24;32-35 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.
The word eisegesis $(/\ˌaɪsɪˈdʒiːsɪs/)$ means you take a Bible text and interpret it in such a way as to introduce one’s own presuppositions, ideas, prejudice, or biases. Very sadly, many people have done that with Matthew 24. Instead of seeing what the text says, they come with their own preconceived ideas about the Lord’s coming and try to impose that here. Specifically, the dispensational pre-tribulation secret rapture teachers do that. They have made this chapter very, very confusing.
We should never do eisegesis, but always do only exegesis with Scripture, meaning the process of discovering the original and intended meaning of a passage of Scripture. We shouldn’t seek what we want the verse to say, but come like a child with an open mind and learn what the verse says.
It’s amazing how many Christians have believed in the pre-tribulation secret rapture simply because that is the only thing we have heard. The reason we all believed that blindly is that we never really took time to do an exegesis of the Scripture and see if the Scripture really teaches that. The Secret Rapture is solely based on eisegesis, because nowhere does the Bible explicitly teach a secret rapture. All the passages in the Bible that explicitly teach the Second Coming teach just one final coming of Christ. If you examine the Gospels, Epistles, and 1 Thessalonians—reading the full passage with context, not picking verses here and there—you will see one coming, and that coming will bring glory to believers and judgment for the wicked.
We saw in this passage where the Lord Himself teaches His coming, and this is the basis of all New Testament teaching. He said He is coming publicly (where everyone will see Him), bodily, gloriously, awesome, noisy, and final. In the next section, the Lord will teach that His coming is going to be unexpected and sudden; we do not know when He is coming. Scripture says He will come like a thief.
These people have taken all that aspect of unexpectancy out of context to teach this secret rapture: He is coming like a thief, so it’s secret. The thief image is used for unexpectancy (suddenness), not secrecy. Phrases like “one left and another taken” (which we will see next) and “caught up in the clouds” are just a few phrases taken out of context. This teaching was made more popular by the Brethren man John Nelson Darby in his Bible, only in the 19th century.
The Church did not believe in a secret coming before that. The Church Fathers, some of whom learned from the Apostles, none of them believed it. If it were a secret coming, 19 centuries of all the great saints, Church Fathers, Reformers, and Puritans, did not know there was a secret rapture. From the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed, Canons of Dort, Westminster, and London Baptist, in all other great church confessions of faith, you see one Second Coming. Aren’t you amazed how today a whole generation can believe a doctrine that is not clearly taught in Scripture? It shows the modern generation how scripturally illiterate and ignorant we are, and how we can all be easily misled and believe anything. Even some of the most famous preachers we admire are caught in this.
Those people really made a mess of this chapter and say everything this chapter talks about is not the Destruction of Jerusalem (DOJ), but future events before the Lord’s final coming. You should see how they twist, turn, and tear up this whole chapter 24 of Matthew to fit their chart of a secret coming because nowhere does our Lord teach that in this entire chapter.
The Clear Structure of Matthew 24: Application Phase
In our journey to understand this most difficult chapter, we have come to verses 32–35. I should tell you this is one of the most misunderstood and twisted sections. So, we have to gird the loins of your mind, think, and bear with me when I take time to explain some words, context, and connections to clearly understand this. Because some of you hearing me, or hearing an audio, or may hear in the future, would have heard a completely wrong explanation of these verses. Clearly understand these verses so you know what every section clearly says, so you can teach others.
We should thank the Lord because He has helped us clearly understand this chapter so far. Scripture always becomes clearer to us when we understand the context. The whole context is the two questions of the disciples in verse 3: “Tell us, when will these things be?” (DOJ) and “And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” They asked, thinking all would happen at the same time.
The Lord addressed their questions step-by-step:
- Verses 4–14: Inter-Advent Period
- The Lord corrects their misunderstanding that there is a lengthy inter-advent period and shows the five signs of that period: spiritual deception (v. 5), international conflict (vv. 6–7), natural disasters (v. 7), fierce persecution/tribulation (v. 9), and widespread Apostasy (vv. 10–12).
- But in the midst of all this, the gospel will spread. People preach this so fervently as signs of the end times, but Christ said these are not signs of the end: “All these are the beginning of sorrows” (v. 8). These are signs of this inter-advent period and not the sign of My coming.
