:50] As Dave has showed the last couple weeks, our Lord answers the disciples' questions in Matthew 24 with a more detailed explanation of a prophecy that comes from Daniel chapter 9.

[10:04] It was interesting to see how you can tie that prophecy and Daniel 9. The events talked about by our Savior Matthew 24 and the events recorded in Revelation 6.

[10:18] You can see how those all work together to talk about this seven-year tribulation period. you have this chart. Can you pull that chart up? Just a few things I want to mention here.

[10:33] You can see on the left side of the chart that there's 483 years of Jewish calendar, 360 days.

[10:45] Okay, and that would Daniel's got this 70-week prophecy which is 490 years. And so, you see the cross and then you see 483 years has expired.

[10:57] You see this gap. That's where we are now. We live in the church age. And then there's this 70th week of Daniel that we're talking about here. Also, I want you to note that there's a literal date given that starts this.

[11:13] It's recorded for us in the book of Nehemiah and the date is 444 B.C. Okay, so God's plan for the nation, you can pull it down, God's plan for the nation revolves around the nation of Israel.

[11:31] Daniel 9 contains a prophecy known as, as I said, the 70 weeks of Daniel. 490 years that pertains specifically to Israel.

[11:44] This time period consummates God's purpose for Israel. It is a timeline, literal timeline for the kingdom of God revealed in scripture.

[11:57] Daniel 9 26 says that after a total of the 483 years, Messiah will be cut off. Referring to the death of Christ, leaving seven years yet to fulfill God's plan.

[12:13] Daniel 9 24 says that 70 weeks are determined for your people in your holy city to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity.

[12:31] These were all accomplished by Jesus during his first coming. He dealt with sin God's way at the cross, given reconciliation for all who would believe to be reconciled to God.

[12:47] He dealt with sin. Daniel 9 24 goes on to say that 70 weeks will bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the most holy.

[13:03] These are not yet done. These will be done in Christ's second coming. Bringing in everlasting righteousness because Satan will not be the God of this world then.

[13:15] He will not deceive the nations. Seal up vision and prophecy. Prophecy will be consummated. There will be no longer a need for prophecy.

[13:28] And to anoint the most holy, I believe, not sure, but it seems like, that we're talking about the most holy reigning in Jerusalem, Christ sitting on his throne.

[13:44] So the verses in Matthew that we're talking about describe what it would be like on earth during this seven year tribulation period. If you want to know more about that, you can catch the videos that Dave taught on the last couple weeks.

[14:00] But today we're going to focus on the return of Christ that brings in everlasting righteousness. We'll spend much of our time today looking at the glory of God in the judgment of sin and in bringing salvation.

[14:17] Let's go ahead and read that. You want to pull up the I hope this works out good. We had a last minute fix on this. All right. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heaven will be shaken and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet blast and they will gather together his elect from four winds from one end of the sky to the other.

[15:05] Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When its branches has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, the things talked about previously before verse 29, when you see all these things, recognize he is near, right at the door.

[15:28] Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

[15:43] The text says people on earth will see the sign of the son of man. I've heard that term a lot, the son of man.

[15:55] It's a term that Jesus used a lot of himself in the gospels. It originates in the Old Testament. It's used a lot in the book of Ezekiel. In there it primarily means just what it says, someone who's born of a man, a son of a man.

[16:10] It refers to people's humanity. And Jesus uses it the same way about himself. We see that in Matthew 8, 20. He said, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

[16:30] He's referring to I don't have a place to sleep. His humanity. Daniel 7, back to Daniel, Daniel 7 is the origin for this term having deity associated with it.

[16:47] Daniel 7 prophesies, it says, behold, one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him.

[17:01] Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples and nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.

[17:19] The Jews in Jesus' time knew that this title was for the Messiah. You see this in Matthew.

[17:30] Jesus the night before his crucifixion was put under oath by the high priest Caiaphas. He said, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.

[17:42] Jesus said to him, it is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.

[17:56] And that's what Jesus is teaching the disciples right here in Matthew 24. So we notice also from the text, you can take the text down, that's fine.

[18:08] We know also that his return time. It's evident to all. It says all the tribes of the earth will mourn because they see the Son of Man and his power and great glory.

[18:27] It's not going to be any secret. The sign of the Son of Man. What is this sign? What is the sign of the Son of Man?

