Bible Study - Looking Forward (6) - Matthew 24:32-44 - January 5, 2025

 

Bible Study – Looking Forward (6) – Mathew 24:32-44 – January 5, 2024

JESUS will return to bring us into HIS Kingdom.

JESUS gave us interesting information in Acts 1:1-11:

1 I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach ² until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. ³ After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit Promised

⁴ While he was^[a] with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; ⁵ for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”

⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The Ascension

⁹ After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. ¹¹ They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”

The return of JESUS is when the true church and true believers will be raptured or removed from earth. What Dr. David Jeremiah calls the “Great Disappearance.”

Let’s consider Matthew’s account of the signs that JESUS revealed that will give us a clue when the Second Coming of JESUS will be approaching. Keep in mind that JESUS does not know the exact moment when the rapture will take place only, GOD, HIS FATHER knows. But GOD has revealed certain signs to JESUS and in turn to us through the various Holy Spirit led writers in the Bible. We will only dip out toes into this subject now and hopefully you will be inspired to dig deeper as guided and revealed by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Let’s explore!!!

Matthew 24:1-51:

Destruction of the Temple Predicted

24 As Jesus left and was going out of the temple, his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings. ² He replied to them, “Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down.

The Temple was foundational to the Jews, it was GOD’S House, and the Jews considered it to be the permanent dwelling for GOD. But things were about to change from the Jews observing the Law to experiencing Grace, through the passion of JESUS. GOD would no longer dwell in the manmade temple but in the human heart through the passion of JESUS.

The magnificent Temple was destroyed in 70 AD.

This gives us a timeline from the words that JESUS uttered to the fulfilment of what HE uttered.

I share with you a dream I had several years ago. I had a dream, and it was so vivid, when I awakened in the early morning, I prayed and asked GOD if the dream was from HIM to help me understand its meaning. I share this only because I was prompted to do so.

I stood watching a worker in a kitchen preparing two different mixtures of bread to pour into two large identical rectangular stainless-steel baking pans. One mixture was a true bread mix, and the other was a synthetic bread mix. Both bread pans were placed into the same oven, side by side.

When they had finished baking, they were removed from the oven and both looked identical. The worker was pleased and used a knife to cut a large identical rectangular section of bread out of each pan leaving only a two-inch or so rim of bread in each pan.

One pan contained the true bread and when the knife was inserted to remove its cut section, it came out just as cut and did not stick to the bottom of the pan or any other place.

When the identical rectangle cut was made to the pan of synthetic bread, it was stuck to the bottom of the pan. The top looked fine but the bottom was stuck. The stuck synthetic bread had to be removed in pieces and used to fill in the bottom of the rectangular portion of the synthetic bread so it would appear that it was identical to the true bread.

When the worker cut the false mixture of bread, it stuck to the bottom of the pan and was difficult to remove.

I asked the LORD to help me understand this dream. I went back to sleep and GOD revealed its understanding.

There were two pans of bread. One pan represented the true message of JESUS, and the other pan represented a distorted message of the truth. There are those who will cut the heart out of the true message of JESUS and replace it with a false message.

I recall asking, “want it be obvious that Christians will spot the false bread when they taste it?” The answer was, “Only those who are the connoisseur of the true word of GOD will know the difference.”

There was more but this is enough for now.

The message is, we as true believers are to study GOD’S Word and when we hear false doctrine, we are to reveal that it is false when led by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

As we read our next scripture know that what JESUS revealed to HIS disciples took place in 70 AD.

Signs of the End of the Age

³ While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴ Jesus replied to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. ⁶ You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines^[a] and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these events are the beginning of labor pains.

Persecutions Predicted

⁹ “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. ¹⁰ Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹² Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world^[b] as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

The Great Tribulation

¹⁵ “So when you see the abomination of desolation,^[c] spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand), ¹⁶ “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ A man on the housetop^[d] must not come down to get things out of his house, ¹⁸ and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat. ¹⁹ Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For at that time there will be great distress,^[e] the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again. ²² Unless those days were cut short, no one would^[f] be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect.

Who are the elect? The elect is those who have been born-again through faith in JESUS. Folks, deceptive times are coming, but we do not know when. The second coming of JESUS is getting closer and closer. Study and know the truth as revealed in GOD’S Word, The Bible and confirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

²³ “If anyone tells you then, ‘See, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ Take note: I have told you in advance. ²⁶ So if they tell you, ‘See, he’s in the wilderness! Don’t go out; or, ‘See, he’s in the storerooms!’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures^[g] will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth^[h] will mourn;^[a] and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

The question is, “will you be in the gathering of GOD’S elect?” Who are GOD’S elect? Those born-again through faith in JESUS.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

³² “Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize^[j] that he^[k] is near—at the door. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

No One Knows the Day or Hour

³⁶ “Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels of heaven nor the Son^[l] —except the Father alone. ³⁷ As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. ³⁸ For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark. ³⁹ They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. This is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding grain with a hand mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴² Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day^[m] your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this: If the homeowner had known what time^[n] the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Faithful Service to Christ

⁴⁵ “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

2 Corinthians 5:17: 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

This lesson is not to scare you but penned for all to get ready for the days that are ahead. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Know the truth of GOD’S Word so you will not be misled.

Blessings!!!