Could Jesus Come Today?

The theme of the Second Coming fills the New Testament. It is the great anticipatory reality of Christian living. We look back to the cross where our souls were redeemed.

We look forward to the Second Coming where our bodies will be redeemed and we will enter into the fullness of our salvation. Dogs droop low. The air feels hot, sticky. The sky grows dark.

Dogs behave unusually. Anyone who lives in tornado country knows those signs. A twister is coming. In fact, it's almost here and those who are wise have already prepared. Well, just as there are some obvious signs that a tornado is imminent, there are clear signs that Christ's return could happen soon and you and I would be wise to get ready. John MacArthur helps you with that today on Grace To You as he takes you to Matthew 24 in a lesson titled, Could Jesus Come Today?

With that message now, here's John. God's word to us this morning is from Matthew chapter 24, verses 32 through 35. That's the next passage in our ongoing study in this great gospel of Matthew. I want to read the passage to you before we take a look at it in depth. Matthew 24, beginning in verse 32. Now learn a parable of the fig tree.

When its branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 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. The hope of every Christian is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, we are those who love His appearing. We are those who are looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are those who are eagerly waiting for, Paul says, the glory which shall be revealed in us. We are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, the glorious liberation of the children of God.

We are waiting for the redemption of the body. We are those, says the New Testament, who wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the day when the saints shall judge the world, when we shall all be changed, when death will forever be defeated along with sin and we will enter into the presence of Christ, as Paul says, like a chaste virgin presented to a bridegroom. We long for the day when we shall be absent from the body and present with the Lord, the day when He shall appear and we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. The theme of the second coming fills the New Testament.

It is the great anticipatory reality of Christian living. We look back to the cross where our souls were redeemed. We look forward to the second coming where our bodies will be redeemed and we will enter into the fullness of our salvation. And we as Christians long for the day when Jesus comes because it is in that day that Satan will be defeated.

It is in that day that the curse will be lifted. It is in that day that saints will be glorified, that Christ will be worshiped, that creation will be liberated, that sin and death will be eliminated. And so with great anticipation do we look for the second coming of Jesus Christ. And we believe it is a real event that will happen as historically as did His first coming with just as far reaching and glorious impact. And when we think about the second coming, we could think about so many, many passages of Scripture, but we're in one that is really without equal. Matthew 24 and 25 is Jesus' own sermon on His second coming. So when our Savior Himself wanted to speak of His second coming, these are the terms in which He chose to speak of it. And so we are finding wonder after wonder as we hear the Savior as He speaks to His disciples on the Mount of Olives and tells them that this is not the end, but He will return in glory and power to establish His kingdom. Now the sermon itself is called the Olivet Discourse because it was given by our Lord right on the Mount of Olives.

It is recorded by Matthew and Mark and Luke because of its tremendous importance. We're looking at Matthew's look which is the longest, most detailed look at the sermon given by our Lord and we're learning so many marvelous and exciting things. Now today we come to this small portion in which our Lord gives the parable of the fig tree. And I think when we're done, you're going to see the tremendous impact and import of this parable as it's applied in His second coming.

But in order to get a grasp on it, we have to back up a little bit and find out where we are. We can't just jump in at verse 32. So go back to verse 3, if you will, of the chapter. Jesus sits down with His disciples after climbing the Mount of Olives, which would be a good climb.

They've spent all day in the temple dialoguing with the religious leaders and the people. And Jesus has said in His final word to the Jewish people in verse 39, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. And He introduced His coming in glory. He introduced His coming in power. He introduced His coming in the kingdom that was promised by the prophets of old.

And that piqued the interest of the disciples. And so when they reached the top of the Mount of Olives, they said to Him privately in verse 3, tell us, and they're filled with anticipation, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age? They want further information about Him coming, further information about that great time when He reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. They want to know when and they want to know what are the signs.

So they really ask two questions. When will it be and what will be the signs? Now Jesus answers those questions in reverse order. The second question He answers from verse 4 through 35 and we've been looking at that second question, what are the signs? The first question, when will it be, He begins to answer in verse 36 when He says, but of that day and hour knoweth no man and then goes on to talk about when it shall be. But we're looking at the section where He answers their question, what are the signs?

What is it we look for to indicate to us that You are coming in glory? Now remember, first of all, He answered them beginning in verse 4 and down through verse 14 by describing some general signs that would occur immediately prior to His second coming. And those signs were called in verse 8, birth pains. They are rapid fire signs that come at the end of man's age just like birth pains come at the end of a pregnancy and they result in the birth of the kingdom. So He told them you ought to look for all these signs. Then in verse 15, He said there is one thing that signals the beginning of the birth pains. There is one thing that triggers these general signs and it is the abomination of desolation.

You remember we looked at that? And that is where the Antichrist will establish an idol of himself in the temple, in the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem and he will make the whole world worship him. That is the abomination of desolations and that begins what verse 21 calls the great tribulation in which the birth pains take place. So they said, what is the sign of your coming?

He says, look for the abomination of desolation and when you see it, run because what follows is going to be unlike anything the world has ever experienced. And He described the birth pains, the rapid fire intense things that are going to happen on the earth until finally the kingdom comes. So He gave them general signs and He gave them an initiating sign that begins those general signs. Then He gave them the specific sign in verse 29. He gave them the specific sign in verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun is dark and the moon doesn't give its light. The stars fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens are shaken.

It's the disintegration of the universe. And then appears the sign. There's the sign. They wanted a sign.