[18:38] I don't think anybody knows for sure. But we know that a sign points to something. Right? Will this sign that people see when he's returning in the sky will it be the cross?

[18:52] I don't know. But what I do know is that it will be unmistakably understood by the whole earth, everybody in the world, that it's Jesus Christ who's returning to this earth.

[19:10] Revelation 1 7 says referring to his second coming, every eye shall see him. It's going to be a lot different then than it was in his first coming, right?

[19:27] The first time he came to this remote town in Bethlehem just outside of Jerusalem, a little small town, there was glory that was shown when the angels appeared.

[19:39] it was shown to the shepherds, but for the most part, the world just went on the way it was. God became flesh and he's laying in a manger depending upon his parents while the kings of this world just kept doing what they were doing.

[20:03] So that glory that is Christ by his very nature was failed. Unlike it will be when he comes again.

[20:16] So in our text it says that it basically says the lights are going to go out, right? It says the sun will be dark and the moon will not give its light.

[20:31] It says the stars will be falling from the sky and it says there's going to be, it says the heavens will shake.

[20:42] So it's not going to be just an earthquake, it's going to be like a cosmic quake. And it's going to be dark and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear. Then Jesus will come in his glory.

[20:55] I would not want to be unsaved and witness this. Isaiah 13 gives us the best commentary on scriptures, other scriptures that explain in more detail what this will be like.

[21:12] And this is what happens here in Isaiah 13. Let me read it to you. Isaiah 13, 6-13 says, Wail, for the day of the Lord is near.

[21:24] It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp and every human heart will melt. They will be terrified.

[21:36] Pains and anguish will take hold of them. They will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another in astonishment. Their faces will be aflame. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land desolate.

[21:58] He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of the heaven and their constellations will not flash their light.

[22:09] The sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light. So I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their wrongdoing.

[22:19] I will put an end to the audacity of the proud and humiliate the arrogance of tyrants. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold.

[22:33] Therefore, I will make the heavens tremble and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of armies in the day of his burning anger.

[22:46] So the judgment spoken of in this text, it's spoken of against the new world order that will be forming at this time when the world unites in rebellion.

[23:11] There will be a guy that we know as Antichrist who is going to organize everybody so these people who oppose God at the end they will mourn.

[23:26] It's because God is righteous and he comes in this wrath to judge. His glory is going to horrify them.

[23:37] You know it talks about this in Revelation chapter 19 also. I don't have time to read all that but it says that when he returns which by the way we will be with him when he returns it says that I guess we're the armies of the Lord but I don't think we're going to be doing anything because it says a sharp two-edged sword comes out of his mouth that he smites the nations with.

[24:09] God is going to speak just like he spoke things into existence from nothing he's going to speak with that kind of power and judge people who have the audacity to go fight against the almighty there's going to be a slaughter of a great multitude there's this valley north of Jerusalem in Israel called the valley of Megiddo it's also called Armageddon it says in different places in scripture that it's going to be filled with dead bodies he will tread the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of the almighty talks about the birds of the air devouring the flesh there's going to be so much destruction there so this is what awaits those who do not want to hear what God says in his word so is the world really any different now of course not you guys know that right first John says that that same spirit the spirit of antichrist is at work in this world right now

[25:28] I don't know about you but I'm growing weary of all the anti-christian sentiment that's being brought forth in our culture it's being pushed on us today G and I went to River Chase two days ago right yeah Friday and we haven't been there in a long time it's now become the River Chase YMCA the Young Men's Christian Association supposedly we're filling out a little paperwork there because we're looking to get a pass and it asks you your gender then of course it has that little box out to the side other and you can write it in right and I stopped real quick there was a real nice young lady working behind the desk and I said wait a minute her name actually happened to be Grace and I said does this mean that people can walk into whatever bathroom they want and she goes oh no no no we ain't going that far here and I was just like oh I was thinking to myself in my mind well why not why don't you be consistent you know if

[26:43] God has created more than two genders then let it be the way it should be you know but people know that's not true but yet they feel this push this pressure in our culture well that's the spirit of antichrist it's pushing its agenda have you heard about get that video ready have you heard about what happened to the group of bible believing Christians that held a rally just a couple weeks ago in a park in Seattle there's a group called Mayday USA what they do is they take the gospel they go to public places parks and they like to find places where it's normally a community that's very outspoken about its anti-God stances we'll just say the LGBTQ community and others and they do this in the month of May I guess that's the month because it's the month before pride month and but this group is not about politics they go there they they worship they pray and they share the gospel right they do this peaceably and they follow the city's permitting requirements and they had this peaceful prayer and worship event exalting

