Matthew 24 Part 5
Matthew 24:37ff
In our last lesson, we concluded with Christ’s teaching about the days of Noah:
Christ’s Return will Be Like the Days of Noah.
(Mat 24:37-39 NKJV) "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. {38} "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, {39} "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Christ did not list wicked, evil things. He simply listed the everyday events and the important events like marriage. Life as usual.
Life as usual, or at least so they thought.
Perhaps that’s the point also.
They ignored the building of the Ark!
The great indicator, or warning that they overlooked!
The Rapture
(Mat 24:40-41 NKJV) "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. {41} "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
Why Did I Call this the Rapture?
rap·ture n. 1. The state of being transported by a lofty emotion; ecstasy. 2. An expression of ecstatic feeling. 3. The transporting of a person from one place to another, especially to heaven.
I wanted you to see the dictionary definition of rapture. Many religious people talk about the rapture, and there is much confusion about the rapture.
I believe that everyone here believes in the rapture; that is, our being taken up to heaven, but probably none of us call it that. There are many different ideas about how it will all take place.
Some teach that the ones taken are taken for the judgment of condemnation. The Bible doesn’t teach that!
(Mat 24:40-41 NKJV) "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken1 and the other left. {41} "Two women will be grinding at the mill:
1ðáñáëáìâÜíù paralambanoô Thayer Definition:
1) to take to, to take with one’s self, to join to one’s self 1a) an associate, a companion
The Bible is Clear on Some being Taken
(1 Th 4:16-17 NKJV) 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. {17} 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.
Notice that the caught up is “to meet the Lord in the air.”
Do you want to be taken or left?
If you Are Still in Doubt . . .
(John 14:3 KJV) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive1 you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
1ðáñáëáìâÜíù paralambanoô
What about “Left behind?”
1. You don’t want to be left behind.
2. The reason that Jesus is explaining this is to tell us to be ready. Notice the very next verse:
(Mat 24:42-44 NKJV) "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. {43} "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. {44} "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
You want to be One of the “Gathered!”
(Mat 24:31 NKJV) "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.
Before leaving the thought of “Left Behind,” there are a few observations we should make.
1. This is not a secret, mysterious rapture as many portray it.
(Rev 1:7 NKJV) Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
This will not be done secretly.
According to Luke’s account, it will be Global.
(Luke 17:34-36 NKJV) "I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. {35} "Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. {36} "Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left."
Obviously for some it is clearly night, for others it is clearly day: they are working in the field!
There is a final warning for preachers and/or church leaders.
(Mat 24:45-51 NKJV) "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? {46} "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. {47} "Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
I think the NASB gives the meaning better:
(Mat 24:45 NASB) "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?
I believe these to be elders and preachers because they are the one who feed the flock.
(1 Pet 5:2 KJV) Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Teachers also have a great responsibility!
(James 3:1 NKJV) My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
Some leaders have abused their privileges!
{48} "But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' {49} "and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, {50} "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, {51} "and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
1. Don’t ever make the mistake of counting on having plenty of time to get right with God!
2. Religious leaders are never to be abusive of their authority or influence!
(Mat 23:4 NKJV) "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Religious leaders have bound many burdens which Christ never bound:
Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses have enforced amounts of work and/or money that is to be given to their work.
Many Christians today are bound by traditions and teaching of men that are given as “right out of the Bible.”
(Mat 15:9 NKJV) And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"
There is no easy answer to the problem. I myself have spoken of the doctrine of the Trinity. When a search is made for the word “Trinity,” it cannot be found in the Bible.
We must be students of the Book and know what it says! There is no substitue!
Alton Howard changed the words to the song, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” from “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity” to “God over all, and blest eternally.”
I must be honest: it irritated me.
I liked the other version better.
I guess a lot of people did, because in our new books, hymn #47 ends with these words, “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity”
I never called brother Howard to ask why he removed that expression, and I knew that word was not in scripture. I was wrong about wanting the word "Trinity" in our songs. It isn’t in the Bible, so why should I sing about it?
We must be careful to search the scriptures to see if these things are so.
In Summary: What Does Matthew 24 Say?
Jesus answered their questions about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age and His second coming.
He told what we need to do:
They needed to flee the destruction of Jerusalem.
We need to be ready for His second coming so that we can be caught up to live with Him eternally.
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