Jesus is Coming Soon

Part 2, “What Will be the Sign of Your Coming?”

Matthew 24:23-35

Heritage Addition church of ChristSunday Morning , May 31, 2015

By: Jim Bradshaw

Jesus is coming soon

Revelation 22:20 ESV He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Jesus is coming soon!

• Background Destruction of the Temple & Jerusalem in 70 AD, Matthew 24:1-2.

• The disciples asked three separate questions.

Matthew 24:3 NKJV Now 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?”

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What Will be the Sign of Your Coming?Matthew 24:23-35 NKJV "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. (24) For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (25) See, I have told you beforehand. (26) "Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. (27) For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

What Will be the Sign of Your Coming?Matthew 24:23-35 continued (28) For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. (29) "Immediately after the tribulation of those days 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. (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.

What Will be the Sign of Your Coming?Matt 24:23-35 continued (31) And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (32) "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. (33) So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near--at the doors! (34) Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. (35) Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

What will be the sign of your coming?

1. Matthew 24:23-352. Remember this all takes place within the

generation of the apostles (within the normal life expectancy of the apostles)

Matthew 24:34 NKJV Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.

What will be the sign of your coming?

1. The Dispensationalist and Pre-millennialist contend generation refers to a race of people (the Jews), and that as long as there are Jews alive that Matthew 24:34 applies.

2. In the N.T. the word genea is no where else used in this fashion, why would this one verse be used this way.

What will be the sign of your coming?

No one disagrees that genea here means the generation of those who would see the destruction of Jerusalem. No one would argue differently on Matthew 24:34 if not for the false man-made doctrine of dispensational pre-millenialism.

Matthew 23:36-38 NKJV Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. (37) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! (38) See! Your house is left to you desolate;

“This is so plain that I do not see how any one can misunderstand it without expert help to do so” (Gus Nichols)

What will be the sign of your coming?

3. Further the Abomination of Desolation limits the context to 70 A.D.

Matthew 24:15 NKJV "Therefore when you see the 'ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),

Daniel 9:24-27 NKJV "Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. (25) "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.

Jerusalem

Jesus Christ

Hebrews 9:26-28 NKJV He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (27) And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, (28) so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Romans 3:23-25 NKJV for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

The Abomination of Desolation

Daniel 9:24-27 continued (26) "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. (27) Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

Jerusalem & the Temple

The Abomination of Desolations as prophesied by Daniel was fulfilled in AD 70 with the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem.

Christ’s Death on the Cross

The Abomination of Desolation

Hebrews 10:12 NKJV But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

What will be the sign of your coming?

1. Granted our reading can be difficult to understand, but it can indeed be understood correctly.

2. In Matthew 24 we have a prophecy of both a figurative and a literal coming of Jesus. Today extremes are found by those who deny a figurative coming of Jesus, and by those who deny the literal 2nd coming of Jesus.

The sign of your coming?

1. The coming of the Son of Man will be as the lightning, Matthew 24:27a) What is distinctive about lightning?b) Matthew 24:27 NKJV For as the

lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

The Jerusalem disciples were warned to flee unto the mountains (v. 16)—hardly efficacious advice if a nuclear attack were envisioned. However, according to Eusebius, the early Christians understood this admonition, and fled to Pella, beyond the Jordan, when the Romans advanced toward the city (Ecclesiastical History III.5).

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Matthew 24:32-34 NKJV "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. (33) So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near--at the doors! (34) Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Luke 21:20-21 NKJV "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. (21) Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

1st Century Christians understood that these signs referred to the destruction of Jerusalem. Because although approximately 1.1 million Jews perished during the siege of Jerusalem, there is no record that even a single Christian died.

The sign of your coming?

2. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days,” Matthew 24:29.a) Tribulation of those days – Destruction of

Jerusalem in AD 70.b) Now the sign of the Son of Man will

appear (straightway, at once, or immediately).

c) Notice the sign appears with the Son of Man in heaven.

Matthew 24:30 NKJV 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.

Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man - The plain meaning of this is, that the destruction of Jerusalem will be such a remarkable instance of Divine vengeance, such a signal manifestation of Christ’s power and glory, that all the Jewish tribes shall mourn, and many will, in consequence of this manifestation of God, be led to acknowledge Christ and his religion. (Clarke)

Jesus is coming soon

Revelation 22:20 ESV He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Before the end of the world:

1. Prophecy of Matthew 24:4-35 must be fulfilled.

2. Prophecy of Paul concerning the Man of Lawlessness must be fulfilled, 2 Thess. 2:1-12.

3. Prophecy of John in the book of Revelation, except for the resurrection and judgement must be fulfilled.

4. All of these have been fulfilled!!!5. Jesus could return at any year, day, or hour.

Are you Ready?