[28:11] Christ you want to go ahead and show the video there look what happened the prayer rally in Seattle's Cowl Park Saturday quickly turned violent when members from the LGBTQ community and Antifa showed up to protest one of them actually pulled a knife and thread in the 17 year old on our side and not to mention while the kids were getting haircuts there was actually sexually you know explicit lewd acts being done directly in front of the children the rally was held in an area with a well-known gay neighborhood at the direction of the city Ross Johnston co-leader of the Mayday USA prayer event tells CBN News they knew there would be protests but he never expected such violence multiple police officers were assaulted there was water balloons with urine being thrown there was two people who rushed the stage the FBI is looking into charges of attacks on religious believers that's good that's good you stop okay not interested in the political commentary so much there but the mayor of

[29:13] Seattle you know you could say well at least the police protected them right but now they're rethinking everything you know the mayor of Seattle is now trying to arrange the local government to not give permits to what he says far right groups trying to make it sound like it's just a political problem and not a spiritual problem so what's the world saying here it's saying to God they're saying no God we don't want to hear you we don't want to hear you but you don't have to be this extreme you don't have to be this extreme to reject God each of us is born with a sin nature that doesn't want to hear God each of us there are religious people that don't believe they are worthy of God's judgment because of the good things they try to do there's people in the name of

[30:17] Christ trying to impress other people and they don't know God they use God's words for their own agenda they too reject the message of the gospel they too are saying no God we don't want to hear you now it says in Romans chapter one that our fallen sinful nature wants to remake God in our image that's called idolatry so what's a holy God's response to this attitude well he says in there he just steps back and he lets people reap what they sow and he also warns people of coming judgment the same kind of judgment that we read about when he returns he will judge all men in righteousness by the man he ordained he has given us this assurance by raising him from the dead so in the meantime

[31:39] God's not done though God works through the Holy Spirit to bring people to convict people of sin to bring them to a change in their mind in their heart about what they believe shortly easily said he brings them to repentance and to brings them before the cross to bring them to faith in Jesus Christ how about you today who do you have your faith in in yourself or God do you believe what he's saying about you if you have not seen your need to be saved by him not by what you do you are also saying to God no God I don't want to hear you if you're trusting

[32:39] Jesus you know how much God loves you you know that he died for you God's love is measureless toward us unconditional and life changing by faith in Christ we go from being an enemy of God to becoming a child of the king a child of God if you are trusting the Lord Jesus you you are known in the Bible as his elect verse 31 of our text says God will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and gather his elect from four winds from one side of the heavens to the other given the timeline of these events the elect spoken of in verse 31 have to be the people who have believed the message of the gospel of the kingdom during the tribulation period and who have not been martyred and are still alive and remain and are enduring to the end until

[33:48] Christ comes and delivers them he saves them excuse me well let's just say that's the way I've understood it being from because I was taught that way as a new believer so when I was prepping for this sermon I I said I gotta know how do I know that this isn't the rapture when you read it sure sounds like it doesn't it how do I know it's not the rapture how do I know the rapture doesn't take place at the end of tribulation so I set aside my presuppositions and looked at all these events again trying to keep my presuppositions out last week Dave gave several good reasons from God's word why the rapture and

[34:49] Christ return at the end of the tribulation or the end of the age are two different events after restudying this I want to reiterate a few of those and mention another one first of all this is probably most important I think first of all you must understand that God has not replaced Israel with the church that's usually what's behind a lot of this he still has come he still has promises to come yet for them that he hasn't yet fulfilled promises regarding the land promises of a king sitting on the throne in Jerusalem yet unfulfilled you understand that God has one program for the church and has a different one for Israel as a nation when you see that the church is like a parenthesis between the 69th and 70th week of

[35:51] Daniel you would say well yeah it makes sense that he would rapture us out and resume his program with Israel another reason the rapture is a stealthy event God's people vanish from this earth we meet them in the air remember Jesus told the disciples I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I come back again to receive you to myself that where I am you may also be with me his father's house it's a taking it's a it's a taking us away from this world not a gathering together of his people when he's here on the earth when the rapture happens the people of the earth will be trying to explain where everyone went because they will not see the Lord when he returns the second time we've already discussed it every eye is going to see him they're going to know and also his second coming to this earth does it not have a lot of signs tied to it we talked about these events that happened in the seven year tribulation the abomination of desolation where the antichrist sets him up in the temple from scripture you can see that there are signs tied to this event of his second coming and you can date it

