Monday, February 1, 2021

Matthew 24: 29- 35 THE SECOND COMING

 


Everything we have looked at so far in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24 has had to do with signposts of Christ’s coming. 

Today we look at THE SIGN. 

Our key verse is this: “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man…” (24:30).The great event of the future is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible plainly declares that this coming will be personal, visible, sudden and unexpected, glorious and triumphant.[1] 

Do you ever think of that day? 

Be assured that this event, (Jesus is the one speaking here) is the most certain future event to happen. Many people will be surprised when Jesus comes again – but nobody will be mistaken! Be sure that you prepare yourself for this momentous event.  

I want to remind you that the Bible anticipated not only  the Messiah’s first coming  (e.g. the  suffering servant in Isaiah 53), but also His second coming.

Ø  Daniel  7:13,14 [The OT affirms it]   13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Ø  John 14:3 [Jesus Himself said it] "And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."

Ø  Acts 1:11 [The angels said it] "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven".

Ø  [The apostles asserted it]. Paul said, "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God" (1 Thess. 4:16). The author of Hebrews writes, "Christ will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (Heb. 9:28). James wrote, "the coming of the Lord is near" (James 5:8). Peter said, "The day of the Lord will come like a thief" (2 Pet. 3:10). John wrote, "When he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn. 3:2). And in  Revelation 1:7  he   writes, “Look, he is coming  with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the people of the earth will mourn  because of him. So shall it be!  Amen.

 OUTLINE

1.         The Sign immediately preceding His second coming (24:29)

2.         The Sign of the Son of Man in the sky and the reaction of the nations (24:30)

3.         The Sign of the ingathering of His elect (24:31)

4.         Reading the signs of the times (24:32-35)

 

1.         V.29 The Sign Immediately Preceding His Coming 

Previously, Jesus had spoken about general signs of the end of the age- things that have been happening in this entire church age. One of the greatest signs among these was the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation in accordance with the word of Jesus.  But now in 24:29 Jesus speaks of signs that are truly extra ordinary. It is clear that the world has not yet seen such signs: “…the sun will be darkened…the moon will not give its light…the stars will fall from heaven… the powers of the heavens will be shaken.“ Jesus is clearly referring here to extra ordinary events associated with His second coming. Again, the OT makes reference to this:   

Ø  Isa. 13:10:   “For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light". The context is the destruction of Israel’s great enemy, Babylon - at this time the mightiest power in the world. The Babylonians worshipped the sun, moon and stars. Isaiah speaks of the coming judgment of God upon Babylon and her ‘gods’, but the ultimate fulfilment is found in the end of the world as we know it.  Similarly in Isaiah 34:4,5 in a judgement  on all the nations  he says,  "All the host of heaven shall rot  away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall…”  

Ø  Ezekiel 32:7 in a judgement on Egypt, uses similar ultimate and apocalyptic language, whilst Joel 2:30-32 speaks in similar language of what will happen when God's judgment comes on Israel: "I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes”.[2]

Jesus was drawing on these well-known images in the Scriptures, and He applies these as signs of His second coming.  And it is this same Jesus, who is now sitting on the Mt. of Olives  overlooking  the city of Jerusalem,  who  would  return  as the Great Judge, with great power and glory,  preceded  by  these  awe inspiring signs.

2. V.30 The Sign  Of The Son Of Man In The Sky  And The Reaction Of The Nations  

The SECOND personal coming of Christ will be very different from the first. When He first came, He was born into a poor family, born in a stable. He lived the life of a poor man. He lived as a servant of others. Although He did amazing things – things that no one had  ever done like  healing the blind, the sick, raising the dead, stilling storms -   He was  rejected and killed as a common criminal on a cross. And when He had risen from the dead, He left essentially as quietly as He had come.  But His second coming will not be like that. He will not arrive in a Lear jet at Hosea Kutako airport in Windhoek.  When He comes again, His appearance in the sky will be universal. It will be so enormous that people in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, in Africa and Australia and in the Americas and all the islands of the world will see Him simultaneously.  The whole sky will be full of Him – just like the lightning that comes from the east which extends to the west (24:27). Every eye will see Him. Your eye will see Him! And we say that because the second coming of Christ will be associated with a general resurrection[3]. Even those who have died will see him, because they will all be raised from the dead in anticipation of the final judgement (Matt. 25:31ff), when Jesus will separate sheep and goats.