- Verses 15–28: Answering Question 1 (The DOJ)
- After correcting their misunderstanding that the DOJ and the end will come at the same time, He answers their first question: when Jerusalem will be destroyed.
- The key is: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place,” you are to flee. He details when to flee, the difficulties, how to flee urgently, why (“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” – v. 21), and the deception that will try to stop them from fleeing.
- Verses 29–31: Answering Question 2 (The Second Coming)
- After answering their first question, He addresses their final question: when He will come, the sign of His coming, and the end of the world.
- When He will come: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” (v. 29).
- Forerunners of His Coming: 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.
- Characteristics of His Coming: “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” (v. 30). It will be a personal, bodily, visible, majestic, awesome, and final coming.
- Central Activity of His Coming: “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” (v. 31).
I hope you can see all this clearly flowing through the chapter, step by step.
Now, the Lord has answered all their questions. He has told them when the DOJ will happen, and when His coming and the end of the world will occur. He has told them all they need to know. And now, as a wise preacher and Shepherd of His people, our Lord now begins to apply the teaching that He has given.
From now, starting in verse 32 all the way to the end of chapter 25, He gives specific applications and lessons with respect to both these events (DOJ and His end of the age), and how they should live in the inter-advent period. It is so important to grasp the structure; otherwise, much confusion and mixing up happens.
After describing these two great events, He prepares them and all of us by teaching lessons about these two events.
- Lesson 1 (Verses 32–35): He gives an application/lesson about the first event, the event that will happen in a few years and impact all those disciples: the DOJ. He is here teaching His disciples that the destruction will happen shortly, in fact, within the very lifetime of some of them. If that seems impossible, seeing all those big, impregnable temple stones as a symbol of stability, He assures them, “No, My own authority is behind these words,” and His own infallible word secures it.
- Lesson 2 (Verses 36–44): After the DOJ application, He talks about lessons and applications about His Second Coming, starting with the warning: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (v. 36).
See how clear the context is: The DOJ of Jerusalem will happen soon, in fact, within your generation, but of that day, the coming of the Son of Man, no one knows. Rather than speculate (seeing signs: “Oh, the mark of the beast is coming, Jerusalem is rebuilt, the antichrist is coming”), do not speculate on the time and date. Rather than speculate, concentrate on readiness. That is the lesson: no one knows it; even the Son does not know it. Don’t speculate; be ready, watchful, and live in a state of readiness. That is the clear structure of the remaining chapter.
Today, let us look at verses 32–35, which apply to the nearness of the destruction of Jerusalem.
The Nearness of Destruction (vv. 32–35)
We will understand this section with three headings: A. An Ordinary Parable (v. 32), B. A Prophecy About the Generation (v. 34), and C. The Infallibility of Christ’s Words (v. 35).
A. An Ordinary Parable (v. 32–33)
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!”
We have a simple parable which anyone, even a child, will understand in that land of Palestine. The Lord uses the fig tree—common in that land, unlike the olive tree (which is always an evergreen tree; its leaves don’t wither)—to illustrate a common fact of nature.
- The Observation: During the winter, the fig tree loses all its leaves, the sap stops, and the branches look dry, brittle, and stiff—as if all looks like a dead branch, easy to break. But slowly, just before summer, suddenly, as it renews its life, the sap passes from the roots to the branches; the branches become supple, green, tender shoots and budding foliage. The branches become tender and sprout their leaves, then flowers, and then fruit. The branches will be very tender when it is putting forth its leaves.
- The Prediction: The Lord says: “When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.” Today, our children know it is summer when exams are over; we know by the calendar. But in those days, they predicted many things by nature and the position of the sun. They predicted seasons by trees. When the fig tree branches were tender and sprouting leaves, they knew summer was very near. You judge that spring and summer are near. The change in the tree indicates the new season arriving. They can predict the season by this change. By observation, anyone would be able to tell, “that summer is near” by such a sight.
- Application to the DOJ: So, you have one reality you can see (sprouting branches) and you can predict the reality that you cannot see (summer is near). So also, when you see all these things, know it is near—at the doors!
- The “Things” Referred to: He is specifically referring to the things described in verses 15–26 about the DOJ (e.g., the armies surrounding Jerusalem, the abomination of desolation). This cannot be the Second Coming, for the reasons already stated.