[37:24] I believe this is why Jesus said to the disciples when you see these things happen know that he's right at the door look up he's coming right right then and where the rapture is an event that can happen anytime that the church has been waiting on for 2,000 years there's no prophetic events needing to happen before he comes this was the one I learned here Paul talking about the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15 51 says behold I tell you a mystery what's a mystery in the Bible a mystery is something that people in the Old Testament didn't know about and it's revealed in the New Testament the church is a mystery well the rapture is a mystery it's something concealed that is later revealed after

[38:26] Christ ascended to heaven and so but the people in the Old Testament knew about the day of the Lord they didn't know about the rapture why is that because it doesn't pertain to Israel and then this is the one that you know this is another real good one just say 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1 through 8 gives us actually gives an order of events that take place concerning the day of the Lord when you read all eight of those verses you understand that the day of the Lord or the time of his judgment at the end that will not happen until the Antichrist has to first be revealed before that happens then the text goes on to say that before the Antichrist is revealed that or I'm sorry he who which that restrains the world has to be removed what is that saying so in other words the

[39:33] Antichrist is not going to be on the scene until something is removed and the day of the Lord doesn't happen until the Antichrist is on the scene so this something that has to be removed this person has to be the Holy Spirit who else lived 2000 years ago and is here today the Holy Spirit lives in his church through the baptism of the Spirit he through us is what is keeping this world from totally falling apart today so we'll be gone that's a sequence of events in 2nd Thessalonians but even more telling than all these things at least for me as you see in the history of the Bible how God separates his people when God's doing something big in the world like in other words God's going to judge the world like in the flood or God's going to now start something new with the law

[40:35] God when God's judging he always separates his people from his judgment Noah and his family were separated from the wrath he poured out in the world by being preserved on the ark God's people Israel at the Red Sea Pharaoh wants to destroy them he separates them with his glory cloud lets his people walk across on dry land and then judges Egypt or the world the picture of the world in the Red Sea he separated his people what about Lot what did God do with Lot and his family before he rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah he separated the righteous from the unrighteous even though Lot was not living righteously second

[41:36] I'm sorry first Thessalonians 5 verse 9 says for God has not destined us for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ I hope these truths are as much of an encouragement to you as they were to me the judge of this world is also our Savior we know God's love for us is so great because his wrath is so horrifying he saved us from that now Jesus says in our text that heaven and earth will pass away but my word will by no means pass away God's word stands no matter what man does it says in Psalms that he has exalted his word above all his name simply stated

[42:42] God cannot deny himself he will always keep his word he will always keep his promises the book of James says that he doesn't change God is glorified for who he is and what he does I think though the most glorious thing ever done by God was done in darkness the darkness of judgment it will be the main thing that we worship him for in eternity it says in the gospel of Matthew from noon until three in the afternoon that darkness came over the whole land the sun was darkened for three hours while Jesus hung on a cross the sinless son of

[43:43] God and about three in the afternoon Jesus cried out my God my God why have you forsaken me sorry so the Lord Jesus who never experienced sin entered into I'll be alright I don't know I just get that way sometimes he entered into an experience he never knew before he had my sin our sin placed right on him he was cut off from his father he had never experienced that before either when Jesus cried in agony while being judged for our sin we really see what the ultimate consequence of sin is the real issue of our sin is not what it does to me or what it even does to other people the main issue about sin is what it did to the son of

[45:24] God our sin is so horrendous to God that it took the death of his only son to fix it and this is if you read this in the gospels this is the cup of wrath that the Lord Jesus willingly took the one whom Pilate said he could find no fault in experience the depths of what hell would be like for us and his resurrection shows the power that he has to do all things I believe that the glory of God is seen in this the most this is how we know the reality of the truth of God's word this is what we're going to worship him for the most I think in eternity can we have the musicians come up sorry about that

[46:35] I'm going to end today by reading a few verses from 1st John and now little children abide in him that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming behold what manner of love the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him beloved now we are children of God and has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know when he's revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is will actually share in his glory praise the

[47:36] Lord