In our study of Matthew 24, we have covered.

Part 1: The Antichrist

Part 2: The World in Trouble

Part 3: The Abomination of Desolation

Today we get our fourth installment.

Part 4: The Return of the King

Matthew 24

23 “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. 

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.

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.

36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” 

After the Abomination of Desolation is set up in the

He then attempt so destroy them.

Revelation 12

4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Look at how the Bible refers to this time that is coming.

Daniel 12:1 “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time.”

Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

In the midst of this time Jesus gives a strong warning to the Jewish people.

Matthew 24

23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.

After mistaking the Antichrist for the Christ, they now need to be ware that in their search for truth that they don’t start running everywhere trying to find the true Christ.

Let me make note of something here. There have always been believers who have run here and there trying to find a fresh move of God, and although they are incredibly sincere, these people can be subject to deception because of their desperate desire for something new.

As we look at the next verse we can see that in this vacuum there will be false messiahs and false prophets attempting to deceive people.   

24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

These signs will be incredibly persuasive… and will deceive many, even the most sincere. In spite of these signs Jesus tells people how to prevent themselves from being deceived.

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.

Jesus is not going to return to the earth by stealth. He is not going to sneak back and then make it your task to locate Him.  

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.

Let me give you two thoughts that are conveyed from that verse. Jesus return is:

·       Sudden

·       Visible

The next verse refers to the horrible carnage that will happen at Christ’s return.

28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

The reason for the gathering of the birds is told to us in scripture.

Revelation 19

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather together for the supper of the great God,

18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great."

19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

All this takes place at the end of the tribulation period.

Matthew 24

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.

Just before the return of Jesus the world is in spiritual darkness and physical darkness.

Amos 5:20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

Then He comes!

Matthew 24

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. 

The second coming is going to be public and visible to all. Listen to what we were taught in Acts 1.

Acts 1

9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

The angels came with an important message.

-         It will be the same Jesus that returns

-         He will come back the same way He left

Revelation 1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.

-         Everyone will see Him when He returns.

Mark 13:26 “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”

-         Not just in the clouds, but with great power and glory.

Daniel 7:13 “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!”

-         He is coming in a way that will be apparent to all, not in some hidden location.

When He returns He gathers His elect together.

Matthew 24:31 “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.”

This gathering together of Israel is spoken of in the book of Romans, where Paul explained that Israel would be saved.

Romans 11

25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

27 For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins." 

Not only will there be a spiritual gathering of Israel, but Jesus said there will be a physical gathering as well.

Isaiah 11

11 It shall come to pass in that day that the LORD shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea.

12 He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

His elect will be gathered from all over the world.

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.”

If you have been around prophecy teaching at all in the past, I am sure that you have heard this verse taken out of context and taught like this:

The fig tree is Israel and when the fig tree buds this is the last generation. Israel was formed in 1947 so it has been taught that a generation is 35 years, so that would have meant that the generation ended in 1982, then the length of a generation was extended to 40 years which made it 1987, in fact, some taught that the first time the Israeli government convened was 1948, which was one of the 88 reasons why Jesus was supposed to return in 1988.

Look at this verse in context:

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.

The generation that sees the events of the tribulation begin will see it end. As terrible as it may seem, it will not continue forever, and all of mankind will not be destroyed.

35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Heaven and earth are temporary, but the words of Jesus are eternal.

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

Let’s go back to how this chapter began.

Matthew 24

1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.

2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?"

The first question that they asked was, “When.” After spending much time explaining the events of the last days, Jesus let the disciples know that it is not something that they will be able to figure out.

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

Just remember one thing…If someone give you a date when all this will happen, THEY ARE WRONG!

When Paul wrote the first letter to the church in Thessalonica church He told them these words.

1 Thessalonians 5

1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.

2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.

They took those words to heart! The Lord is about to come, and there is no point in us preparing for the future, we are out of here.

Paul brought correction to the church when he wrote them the second time.

2 Thessalonians 3

6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you;

8 nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you,

9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.

10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.

12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.

14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.

15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

Let me leave you with two scriptures today, both spoken by Jesus.

Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

Luke 19:13 “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.”

We are to be watching for we have no idea when Jesus will return, and until He does return, we are to be busy doing His will.