- The Imminence: You have every reason to anticipate that Jerusalem will be destroyed. The signal event is the abomination of desolation, which will tell you to flee to the mountain. Just as in the late spring you see those leaves come out, you know summer is near. You cannot tell it will happen in three or four days, but summer has come very close; summer is not four or five months away, but very close. “Know that it is near at the doors.” This was a common figure of speech denoting nearness, with the plural “doors” referring to the folding doors on the outside of the house.
So, learn this from the parable: My disciples, this whole place will be destroyed. God’s judgment is coming to this nation which has rejected God’s Messiah. The Old Covenant (OCov) Judaism will be dismantled. I am warning you beforehand: there will be a terrible destruction never seen before. So the Lord is warning His disciples and giving them confidence about His prophecy. So He is clearly talking about the Destruction of Jerusalem (DOJ) here.
Those who say this is pointing to the secret rapture have an argument that some of you would have heard: The fig tree is not just an example here; it refers to the nation of Israel. We saw in Matthew 21:18–22, the cursing of the fig tree. I preached it is a symbol for unfruitful Israel, which God cursed. The Old Testament does call Israel the fig tree in some places. They try to use that here. So, the sign of the fig tree is Israel, and now, with Israel returning to its land and being instituted as a nation again a few years ago (in 1948), they say it is the fig tree now sprouting, and so it is a sign Jesus is coming soon. They claim we have to learn that lesson from the fig tree. It seems so correct.
But let us see if that is what the Lord means. The simple answer is found in Luke 21:29: “Then He spoke to them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.’”
There is nothing special about the fig tree; it is just an example. He also says “all the trees.” The fig tree is used as an example because it sheds its leaves in the winter and loses its sap, unlike evergreen trees. When you say the fig tree represents Israel, that is eisegesis, not exegesis—it is importing your notion into the text, not extracting the meaning from the text.
B. Prophecy About the Generation (v. 34)
34 “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
The most debated verse of Christ’s sermon is found in this verse 34. He starts this prophecy with the word “Assuredly,” (or “Truly” / “Verily”). Whenever this comes, we are about to hear a solemn, peculiar statement of Christ—some say the magisterial statements of Christ. Whenever we come across this, we have to give peculiar heed to those words, not play with those words. He is emphasizing something very important.
In this setting, the Lord may have decided to use this, thinking, “My people, I have told you something it may be hard for you to grasp. You have pointed out to Me the magnificent temple structure, unshakable and massive stones. I told you not one stone will be left upon another. I have described the circumstances of how this will happen—how Jerusalem will be surrounded by an army, the abomination of desolation will happen. When you see it, you must flee. There will be unprecedented tribulation. I know at this time when you are seeing all this big temple, the festival, the surroundings, you find this hard to believe. Even now, I have given a simple parable about how you can predict summer. So when you see these things, know it is very close.”
To strengthen your faith, I add to My parable this solemn prophecy about the generation. “Verily, I say unto you.” Here comes a word with unusual solemnity and certainty: “Verily, I say unto you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
The Meaning of “This Generation”
What is this prophecy? Oh, again, there is so much of gymnastics to twist this meaning because this is where dispensationalists get stuck. This is a crucial point. If a dispensationalist says everything that will happen in this chapter is all future, before Christ’s final coming, then what is “this generation”? Christ says “this generation will not pass away before all these things take place.”
Many scholars escape the natural meaning. They go to Old Testament passages, take some Hebrew words for “generation,” translate them to Greek, and explain the word genea as “race,” which means the whole nation of Israel will not pass away until all these things take place. They argue, “See, that is why the nation of Israel is still alive.” Even great preachers like MacArthur know that is not right, so he gives some five reasons, and one gives another meaning which he claims is his own interpretation: “this generation” means an ungodly, Christ-rejecting generation like this will not pass away. His view is that the future generation, meaning the generation not taken up in the secret rapture that sees all these signs that will happen in the seven years of tribulation, will not end. He says the church is not mentioned in this entire Matthew 24; it is all for the Jews after the rapture. You kind of smile when great giants and preachers struggle and go wrong, and you, a little babe, know the right answer. You end up asking, “What is the point? Why are you twisting the natural meaning of words so much to fit your pre-tribulational, pre-millennial graphs and maps?”
