I feel led of the Lord to spend one more day looking at Matthew 24. But these two messages will be more topical than expositional. I’ll be pulling a couple thoughts out of the context, but not really studying the context itself. But that doesn’t mean that we should forget the context entirely.
Remember that this discussion takes place sometime during Jesus’ last das prior to the crucifixion. The Lord and His disciples have left the Temple for the final time, and the disciples are having a hard time dealing with that. “Oh look, Lord, at the size, the beauty, the magnificence – and the significance of this place.” “See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” As I have said a dozen times, that prompted the disciples’ question – “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Those three questions initiated Christ’s reply throughout the rest of this chapter and into the next.
I have also said that the disciples were expecting these things to take place immediately. They had the Old Testament promises of the Messiah, and they also had the Messiah Himself. Surely, the Millennial kingdom would have to begin soon wouldn’t it? But no, it would not begin right away – two millennia will pass before the greatest of all millennia would begin. Jesus began to describe some of the events of the Great Tribulation, starting with “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet.” Then, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days… shall appear the sing of the Son of man in Heaven… and He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
With that Christ shared with the disciples the parable of the fig tree. When you see the fig tree growing new leaves, you know that summer is just around the corner. When you can see the crocuses peeking their head through the snow, you know that Spring is coming. And when you see the disasters of the Great Tribulation then you’ll know that I am coming and the Millennium will soon begin. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Christ wasn’t speaking of the days of Peter, Paul and John, nor of Peter, Paul and Mary (today), but of the generation which will experience the judgments of Tribulation. And with that thought in mind He added, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
Peter understood what the Lord was saying – if not at that moment, he certainly did later. If Christ didn’t immediately return from Heaven, to fulfill the prophecies of His Millennial Kingdom, can anyone be sure that He would after ten years, or after a century, or after a thousand years? Yes, because the words of Christ are as substantial and truthful as the very existence of God Himself. In Peter’s second epistle, he raises the question of the scoffers who were laughing at thoughts about the second coming of Christ. II Peter 3:4 – “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” Those people are forgetting the flood which destroyed the world in the days of Noah. “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
My theme this morning is that all “the promises of God are yea and amen” – true and guaranteed. It doesn’t matter how much time passes between the promise and the fulfillment – completion is coming. It may, in fact, be due to the grace of the Lord that things don’t develop more swiftly. Our theme this morning is the veracity of Christ and of the Word of God. They are both absolutely true and completely trustworthy. A month ago, Sahalie came to visit and brought a balloon which she had purchased – with her own money. It’s one that special balloon you buy in the store already filled with helium, not the blow up kind. It is still hovering just below the ceiling in our spare room, but it is beginning to look really dilapidated. Even though it may last weeks longer than the common plastic variety, it too will fail. But the Word of God will never deflate; it will never fall to the ground; it will never fail. The Lord Jesus has said, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” And even after those promises have all been fulfilled, they will still never pass away, because then they will be written in the annals of Heavenly history as proof of the character of Jehovah.
It is a part of the faith of the Bible-believing Christian that Christ’s words shall not pass away.
And prophecy, like these in this chapter, are some of the pillars of our faith.
Matthew 24 is filled with promise and prophecy – the reiteration of Old Testament prophecy. Most of the New Testament prophecy is still sitting on the shelf awaiting fulfilment. But hundreds of Old Testament prophetical declarations have been taken down from their dusty shelves, been opened up and enjoyed.
Both God the Father and God the Son have used this argument to encourage people in their faith. In Jehovah’s contentions with the false religions, false gods and false faith of people in Isaiah’s day He said: “Produce your cause … bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.”
In contrast to idol gods, the Lord has given us prophesy after prophesy in vivid color and exquisite detail. And then He fulfilled them to the letter – even to the jot and tittle. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t many others yet to be fulfilled, but the evidence is already before the judge to suggest our patient expectation. Jehovah went on to say in Isaiah 42 – “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.” The Lord Jesus used the same argument. In telling the disciples that He would be sacrificed He added: “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.”
The Bible is stuffed with prophecies of the most spectacular nature and variety. It talks about the sons of the rebuilder of Jericho five hundred years before their birth – and what it said has been literally fulfilled. Deuteronomy 28 speaks about Israel in Babylon and Jerusalem under Roman siege, centuries before the history was begun. The King of Persia was described and named 175 years before he was a twinkle in his father’s eye. Ezekiel 26 prophesies the destruction of Tyre 250 years before it took place.
And when it comes to the subject of Christ, the Lord Jesus was right – the prophecies give Him credence. There are 300 prophesies of Christ in the Old Testament, given in magnificent detail, hundreds of years ahead of the events and arrival of the divine Person. If there were just 50, the chances of fulfilling all of them at once are less than the chance of finding a gold nugget under your pillow tomorrow morning. Actually, not just 50, but all 300 hundred were fulfilled. Prophecy shows us that the Bible is trustworthy.
Secondly, we know that Christ and our Bibles are true, because of their accuracy.