The Bible says that Jesus will come with the angels. He will come with His glorified church - those that have died in the Lord. He will come with the voice of the trumpet that raises the dead (Matthew 24:30-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Whilst the darkened sun and the absence of the light and sight of the familiar moon will be a sobering sign, they are the mere backdrop to the spectacular return of our Lord Jesus. What else will happen?  When Jesus appears in His glory, the world will mourn (Gr. koptō- wail/ cut). What does that mean? This picture of mourning is used in Zechariah 12: 10,12 when  Israel will look upon the one they have pierced, and when they will have an instant understanding that they were wrong about  the Jesus whom they  crucified! In the same way the world will know that it has been wrong all the way, when it disregarded the Word of God, but it is too late.  There will be no atheists on that day. Men and women will be utterly shaken, they will kneel (Phil. 2:10-11; Rom.14:11), and they will fall down before Him, and then they will cry to the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and cover them (Lk.23:30; Rev. 6:15-17). The coming of our Creator will be a great terror for those who have not loved Him in this life. 

3. V.31. The  Sign Of The Ingathering Of The Elect  

Next we are told, "He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”   Who are the elect?  They are His sheep. We shall see this distinction made in Chapter 25:32f. They are the people for whom the Lord Jesus laid down His life (John 10).  The Lord Jesus will send His angels and gather them all.  What if the sheep die before that time? We have already seen that they are alive with Him now, and they will receive their resurrection bodies (1 Cor. 15:35-54).

And now please remember that when Jesus comes again it will not be to give sinners one last chance. This time He comes to judge. He will separate the whole of humanity into two groups. In that day you will be either a sheep or a goat. The questions you will now have to answer are these: Did I enter at the narrow gate that  leads to life (Matt. 7:13,14)? Did I deny myself and pick up my cross and follow Jesus? (Matt. 16:24-27- note the context here)? Did I bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8-10)? 

Ultimately… we will all be going to the place which we have chosen for ourselves.

4. Vv. 32-35  Reading the Signs of the Times

Jesus closes this part of His teaching with an illustration and a lesson from a fig tree.  "As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near".  We know that summer is coming when trees begin to bud. 

What is the point which Jesus makes here?

Very simply,  this: All the signposts which  Jesus has given us, indicate  that the time is near. The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the emergence of false Christ’s, false prophets, false  religions that deceive;  many natural disasters, wars and famines; people turning away from the  faith  with betrayal; hate and deceit of  one another – all these are signposts of his coming. Other signposts are the preaching of the gospel in the whole world, followed by world-wide tribulations in ever increasing intensity. We are surely  living in the last days, and now even more so,  since more than 2000  years have passed. If you think that the Lord Jesus  is perhaps taking too much time, then be reminded of the words of  the apostle Peter: “8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:8,9)

And finally, vv. 34,35: “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away  until all these things take place… What does Jesus mean by this generation?  Some have held that the generation alive at the AD70 event was in view. However that is problematic since the spectacular signs in the sky are excluded. The simplest interpretation is that Jesus refers to this entire end-time generation i.e. all that live between the ascension and second coming.

CONCLUSION: 2 Peter 3:10-14

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.



[1] W.J. Grier: The Momentous event, Banner of Truth, p.9

[2] Peter quotes  these words  on the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2:19,20)

[3] In 1  Corinthians 15:12ff  &  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18  Paul discusses the resurrection of believers;  In Acts 24:15  Paul speaks of the resurrection of the just and the unjust. John speaks  of the resurrection of life and  the resurrection of judgement (Jn. 5:29)

No comments:

EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE #4 : REPENTANCE IS A SPIRITUAL MEDICINE MADE UP OF SIX INGREDIENTS

  OUTLINE 1.  The Heart of Biblical Repentance 2. True and False Repentance 3. Repentance -  A New Testament Overview 4. Biblical  Repentanc...