See what Christ says. Some liberals at least honestly say that “generation” means the people living at that time, but Jesus was mistaken or the disciples wrongly heard and wrote it down. So, there is another error in the Bible.
The simple meaning of the word generation is used to describe the sum total of certain people who are living at a certain time. Jesus said, “O faithless generation,” and “this evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign.” This is the normal and ordinary usage of the word. All of the other uses of “generation” (genea) by Christ in Matthew’s Gospel refer clearly to the first-century generation of contemporaries (cf. 11:16; 12:39, 41, 45; 17:17; 23:36). Why should that mean “race” now, just to fit a scheme? If that is not enough, note the Lord says “this generation.” So, the natural understanding of those who heard Christ would be, “He is talking about us.” For Jews, a generation generally meant 40 years. The Lord said to Moses, “This generation will not enter the promised land but die in the wilderness,” and they roamed the wilderness for 40 years. As Don Carson stated, “This generation… can only with greatest difficulty be made to mean anything other than the generation living when Jesus spoke.”
The Prophecy’s Fulfillment
How are we to understand this? See with our understanding of the context, how beautifully this fits. The Lord is talking about the DOJ here. Our Lord has told them, from the simple parable, that there are certain things they will be able to see—inter-advent signs, the abomination of desolation, armies surrounding Jerusalem—these are things that will occur over weeks and months. When you see that, then flee. Just as you see fig tree leaves, summer is near. So when you see these things, the DOJ is near. “My people, I want you to escape that judgment coming on the nation. So I told you, flee to the mountains, [I described] difficulties while fleeing, how urgently you have to flee, [and the] reason: ‘For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be’ (v. 21). Flee! Believe Me. I want to give another clarification: this will happen within your own lifetime, within your generation.”
34 “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
The sum total of men living at this time will not die until all these things connected with the DOJ shall be accomplished. So He makes this prophecy of the generation: within the lifetime of those crowds who are in the temple and the disciples sitting there on the mount, the DOJ would occur, within 40 years. They would live to see these general characteristics of the inter-advent period (religious deception, international tension, natural disasters) but also the abomination of desolation and the DOJ. All of this will happen in their own lifetime. All who know history know that is exactly what happened: within 40 years, in 70 AD, the DOJ did occur, and this solemn prophecy of Jesus Christ was literally fulfilled.
C. The Infallibility of Christ’s Words (v. 35)
So, we have seen the ordinary parable and the prophecy of the generation, and finally, the infallibility of Christ’s words.
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
What is our Lord doing? You see, again He is strengthening and buttressing the faith and confidence of the disciples. He has told them things that would so unhinge them that they could not conceive of the DOJ without the end of the world and the coming of the Messianic kingdom. He says the temple will be destroyed, not one stone upon another, and now that this will happen within their own lifetime. This was unbearable for them.
It is as though the Lord draws near and puts His arms around them and says, “I know this is hard for you to swallow.” You see this big building, the sun striking the golden parts of that temple, the crest of the temple, the nation so strong, Roman peace, circumstances, world situation, growth—all a picture of unchangeable, impregnable, and seemingly unshakable stability. “I want you to know what will happen soon. Believe My words as your life. Hang on it with full weight. Only then will you be able to escape the coming wrath. Learn from the parable of the fig tree: when you see these signs, it is near. And further, it will happen within your lifetime. If you still cannot trust My words, let Me pronounce My majestic statement on the utter infallibility of My words.”
This statement has a positive and a negative aspect, all of which focuses on the reliability and infallibility of the word of Jesus.
C. The Infallibility of Christ’s Words (v. 35)
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
1. Positive: Stability is Temporary
“Heaven and earth will pass away.” Think what appears more stable to us than heaven and earth. To us mortals, they seem more enduring, more lasting. This earth, right? From the day we are born, it is there, never passed away. Places keep changing; we have seen some places like forest, all developed, but the earth is there. It is so stable. From our childhood to this day, we have never seen anything unshakable pass away. You see big mountains, peaks, ranges, Himalayas, Grand Canyons, oceans, this big globe—they seem to be the very symbol of eternal, unmovable things. The Lord says the entire earth as we know it will pass away.
