Introduction
This is the word of the Lord,
Matthew 24:3–14 ESV
3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.
5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Let us pray!
If this is the golden age of the millennial rule of Christ, and the great tribulation is past, will not such a belief make us complacent? Will we not relax our efforts in evangelism and missions? Will not the loss of the urgency of the popular premillennial view slow us down?
No, my brothers and sisters. On the contrary, it magnifies the pleasure and experience of everything. Don’t you see? The betterment of the world is not less, but more.
There is no urgency in eternity, and do you believe that what awaits us in heaven is complacency?
In the postmillennial view that I hold, Christ is ruling now with the rod of iron!
Satan has been bound from deceiving the nations as he used to.
We have been given the great commission under the authority of the supreme ruler, under whose feet the Father is subduing every enemy.
Isaiah 9:7 ESV
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
And in the ever increasing dominion of his kingdom, we will reach a point when,
1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Let us ponder on this text for a moment. 1 Corinthians 15:20-26
1 Corinthians 15:20–22 ESV
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
There is a reason that the birth of Christ split history in half and we have BC and AD. Because in the middle of history erupts the miracle of all miracles.
A man who was maligned, reviled, tortured and brutally executed like a criminal, broke the grave. And through his resurrection we are all made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:23–26 ESV
23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
• See what Paul points to as happening at the end of all time.
1. Jesus delivers the kingdom to God the Father.
Isaiah 9:7 ESV
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
2. After having destroyed every rule and authority and power.
He must reign until he has subdued all his enemies under his feet – the last being death.
Psalm 110:1–2 ESV
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
A few things have to happen in this scenario according to Scripture.
• Jesus has to be seated at the right hand of the Father
Acts 7:55 ESV
55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Romans 8:34 ESV
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Ephesians 1:20 ESV
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
Colossians 3:1 ESV
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Hebrews 1:3 ESV
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 10:12 ESV
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
1 Peter 3:22 ESV
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
• He is seated on that throne, until all his enemies are subdued. That is what happens from that throne, he is to rule in the midst of his enemies.
• Of the increase of his rule, there is no end.
• One by one, he will subdue his enemies, till one final rule remains – death.
But when is death subdued? We are told that the death of death is at his coming, when we are all raised like Christ who was the firstfruits.
And we know from Revelation 20, that the dead are all raised at the final judgment after the millennium. Revelation 20:12
Revelation 20:13–14 ESV
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Therefore, I believe it is clear from the testimony of Scripture, that the dead are raised at his coming, at the end of the millennium when Christ delivers the kingdom to the Father having destroyed the final enemy, death.
And this millennial rule begins from the moment Christ was seated by the Father at his right hand.
Daniel 7:13–14 ESV
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.
• To Christ was given an everlasting dominion and glory and a kingdom that shall not be destroyed.
This is his coronation. Hebrews 1:8
Hebrews 1:8 ESV
8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
Christ holds the sceptre of his kingdom at the right hand of God.
Psalm 110:2 ESV
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
And with that sceptre he rules in the midst of his enemies, whom he is subduing.
• To Christ was given an everlasting dominion and glory and a kingdom that shall not be destroyed.
Matthew 28:18 ESV
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, from his coronation that happened at his ascension till date Christ is ruling with progressive increase and victory to his kingdom, until death is the last enemy to be destroyed. Then comes the end.
Exegesis
I want to shift gears today and draw our attention closer to the text of Matthew 24.
I believe we have done sufficient cautionary sermons to lay a proper foundation on how we are to approach the study of Eschatology.
For those of you who’ve not heard or missed some of those preliminary sessions, I want to encourage you to go listen to it on our YouTube channel where all our sermons are uploaded.
• The Olivet Discourse begins with a departure. Matthew 24:1
Matthew 24:1 (ESV)
1 Jesus left the temple and was going away,…
This was the presence of God moving out of the temple. The Holy One had proclaimed his judgment and none can stay his words.
Matthew 23:38–39 ESV
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
• Again, where Christ saw vanity, his disciples were caught up in its beauty, and they were pointing out the loveliness of the temple.
Matthew 24:2 ESV
2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
For Christ had determined to tear the veil, to bring to nothing the false and hypocritical outer beauty of their worship, and show the true state of Jewish spirituality – not one stone left on top of another.
• And as we read about the destruction of the first temple, Ezekiel 11:23
Ezekiel 11:23 ESV
23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city.
God had left the city and stood on the Mount of Olives. And now, reading about the destruction of the rebuilt second temple, we see the same as Jesus leaves the temple and sits on the Mount of Olives.
• The Olivet Discourse stems from one statement – the destruction of the temple.
The distance from the temple to the mountain is around 2-3km.
The disciples have had a reasonable amount of time to ponder and discuss on Jesus’ remark about the destruction of the temple.
So, this was not a spur of the moment kind of question.
These things they know, that:
• Jesus is the Messiah, and the Bible prophesies that he is the seed of Root of Jesse, the son of David, that will rule forever.
Isaiah 11:10 ESV
10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Later John, the apostle, will record in Revelation 5:5
Revelation 5:5 ESV
5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
• The destruction of the temple then is the end of the Judaic age. That meant God was doing a new thing.
Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.
33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Ezekiel 36:26 ESV
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Isaiah 43:19 ESV
19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
This is why the disciples aren’t heartbroken at the mention of the destruction of the temple. This would be the seed of ushers in a new Kingdom.
Only, they did not yet know what that kingdom would look like at that point.
John 2:19–21 ESV
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
This was how it was going to be. Jesus would tear the Jewish temple down and become the seed that ushers in a new temple.
