Three Timeless Warnings Regarding Jesus Return...

This week, we are looking at the ninth statement that comprises our doctrinal statement as a church. This ninth statement addresses what we believe as a church about Jesus return. This statement summarizes the answer to the question “Is Jesus coming back to earth? And if Jesus is coming back to earth, how is He coming back? And why is He coming back? And when is He coming back?” So let’s look at this ninth statement of our doctrinal statement together:

We believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

Yesterday, we talked about the reality that when we say that we believe in the personal, bodily return of Jesus Christ, we are saying that Jesus will return visibly to earth, in person to set up His kingdom. In other words, Jesus will not return to earth as a spirit. Instead Jesus will personally and bodily return to earth. Jesus Christ clearly claimed that He would personally and bodily return to earth to usher in the kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense in a section of a letter that was recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 Thessalonians.

We looked on as Paul encouraged the members of the church at Thessalonica by explaining that Jesus Himself proclaimed that He would physically and bodily return to earth and that all who believed trusted, and followed Him, whether physically alive or dead at the time of His return, would be caught up alive to meet Him in the air as He returned to earth to establish the kingdom of God in its fullest sense.

We also discovered that Jesus will visibly return and begin to establish the kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense at the end of the Great Tribulation, at which time Jesus will rule and reign over the earth for a period of a thousand years. Now a natural question that arises here, and that has been asked throughout history is “Well Dave that all sounds great, but if Jesus is returning to earth, then when is Jesus returning to earth?” That’s a great question, which we see asked and answered by Jesus in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the book of Matthew. So let’s look at this section together and discover the answer together, beginning in Matthew 24:3:

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

To understand the question that the disciples asked Jesus, we must first understand the context in which the question was asked. In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus has just pronounced judgment against the Jewish people and their leaders for their hypocrisy and their rejection of God’s messengers throughout history, including their rejection of Him as the Messiah. Jesus concluded His comments in Matthew Chapter 23 by quoting Zechariah 12:10, where the prophet Zechariah spoke of the future coming of the Messiah and the Jewish people’s recognition of Him. 

The disciples, having witnessed this interaction between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day, come to Jesus later and ask, “When are you coming again? What will be the signs?” Jesus responds to the disciples question with an answer that provides three warnings and a sign. First, let’s look at the three warnings. We see the first warning revealed for us in Matthew 24:4-8:

And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Jesus, in His response to the disciples, reveals for us a timeless warning that we would be wise to take head of. And that timeless warning is this: Do not be deceived by the false signs of world events. I saw this principle play out in my life as a non believer in the lead up to desert storm in the early 90’s. I remember seeing people that I worked with, whom I had no idea were Christians, bringing their Bibles with them to work and speaking about desert storm as the onset of Christ’s second coming. Obviously, it was not Christ’s second coming, as we are here today.

As a non-believer at the time, I found their reaction to be hypocritical, at best, and ridiculous and crazy, at worst. It seemed that these people who called themselves Christians were only getting into their Bibles and talking church stuff because of what was happening in the world. It seemed as though Christianity was a crutch to lean on when times got tough and nothing more.

As followers of Jesus, our motivation for following Jesus should come from a response of love to what Jesus has done for us, regardless of the events that are occurring around us. The reality is that throughout time there always has been and there always will be wars and conflicts among us.

As followers of Jesus, we are not to get so caught up in the changing tides of world events that we lose focus of the kingdom mission that God has given us of being the vehicle that He uses to reveal and reflect Jesus to a lost and hurting world around us. We see Jesus continue to respond to His disciples with a second warning, which we see in Matthew 24:9-14. Let’s look at it together:

"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.  "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

In these verses, we see a second timeless warning that we should pay attention to. And that warning is this: Do not be deceived as a result of the events of the great tribulation. Jesus gives the disciples a glimpse into what will happen to His followers in the period immediately preceding His coming, known as the great tribulation.

As we just talked about, the “Great Tribulation” is the seven year period prior to Jesus return where the devil will use a charismatic world leader, known as the antichrist, and a major false religious leader to oppose God and attack His people. During this period, God will restore the Jewish people and will exercise His right and just response of judgment on rebellious humanity, who will still refuse to come to relationship with Him.

Now a question that many people have asked when looking at this passage is “how do we know that these verses are talking about the Great Tribulation specifically and not just tribulation that followers of Jesus will experience throughout history in general?” I have asked that question, and if you are asking that question, it is a great question to be asking. We believe that Jesus is referring to the Great Tribulation specifically because of what Jesus says next in Matthew 24:15-28. Let’s look at them together:

"Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. "Behold, I have told you in advance. "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Jesus begins verse 15 with the word therefore. The word therefore is significant because it links everything that Jesus was saying in verses 9-14 with what He is about to say in verses 15 through 28. And in verses 15 through 28 we see Jesus reveal a third timeless warning for us to pay attention to. And that timeless warning is this: Do not be deceived by the false signs of the Antichrist.

Jesus refers the disciples back to the words of the prophet Daniel that are recorded for us in Daniel 9:27, where the Antichrist will break his peace treaty that he had made with the Jewish people and will demand that the entire world worship him as god. Those who fail to worship the Antichrist as god will be persecuted and martyred. The Antichrist will attempt to show that he is god with miracles, signs and wonders so persuasive, that many will be deceived.

Jesus then explains in verse 24 that these miracles are so persuasive that if possible they would deceive the elect. This verse, however, also reinforces the reality that our rescue from rebellion that results in our salvation is secure and cannot be lost. 

Jesus here is warning His disciples and followers of Jesus throughout history, that these signs and statements proclaiming that He has returned are not to be believed because “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be”. In other words, Jesus 2^nd coming will be impossible to miss.

Jesus concluded His 3^rd warning to the disciples by stating that "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” But what does that mean? The point that Jesus is making here with this statement is that just as vultures are attracted to a rotting corpse, the spiritual corruption of the Antichrist and false teaching will attract many.

Then after giving His disciples, and followers of Jesus throughout history, these three timeless warnings, we see Jesus answer the disciples question in verses Matthew 24:29-31. We will look at these verses tomorrow...