What seems more enduring than the heaven, with billions of galaxies, the sun, and the stars? Think of what is more reliable and unshakable to us than the sun that has given light for thousands of years. They are fixed in their appointed places and are more reliable—sunrise and sunset. What is more enduring than that? Yet our Lord says heaven and earth shall pass away.
Interestingly, 2 Peter 3:10 uses this very exact phrase, “pass away,” to describe the dissolution of the universe: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
John also uses the same words in Revelation 21:1: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And there was no more sea.”
So the Lord says the symbol of greatest stability and permanence will pass away. Not only will every stone in the temple be cast down, but a time is coming when the earth and heaven will pass away.
2. Negative: The Eternal Word
“But My words will by no means pass away”—a double negative, meaning no, not ever, ever shall they pass away. My words shall not pass away. My words may seem like a dream, unbelievable, but believe Me, they are not empty and vain. They have so much weight and reliability than the entire universe. Every word I say will be accomplished. He shows the certainty, unalterableness, and sure accomplishment of these things.
My dear disciples, you can put all the weight of your full trust in My words; don’t trust anything else. Don’t trust your religion, your temple, your circumstances, the world around you. Trust My words, the infallible, unchangeable, eternal word of God which endures forever.
Interestingly, just like we say, “The son talks like the Father,” the Lord uses words very much like Jehovah, like the Father. Isaiah 40:6, 8 says: “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
Imagine what else Christ can say to make us believe His words. How else strongly can He say it? Nothing can be more firm and strong, being fixed and supported by God Himself. This tremendous affirmation of authority is attached to His words that nowhere else is found attached to the words of God Himself.
He assures them with the infallibility of His words, why? In order to strengthen the faith of those disciples, to live by faith, not by sight, to hang as it were all their hopes and expectations in His words. When they are in that crisis, no matter what people claim (“Lo, now Christ is coming! See, they are coming! He is in the temple! He is doing miracles!”), Jesus says, “Don’t believe them. It is only My words that shall never pass away.”
The DOJ is the formal dismantling of everything connected with the Old Covenant Judaism, that system. “I encourage you with this prophecy of the generation. If you still struggle to believe this, let Me give you this utter infallibility of My words. My words which described the circumstances of Jerusalem: ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.'”
So we have the ordinary parable, the prophecy about the generation, and the infallibility of Christ’s words.
Lessons for Us Today
You and I live after the DOJ. That is over, but we already saw history tells us believers who trusted Christ’s words as their life escaped that terrible destruction because of Christ’s words. This same Jesus said Jerusalem would be destroyed, and it was destroyed exactly as He said: not one stone left upon another. Likewise, He prophesied about this Second Coming. It will happen exactly as He said.
How do these words apply to us today? The DOJ of Jerusalem was a foretaste of the end and destruction of this world. Christ has prophesied what will happen in these days we live, the inter-advent period, and He has prophesied about His coming.
He has told us the time we are living is the inter-advent period, a period of:
- Spiritual deception (v. 5)
- International conflict (vv. 6–7)
- Natural disasters (v. 7)
- Fierce persecution/tribulation (v. 9)
- Widespread Apostasy (vv. 10–12)
Then He told us:
- When He will come: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” (v. 29).
- Forerunners of His Coming: The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
- Characteristics of His Coming: It will be personal, bodily, visible, majestic, awesome, and final (v. 30).
- Central Activity of His Coming: Gathering His elect (v. 31).
Do you believe these words? I think the principle of Christ’s utter infallibility is an important application to us: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
See the monumental nature of this verse; it should burst our brains. Nations and empires have passed away—Babylon, Persian, Greek, even those who ruled Israel, the Roman Empire—all passed away. Christ’s words still survive, and in every generation, they walk triumphantly, fulfilling their words with uninterrupted speed, advancing and triumphant. His words are eternal truth based on the fixed, immutable counsels and decrees of our God. Our Lord’s predictions will certainly be fulfilled.