Accuracy is one of the conditions of authority – it is essential to trustworthiness. For thousands of years now, unbelievers have been trying to find evidence of errors in the Bible. But all that they have found is that “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” The Bible wasn’t written to teach science, but neither was it written to teach error. William F. Albright was right when he said, “I doubt seriously if science will ever catch up with the Bible.” Will science ever conclusively prove that Genesis 1 and 2 are history? I doubt it. Will archeology ever find Noah’s Ark? I have my doubts. The Bible suggests that earth’s land mass was once all one continent – we have evidence – but no proof yet. Today, and it was true 300 years ago as well, many of the world’s great scientists are Christians. That’s because they can see the evidence of Biblical accuracy. But more importantly it is because the Lord has given them faith to believe.
Not only is the Bible accurate in science, but in history too. And this is something that the Pharisee’s in Jesus’ day should have seriously considered, before dismissing Him and crucifying Him. For centuries God’s promises were fulfilled in Israel’s national story – why should they cast it aside now? It was once a mark of ignorance to believe that Abraham came from Ur – now we know that it was a major city in its day – Israel knew that and believed that. Historians used to laugh at Genesis 14 and the battle of the four kings against five – now we know the fuller histories of some of those kings. Skeptics used to roll on the floor in hysterics at the fall of the walls of Jericho, until the archeologists began their excavations. They used to deny the existence of Belshazzar and even the whole Hittite Empire – but not any longer.
The Bible was not written to be a history book or a biography, but it contains both. And the way in which it was written dares people to challenge it. Luke 3:1 – “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.” William Ramsey was an heretic who attempted to disprove the Bible on the grounds of history. Early in life, he said that the Book of Acts was a “highly imaginative and carefully colored fiction.” Today William Ramsey is considered to be an expert on the life and times of the Apostle Paul. There has never been an archeological discovery which contradicts or controverts any historical statement of the Bible.
Does this mean that every verse of scripture has been verified – or that every verse will be verified? Well, its like science and the Bible – some things won’t be verified and others can’t be. But there never has been and never will be anything found to disprove a single Bible utterance. Mr. skeptic, it is “not as though the Word of God has taken none effect.”
God’s Word is a supernatural work.
Nothing is harder to find than last year’s literary flop. Someone once said, “The Great Lakes are tiled with paper back books which can’t find a library shelf to fill.” But that is not true of the Bible. Since Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, the Bible has been the most often published book in history.
But that is not because it hasn’t seen any opposition. In 303 AD Diocletian inaugurated a systematic destruction of the Bible throughout his Roman empire. This is the reason that so few Bibles older than 4th century can be found today. In fact the only ones that survived weren’t Bibles at all, but heretical imitations. And yet the Bible survived despite the persecution against it. Catholicism lead centuries of vicious attacks on the Word of the Lord. Their preachers delivered scathing sermons with the opposite intention of mine this morning. They said things like – “The Greek language is the mother of heresies – beware of anything written therein.” “Beware of the New Testament – a book full of brambles with vipers in them.” During the Middle Ages it meant death to own a copy of the Bible. Only the heretics possessed, read and studied the Word of God – and that usually meant “Baptists.” Our enemies have said, “We must root out the printing of Bibles or the printing of the Bible will root us out. There will be an end of religion if the study of the Bible is permitted.” That is perfectly true if the religion is unscriptural. Despite their attacks, the Bible has survived. There is no reasonable explanation for that survival except for the grace, power and promise of God.
Critics have tried to destroy God’s word by ridicule and by laughter. So-called scholars like Wellhousen, Astruck, Westcott and Hort have tried their best to destroy the faith. Then Satan has used men like Kenneth Taylor, William Bratcher, Philipps and a host of others. But the Bible survives.
And this is without considering the openly infidel and atheist. Robert Ingersoll wrote a book called “The Mistakes of Moses.” The Lord has been publishing the mistakes of Ingersoll ever since. Lord David Hume wrote: “Within a hundred years the Bible will be obsolete,” but eventually his house was used as a Bible print shop . Voltair and Paine wrote their books against the Bible, but the Bible lives on.
Scripture says of itself: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” The Lord Jesus said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Mr. skeptic, you don’t have to worry – it is “not as though the Word of God has taken none effect”– nor will it ever.
The problem that humanity has with the Bible is that it is holy and perfect, while we are sinful and dense.
Matthew 24 is a chapter of mystery and confusion to a great many, well-meaning Bible students. Some of them can’t understand that “the elect” to whom Jesus referred in verse 31 are not the elect of today, but of the Tribulation. Many think, write and preach that God’s churches will pass through the Tribulation, because of their misinterpretations of this chapter. Far too many equate Israel and the Lord’s church, applying prophecies of one to the other. But the problems are not with the prophecies or with the Word of God. The problems are with us and our sin-corrupted minds and hearts.
The place to start in our understanding of Matthew 24 is actually Matthew 27 and the crucifixion. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” It is not until the dead heart of the natural man is regenerated by the Spirit of God that anyone can begin to make sense of even the simplest declarations in the Bible. Jesus didn’t tell Nicodemus that he needed to study his Bible more; He told him that he must be born again. We don’t need to spend eons of time trying to figuring out how to arrange all of the prophetical details. We need more of Christ – we need Christ the Saviour – we need to be born again. Jesus answered and said (to Nicodemus, and to us), “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
How are people, born in sin and spiritual death regenerated? By the miraculous grace and power of God. For us, the obligation is to humble ourselves before the Saviour and to trust Him. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”