Life Bridge Christian Church
8/7/22
Description: Matthew 24 is one of the most complicated and troublesome passages in the New Testament. In it, Jesus makes some striking predictions about the future. The question that creates problems is: when will these things take place? From the language of verse 34, He clearly believes they will happen within a generation of His own life. Surely that can't be true, because these apocalyptic predictions didn't happen… or did they? In this week's message, we'll explore why Christians can be confident not only that His words proved correct, but that this passage sends us glorious and emphatic evidence that we can trust everything that Jesus has said to us in His Word.
Was Jesus wrong about His own second coming?
The key to this passage: "Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place." - Matthew 24:34
Key points in the text:
1. All of Jesus' predictions in this passage were fulfilled in the first century AD during the events that happened in Jerusalem:
- A Great Tribulation
- A "Coming" of Jesus
- A "Gathering" of the Elect
2. Because they understood and obeyed the warnings of Jesus, the early Church was "gathered" and saved from the destruction around them.
3. The cosmic language of this passage makes sense when we understand the language of the Old Testament
Matthew 24:15-22 CSB
[I]nsomuch that many persons who came there with great zeal from the ends of the earth, to offer sacrifices at this celebrated place, which was esteemed holy by all mankind, fell down before their own sacrifices themselves, and sprinkled that altar which was venerable among all men, both Greeks and barbarians, with their own blood; till the dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of their own country, and those of profane persons along with those of the priests, and the blood of all sorts of dead carcasses stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves.
- Josephus "The Wars of the Jews," 5.17-18
And now, as the city was engaged in a war on all sides, from these treacherous crowds of wicked men, the people of the city, between them, were like a great body torn in pieces. The aged men and the women were in such distress by their internal calamities, that they wished for the Romans, and earnestly hoped for an external war, in order to their delivery from domestic miseries.
- Josephus "The Wars of the Jews," 5.27-28
Greek Word: "topos" - This term is used in Scripture to refer at times to the temple, the city, or the promised land itself. From this word we get the English word "topography." A version of this word is what's used in the Greek OT when it refers to "the holy land."
Luke 21:20-22 CSB
Deuteronomy 28:45-52 CSB
Then came the ensigns encompassing the eagle,
which is at the head of every Roman legion,
the king, and the strongest of all birds,
which seems to them a signal of dominion, and an omen
that they shall conquer all against whom they march;
- Josephus “The Wars of the Jews,” 3.123
Matthew 24:23-28 CSB
But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men.
- Eusebius "The Church History of Eusebius" Book III Ch. V
Matthew 24:29-31 CSB
Zechariah 9:13-14 CSB
Ezekiel 32:7-8 CSB
Isaiah 19:1-2 CSB
Jesus uses Old Testament warnings to describe present day judgments on THAT GENERATION.
Matthew 24:32-34 CSB
Heaven and earth will pass away, but HIS words will never pass away.
I. God NEVER forgets what He says
The things WE say are fallible, the things GOD says are not
Hebrews 4:13 CSB
Jesus' promises will either be a warning or a comfort; the only difference is believing and obeying what He said.
II. Christ PRESERVES His people through tribulation
Acts 6:13-14 CSB
III. The wrath that fell on Jesus in our place is SEVERE
There is no difference between the wrath that fell on Jerusalem and the wrath that we would face because of our sins.
IV. The love of Jesus that gathers people to Himself is IMMENSE
ONE BIG THING: We can find safety in the arms of Jesus
If you're ready to make a LIFELONG, LIFESTYLE decision to follow Jesus, please reach out to us or to someone you know at Life Bridge so that we can get in touch. To talk to one of our pastors, reach out to us by giving us a call at (920) 494-4042, emailing lbccgb@gmail.com or through our social media pages