How much do we believe the words of Christ? What value, respect, importance do you give to His words? How much do you fear and obey His words? How much is our life based on Christ’s words? See, all our life is based on what we believe, what we give importance to. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
All our life is based on something we believe. What do we believe? We believe in our family, the company that gives us a job for 10 or 20 years, a house for 20 years. This world, some of us hold onto with a death grip. “Oh, what will happen to my life, my health, my children? Who will take care of them after I die?” All our thinking and efforts are focused on that. Life is shaped and run by these fears and principles. We think all this will go on forever. Christ says not only these things, this whole earth and heaven will pass away. How pathetic to base our life and trust on these passing away things!
As you go out today, may these words keep ringing in your ears. Everything that you see and think, everything you face today, see it through the light of these words: this life of mine will pass away, this family of mine, this house, this circumstance, this society, this government, even this entire generation, why, all of creation will pass away.
What is your life based on? Christ says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
If we truly believe this, shouldn’t we hang our entire life—body, soul, past, present, future—on His words? If His words have such weight and reliability than the entire universe, what importance do you give for His words in your life? Is that your daily meditation? Is that your food? Is that what you want to shape your thinking and behavior with? How you behave at home as a husband, wife, or child is by His words. If His words will never pass away, should we fear His words more than anything in life? If you see how little you believe the magnitude and weight of Christ’s words, no wonder He said, “When the Son of Man comes, will He see faith on earth?” Whether you believe it or not, His infinite words have eternal power, His words of eternal life.
It may seem so foolish or dream-like to believe today that one day we will hear a trumpet sound, the sun will be darkened, the moon stop giving its light, stars falling, and the powers of heaven shaken, the sign of the Son of Man appearing in glory and power. Now it may seem unimaginable to us, impossible. Christ says, “My words will by no means pass away.”
What is one thing on which our souls should hang during this time of the inter-advent period? He said this is a period of abounding transgression: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (vv. 12–13). What is it that is going to save us from this lawless age? Who is the man who, in spite of all this spiritual deception, international conflict, natural disasters, fierce persecution, apostasy, and abounding transgression, will endure? What will deliver us from the coming wrath? What will help us to be ready? It is our utter trust in the words of Christ, believing that whatever may happen, I hang on the words of Christ. We have to put all the weight of our hope and faith on His words.
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
See how much our Lord wants to strengthen our faith. Our Lord knew well the natural unbelief of human nature. He knew that scoffers would arise in the last days, saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:4). He knew that when He came, faith would be rare on the earth. He foresaw how many would contemptuously reject the solemn predictions He had just been delivering as improbable, unlikely, and absurd. He warns us all against such skeptical thoughts with a caution of peculiar solemnity. He tells us that, whatever man may say or think, His words shall be fulfilled in their season, and shall not “pass away,” unaccomplished.
May we all lay to heart His warning. We live in an unbelieving age. Few believed the report of our Lord’s first coming, and few believe the report of His second (Isaiah 53:1). Let us beware of this infection, and believe to the saving of our souls. We are not reading cunningly devised fables, but deep and momentous truths. May God give us a heart to believe them. The accomplishment of these prophecies might seem to be delayed, and intervening events might seem to disagree with them, but do not think that therefore the word of Christ is fallen to the ground, for that shall never pass away.
If we truly believe His words, we will live with the expectation that Christ may soon return. In all Church history, how did the Church live pure, holy, and ready for her Bridegroom? One generation after another has lived in the hope of His return, lived in expectation of His return, and lived with the prayer, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” One generation after another has laid their loved ones in the grave and have taken comfort from 1 Thessalonians 4: “we should not sorrow as others who have no hope. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
The generation that fed their hope with those words is under the ground. Subsequent generations had hope; they are gone. Other generations came and lived in that hope. Maybe we also will go under the earth. In the midst of this, what can we take hold of? What will keep us from being swept away in this lawless age? What will make us endure to the end? This very verse, people! Oh, this is what we should take hold of as our life.
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
We are prepared, as it were, to let millennia be struck by this verse. Nations may rise and fall. Governments may come and go. Politicians, Pharaohs, Hitlers may come and go. “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
If you and I have to endure to the end, we must hold these words as our life, whatever the world may say. We have to say, “Here we stand,” because in the eyes of faith, we can see a day will come when all the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man and will come out from the grave. He will come with a great trumpet sound, innumerable angels, in clouds, in all glory and power. Every man who ever lived will wake up with a resurrected, deathless body and stand before Him. He, as Judge of the universe, will decide the eternal destiny of every man who lived. That is the true reality. All that we see before and now will be a passing dream. If this heaven and earth will pass away like a dream, what is your life, what is your family, job, what is this generation? All passing dreams.