The seed was sown on the cross, and the new temple was erected three days later.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Our bodies are the new temple – persevering to the end by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Beloved, God did not come out of the temple to ascend into heaven and leave us without a temple where his presence would dwell. He has come out of the temple to dwell in your hearts, in your bodies.
The local Church is the visible manifestation of God’s kingdom.
• Therefore, the disciples asked, privately. Matthew 24:3
Matthew 24:3 (ESV)
…“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
The end of the Judaic eon, the Jewish age would be at the coming of Christ when the temple is destroyed.
This is the fundamental assumption of the disciples and the Olivet Discourse is Jesus’ response to that question.
• The very first statement of the discourse itself is a warning against deception. Matthew 24:4
Matthew 24:4 ESV
4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.
This then would then be the first sign, that many would fall away.
Matthew 24:5 ESV
5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
Matthew 24:10 ESV
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
Matthew 24:11 ESV
11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
The disciples are instructed to safeguard their minds from being influenced by false-Christs and false-prophets.
• Then they are encouraged not to be frightened. Matthew 24:6
Matthew 24:6 ESV
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
In the entire discourse, Jesus is addressing the disciples and giving them instructions about what they are supposed to do. They (the disciples) will hear of these wars and rumours of wars.
But that is not the end.
• Wars, famines and earthquakes are given as signs. And all these happened in the lifetime of the disciples.
Matthew 24:8 ESV
8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
The very particular use of this phrase suggests that the beginning of birth pains would eventually lead to the fullness of the labour pain, and that would finally end with the birth of something new, in this case the new age.
• After these initial birth pains, then begins what theologians have called the Great Tribulation.
Matthew 24:9–10 ESV
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
This would be a period of great persecution and suffering. But for whom?
You see, the popular dispensations premillennial view that we are all used to hearing teaches that the rapture of the church happens right before the Great Tribulation so that the saints are spared.
But if all the saints are taken away who is left to persecute for Christ’s name sake?
If no Christians remain, who are these that fall away and betray one another? There’s nothing to fall away from.
The Great Tribulation is a period of suffering that the church goes through. That is why it is a tribulation for them.
And it is tribulation from the outside and from within.
They would be hated and killed. And in this turmoil, there is betrayal and a hatred that grows within the church.
Matthew 24:11 ESV
11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
The mix of great persecution and the allure of false prophets that offer another way leads many astray.
This has been the case since the elder days. Jeremiah 6:14
Jeremiah 6:14 ESV
14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
Jeremiah 23:16–17 ESV
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’ ”
So also in the time of the Great Persecution many will be led astray by false prophets. False prophets are opportunists, chameleons who change their shades to suit every circumstance.
Matthew 24:12 ESV
12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
• Where sin festers, love grows cold. Is this not then such an important lesson for us to learn.
In this sin festered time of great tribulation, many will be without love. A world of horror.
Matthew 24:13 ESV
13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
• Who is then the one that endures? One of the extremes of popular eschatological beliefs is the view that all unbeliever who in principle deny Christ, but somehow manages to endure to the end of the great tribulation will be saved.
This is salvation by works, but we know there is no such thing. That apart from Christ and faith in him, there exists no other salvation. Acts 4:12
Acts 4:12 ESV
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The one who endures to the end is the Christian. Daniel 3:16-18
Daniel 3:16–18 ESV
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Conclusion
All of these signs occurred in the first century right on the dot as Jesus prophesied, and the disciples were prepared to face it because of the signs he asked them to look out for.
The coming of the Son of man was the coming of his judgment that was ushered in by the Roman legions. We will dive into further details regarding this Great Tribulation next week, and it’s historical fulfilment around AD 70.
But let me tell you how I believe we are to understand these signs.
I think we are making a mistake by basing our eschatology by looking to the fulfilment of these times in history, as our central analysis of the times.
This is because persecution and suffering and sin and hatred have all been a repeated cycle throughout history. This is why every generation thinks that the stars line up perfectly for the coming of Christ in their time.
There will always be false Christs, false prophets and anti Christs. A Nero is followed by a Domitian, is followed by a Hitler.
The key is to look for the specific context in which these signs are to be seen. And that context is imminent or soon from the point of view of the disciples in the first century.
Matthew 24:34 ESV
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
This is the stated context in Matthew 24.
We are to look for these signs within the first century. Now, when I do that historical study, I am ok with not having all these signs properly recorded in history. Because my position does not stem from the occurrence of these events but from the overarching optimism of the rest of Scripture regarding the end time.
It is the rest of Scripture that assures me of the preterist timeline and leads me to the postmillennial faith.
Matthew 13:31–32 ESV
31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Christ Jesus was the seed that was buried in the tomb and was raised to eternal life, establishing the kingdom.
And this ever increasing kingdom shall not end. It is established forever.
Matthew 24:14 ESV
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
• The Gospel is the good new of the kingdom! It is the message that Christ is King and we are citizens of his Kingdom, those who believe in him.
For Jesus has cut the pangs of death in his resurrection, and in our final resurrection, he will destroy death one and for all, the last of his enemies.
• The reference to the end here is in response to the question of the end of the Judaic age by the disciples.
This end Jesus says will come once the Gospel is proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.
Colossians 1:23 ESV
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Colossians 1:6 ESV
6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
Romans 1:8 ESV
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
I believe that the Gospel spread far and wide in the ministry of the apostles and the first century disciples and then came the end of the Judaic age.
This is the new age, the golden age of the reign of Christ. Therefore, from his coronation that happened at his ascension till date Christ is ruling with progressive increase and victory to his kingdom, until death is the last enemy to be destroyed.
Then comes the final end – the new heavens and the new earth.
