In verses 29 through 51, we have Christ's prophecy of the signs that come after the Great Tribulation, and then the application our Savior makes of these prophecies. Matthew 24, starting at verse 29 through the end of the chapter. Hear now the word of Almighty God, inspired by His Spirit, profitable for us. Matthew 24, verses 29 to the end. Verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 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. Now learn a parable of the fig tree, When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field. The one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill. The one shall be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good men of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore, be also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh, who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household. to give them meat in due season. Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But, and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Thus far the reading of God's holy word from the gospel of Matthew 24 verses 29 through 51. May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of it, and now in consideration of God's sacred word. Verses 29 through 35, we have Christ's prophecy of the signs after the tribulation to be fulfilled within that generation. Notice verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, this is the megathlipsis, the massive, the big, the great tribulation. described in verses 21 and following, that regarded the destruction of the Jews and through that destruction of the Jews and Jerusalem and Judea and the city and the temple, what? The final consummation of all things and the end of the world. The destruction of the Jews being a type and shadow of the destruction of all of God's enemies on the last day. The Westminster annotations say of this time, after the great troubles of the church, Revelation 20 verses seven through nine, where of these Jewish or Gentile troubles might be a foregoing sign. Some think that by this word immediately, we have the certainty of the thing, not necessarily the timing per se, but that this shall certainly come to pass as if it followed immediately. And what are the things that would follow? The sun shall be darkened. The moon shall not give her light. The stars shall fall from heaven. And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Let me give you a few references in the prophets. This is prophetic language. Isaiah 13 verse 10 concerns the fall of Babylon, the sun and the moon being darkened. Joel 2 verse 10 and verses 30 and 31, the Lord coming to judge his people and Zion. Also in the sixth seal, as we saw in Revelation 6, 12 through 17, in that sixth seal, there would be the same sort of language used concerning the coming of God's judgment. All these precursors to the final judgment. Verse 30 tells us, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. This applies both to 70 AD and the destruction of the temple. They saw signs in the heavens concerning their destruction and also the end of the world. Matthew Poole comments on this. He says that he is more inclinable to interpret these signs of the last judgment and to think that our savior is now passed to satisfy the disciples about their other question concerning now the end of the world. For although Christ's coming may sometimes signify that remarkable act of his providence in the destruction of his enemies, yet the next verses speak of his coming with great power and glory. So in other words, yes, the coming of Christ can refer to his judgments against his enemies, but look at what succeeds this. You'll see his sign in heaven, but then you'll see the son of man, verse 30, coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. This refers to the bodily return of our savior. You remember what the angels told the apostles, Acts 1 11. They said, as you see him ascend right now with clouds, you shall see him return in his own body, in his own person, on the clouds of heaven. This may be figuratively applied to 70 AD and the destruction of the temple, but it has reference to the return of Christ at the end of this age. Verse 31. He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. Does that sound familiar? The trump of God, 1 Thessalonians 4, 16. The precursor of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, the gathering together of all the elect from the four winds. What is that? for the number of creation. All the parts of creation will give up their dead and all shall come, the saints, and gather together with the Savior for the final judgment. I note then this doctrine. There is a day in which God will judge the world in righteousness by that man he has ordained. There is a day of the Lord. There is a day of judgment. There is a day of resurrection when all shall be raised from their graves. The wicked to be thrown finally into hell with their body for everlasting torments. The godly to come at last to heavenly bliss with their glorified bodies. There is a day that shall come. Flee then to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lay hold upon him as your refuge. He alone is like the ark. The flood came and destroyed all the wicked. How were they saved? By being in the ark, which is Christ himself. lay hold of the Savior, be found in Him, not having your own righteousness, but that which is through faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord says to learn a parable of the fig tree. There is a likeness in this natural truth. You see that summer is near because the branches are full of sap. They begin to green up. They push out with foliage. Then you know summer's coming. So likewise ye, he says, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near. Whether the destruction of the temple, whether the consummation of all things, if I give you markers, find those markers and know those markers, he says. This generation shall not pass, he tells us in verse 34, till all these things shall be fulfilled. Now again, as I pointed out to you previously in the former part of this chapter, there are words that are ambiguous. What is this generation he's talking about? Does it mean those alive at that day? Or does it mean the present race of men from his day until the end of time? And the answer is, yes, it means both. Just as the word oikoumenos could refer to the Roman world where the gospel is preached, or to the entire planet, so this word generation, this generation shall not pass. 70 AD, yes, that generation, that specific group of people. All of the generations leading up until the end of time, yes, for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth shall pass away, verse 35. As Peter speaks, 2 Peter 3, 7 through 13. As John speaks, Revelation 20, verse 11, and 21, verses one and following. As our Lord Jesus Christ spoke, Matthew 19, 28, the regeneration of all things. As the blessed Paul speaks, the redemption of the creature to accompany the resurrection of the body. Romans 8, 19 through 23, heaven and earth shall indeed pass away. There shall be a new heavens and a new earth. There shall be a regeneration of all things. But notice, my words shall not pass away. Those utterances of his mouth, spoken through the apostles and prophets, the word of Christ himself, they cannot be corrupted. They cannot pass away. They cannot have no fulfillment. They shall not pass away. Whether a promise, whether a threat, whether a prediction, whether a doctrine, they shall in no wise, no, not at all pass away. He uses again the double negative, remember from earlier. U may. U is the stronger absolute negation. May is the lesser or more relative negation. And when you put them together, no, not at all, absolutely not. My words shall absolutely never in any way pass away. I note then this doctrine. The words of Christ are more durable than the whole of the created order. Did you see that? How solid is heaven and earth? Well, it's the thing that endures forever. It seems to man, it's always been before man was created. It's gonna go on, it seems on forever. All of our ancestors lived in this earth. They've seen the heavens from the beginning of time. They seem very durable, but they're going to go away. They're going to pass away. What is more durable than the most durable thing? His words, that's what he says. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. What then ought you to trust in? Should you build your life upon creatures? Should you set your hope In creatures, in heaven and earth, in humans, in angels, in saints, where will you put your hope? His words, that's what he says, my doctrines, my logoi, the utterance of my thought, that's where you put your hope, that's where you put your faith, that's where you build your life. Remember the wise man, he built his house upon a rock, the Petra, the cornerstone. What is that? What is that rock that you build your house on? My words, says Jesus. Let everything else lose its grip upon your mind, your will, and your affections, and place those squarely on the words of the blessed Savior. Verses 36 through 41 has the unknown hour, the days of Noah, and the taking for judgment. But of that day, he says, that illustrious day, knoweth no man, he says. No, not the angels of heaven. And Mark, he tells us, not even the Son of Man, according to his human nature, knows the day. Only the Father in heaven. God has concealed these truths, even from the human mind of Jesus Christ. Let that sink in. The Savior, according to his human nature, did not know the day, but the Father did. We must not pry curiously into those things even the Son of God did not know in his human nature. Not even the angels, he says. Then the unknown and sudden appearing of Christ is compared with the days of Noah. Verses 37 through 41. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Now this word coming is parousia, his appearing for judgment, as we read the same word in First Corinthians 15, 23. It refers to his presence or his bodily presence. Paul is absent, he sounds real tough, but when he's bodily present with his parousia, he seems weak, they said about the apostle Paul. It refers to the presence of a corpse, of a person, of a human, of a body. Jesus, our Lord, raised from the dead, ascended into heaven. He shall come again with great glory to judge the living and the dead in his own body. So shall also the parousia, the presence, the coming of the Son of Man be. One shall be taken, and the other left. Christ has a tribunal, and in His tribunal, His seat of judgment, He has those who judge with Him. Primarily the 12 apostles, which he says shall sit with him and judge the 12 tribes. But did you know that he says all of the saints will judge even angels? He told this to the Corinthians. You can't judge your own cases. Don't you know he says that you shall judge angels? Can you not judge these smaller things? We shall be transformed in the twinkling of an eye. 1 Corinthians 15, 52. We shall be caught up together with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4, 17. We shall judge men and angels together with Christ. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 3. Matthew 19, verse 28. Then our Lord applies these prophecies. Oh, so important. What should I do with this knowledge? How should I make application? Christ tells us, verses 41 through 51. Watch, be ready, be faithful and wise, and resist carnal security. Verse 42. Watch, therefore. This is what we call the present imperative. An imperative is a command. The present tense means it keeps on going. Keep on watching, he says. Be constantly watching for the sudden nature. No precursors. He will come as lightning from east to west. Be watchful. He gives the parable of the master of the house in verses 43 and 44. Be ready, he says in verse 44. Be also ready, be constantly ready, always ready. Then verse 45, who then is a faithful and wise steward or servant? Luke 12 uses the word, one who rules as a steward. Here it is a slave, a slave of the master of the house. In Luke, it is the steward of the house, it is both. Do the master's business when none is watching. That's what it means to be faithful. The word wise means to think clearly, to think soberly about what you should be doing and doing it with all your might as unto the Lord. Who is this faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household? to give them meat in due season, to apportion the food that I have for my servants. Who are the wise servants? Well, they're not those who get drunk, who say, well, he's not coming back. Now I got to look out for number one. Now I can be lazy and eye serving. If he's there, I'll do his bidding. If I don't think he's watching, I'll do whatever I please. What will happen to such a faithless, time-serving, lazy, self-seeking, drunken servant? What do you think the master of the house will do to him? Well, you had the official position, what can I do to you? You had the keys to the kingdom, what can I do to you? Is that what he says? No. He shall cut him asunder. A most cruel and violent punishment, but you know he deserves worse. And then after having cut him in half, what's he gonna do? He's going to appoint him his portion with all the actors, all the pretenders that we call hypocrites. Those with a mask so that you can't see what they really are, what they really look like underneath the mask. What is it? Well, we don't know. Hypocrites won't show you. This will be his lot. This will be his destiny. This will be his inheritance. Death shall feed upon him. He shall inherit death and damnation. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you ever seen people in intense pain, intense sorrow, for things that they have lost, for pain that they experienced, gnash in their teeth? You know what that is? It's the pain of loss. No more comfortable presence of God. Only the damnation of hell. Referred to, as we sang in Psalm 49, as darkness, perpetual darkness. Jesus calls it elsewhere, outer darkness, away from the presence of God who is light, only to experience his wrath. As bad as things are in this life for some people, it is nothing compared to hell. It's a drop in the bucket. incomparable misery, punishment without end. So then our Lord says, watch, be ready, do not be drunken, do not be forgetful, do not be lazy, do not be time-serving, know that I am coming to judge the living and the dead. Flee then to Jesus Christ, be his faithful stewards, have no fear of his presence, Or as the Holy Ghost says through the Apostle Paul, henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his parousia, his appearing, his coming in judgment. Let us love that day. Let us long for that day by trusting in his son and doing his will. and thus far the exposition of Matthew chapter 24 verses 29 to the end of the chapter.