Oh people, don’t live in a dream; wake up to reality. This is reality. If the trumpet calls in five minutes, where are you?
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
This is where you rest, hang your souls, your entire hope, faith, and confidence. This is a place of confidence. We are prepared to hang our souls upon the word and trustworthy infallibility of Jesus’ words. His words which infallibly happened in the first event will happen infallibly in the second event. That certainty calls for readiness and preparation on our part. Let Him find you faithful when He comes!
Our Lord’s will is that we live with expectation and readiness for His coming; that we prepare for His coming. And so a logical question to enter into our minds is, “How does one go about watching for His coming? How is one prepared for His coming? What must a person do to be ready for the coming?” Much of what Jesus teaches in the remaining Matthew 24 and 25 is in answer just to those kinds of practical questions.
But unless you unshakably believe His words that He is coming—that even if heaven and earth pass away, His words will not pass away—you will never take any serious steps to prepare for His coming. So this passage teaches that in order to be prepared and watchful, we must long for His coming. We must truly anticipate His coming. It must be an event which is significant on our horizon/view. It must be something that is part of our daily consciousness, a longing for the coming of our Lord. But also, we see that we must trust completely in the truth of His word in regard to His coming. Our thinking about His coming must be ruled by the authority of His word.
A Warning for the Unconverted
Those who are outside of Christ, you have not trusted what He has done for you. The Second Advent of Christ will be a glorious day for all true believers in Christ. But the Second Advent will be a day of gloom for those who do not know Christ as personal Lord and Savior. How sad that day will be for willful rejecters of Christ (II Thessalonians 1:7–8). How many times have you heard the gospel, but you continue to reject or delay to believe and repent? Oh, will you not tremble to see what has happened in history to a whole nation that rejected Him? If God didn’t spare His own Old Covenant people who rejected Christ and His words, what will He do to you?
May these words keep ringing in your ears until you tremble and they don’t allow you to sleep until you find rest and peace in Christ.
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
In your present state, this should fill you with terror, because Jesus’ words to you are very clear. Jesus says when He returns, He will summon all men to stand before Him. Those who are not savingly united to Him…
I dreamed that the great judgment morning Had dawned, and the trumpet had blown; I dreamed that the nations had gathered To judgment before the white throne. From the throne came a bright shining angel And stood on the land and the sea, And swore with his hand raised to heaven, That time was no longer to be. Chorus: And O, what a weeping and wailing, As the lost were told of their fate; They cried for the rocks and the mountains, They prayed, but their prayer was too late. The souls that had put off salvation— “Not tonight; I’ll get saved by and by; No time now to think of religion!” At last, they had found time to die.
Oh, what a weeping and wailing as the regardless of what you claim… “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” They shall go into everlasting punishment. You will go to a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. How terrible! These shall go into everlasting punishment—unquenchable fire, unbearable torment, day and night, without interval, without end, for all eternity. He said this. These words will be fulfilled.
You may think that will never happen to you because you cannot understand how these words will be fulfilled. Oh, remember this:
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
Oh dear friend, do you want to be an eternal monument to those words? This same Jesus says, “He who comes unto I will no wise cast you.” He says today, “Come unto me, I will give you rest.” Sin will send you to eternal hell. He pleads with you. He has delayed His return so He is not willing you should perish. But once He comes, there is no way He will change His words. When He comes, you can scream, shout, plead, and shudder at that time. Nothing will touch His heart. Even the heart of the infinitely compassionate Son of God—God will magnify His justice in your damnation and prove the validity of His Son.
Today I plead with you. God calls you. He has done everything He can do. It is a wonder. Now my heart weeps when people, after hearing so much, still don’t get saved—my own children, I plead with them. But at that time, Scripture says, we will be so God-focused that we will praise God to see even our children, husbands, wives, and relatives go to hell, because God’s justice will be glorified by them. He will so transform us at that time.
If He banishes you, it will be because you chose to remain an impenitent sinner, loving your sin and hating the God who extends mercy to you in Christ.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 