It's that sign. When you see the Son of Man in heaven, then in all the tribes of the earth there will be mourning and you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He'll send out His angels and with the great sound of a trumpet they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So He says to them, you want a sign? Watch for the birth pains triggered by the abomination of desolation. And when they are over, then comes the sign. And the sign is the Son of Man in heaven. All the heavenly bodies have gone black. It is darkness in the universe. And then appears the sign of the Son of Man in blazing glory in heaven come to defeat the wicked, to gather the elect and establish His kingdom. That's what to look forward to.

Having given them those things as indicators, He knows in their mind they still have a question. When all those signs begin, how long will it be? How long does it last until the kingdom is established? How long until the Son of God reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

How long do the birth pains last? How long is it from the sign in heaven to the kingdom on earth? And so to summarize and act as a transition into the when question, He gives this parable and its explanation in verses 32 to 35. And I want you to look at it.

It's marvelous. And I want you to see four elements as it unfolds. First, an uncomplicated analogy, an uncomplicated analogy, verse 32. Now learn a parable of the fig tree.

When its branch is yet tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. Now there is an uncomplicated analogy. I hope you remember that parables were for the purpose of making things clear to the disciples. For example, go back in your Bible for a brief moment to the 13th chapter of Matthew. In Matthew chapter 13 and verse 10 it says, And the disciples came and said to Him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? Why are you speaking in parables?

He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Parables then had a twofold purpose. Parables unexplained hid the truth. Parables explained made the truth clear. That was the twofold purpose of a parable. When Jesus gave a parable to the multitude or to the religious leaders and never explained it, it was a riddle to them.

When He gave it to the disciples and explained it, it was an illustration that made things all that much more clear. So He says, The reason I speak in parables is to hide things from the quote, unquote, wise and prudent of this world and to reveal them unto babes. Parables explained become illustrations by which things are made clear. Parables unexplained are riddles by which things are made unclear. And so Jesus now speaks to the disciples and explains what He means exactly so that for them the parable becomes a living illustration making the truth very, very clear. It is an uncomplicated analogy. Now when you understand that parables for the disciples were for the sake of understanding, not confusing, then you will understand a very important thing about parables. They are not difficult to understand.

They are not complex. They are uncomplicated analogies to illustrate a simple truth. I think it's so important to say that because this particular parable has become used to express almost allegorical concepts rather than analogical concepts. And instead of being an illustration of something, it becomes an allegory and unless you understand the secrets of it, you can't even understand what it means.

We reject the fact that it is to complicate things and believe that it is to make things very clear. So it is a simple, natural analogy that they should understand. It is an analogy of a fig tree which they would easily understand. The place was covered with fig trees. In fact, on this very day in the morning, according to chapter 21 verses 18 to 22, Jesus had already taught them one lesson from a fig tree, hadn't He? Remember He found a fig tree with leaves and no fruit, and He taught them lessons about barrenness and lessons about prayer off of that fig tree.

He wasn't the first teacher who ever used a fig tree. You can go all the way back to the book of Judges, and you will find in the book of Judges in chapters 9, verses 10 and 11, that their Jotham uses a fig tree. You can go back to the book of Hosea in chapter 9, verse 10, and their figs are used...baskets of figs are used to...no, Jeremiah uses the baskets. You can go back to Hosea 9 and 10, and their figs are used to speak of the patriarchs. Then in Jeremiah chapter 24, verse 2, I believe it is, Jeremiah uses baskets of figs to speak of good and bad people. And also Joel chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, uses the figure of a fig tree as an analogy to a spiritual lesson.

You find in the book of Revelation that the universe collapses like figs falling from an overripe fig tree. So the commonness of the tree lent itself to the prophets and the teachers throughout the history of Israel, using it as illustrative of certain spiritual truth. And the Lord does just that here as He did at the beginning of the day when He cursed a fig tree. So it was a common teaching aid. Now our Lord wants them to understand what He says. Would you notice the word learn? He says learn a parable. In other words, don't just listen but get the message. And He uses the word manfano which basically means to learn truly or genuinely so that it issues out in a habit. It's to learn something thoroughly. It's used even to express the idea of acquiring a habit. Get the message. Let it sink deeply into you.

Paul uses the same verb, for example, in Philippians 4.11 where he says, I have learned in whatever state I am there with to be content, something he learned deeply, something he didn't just hear but something that was truly habitual knowledge. And that's the essence of what he's saying. I want you to understand this.

I don't want it to go by you. I want you to grasp it clearly. And here is what I want you to learn. It's the parable of the fig tree. It's the analogy of the fig tree. It's the message or lesson that comes out of this simple illustration.

And here's the story. When its branch is yet tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. Now nobody can misunderstand that. When you see a fig tree put forth leaves, you know that summer is near. What does that mean? It's time for fruit and harvest. In other words, when the tree buds, it's spring, right?

It's really not very complex. What does he mean when the branch is yet tender? In this time of year when the sap begins to flow through those branches, they become somewhat swelled and tender as that life begins to pulsate and pour through and push out the end of the branch in the form of a leaf. There is a tenderness to the tree. There is a need to care carefully for that tree in that period of time.

And so that's what he's referring to. When its branch is tender because it's soft with swelling sap and it pushes out its leaves, you know it's spring. And spring means summer is near and summer means harvest. Summer means harvest. And whenever the Lord in the gospel of Matthew speaks about harvest, He is speaking about the time when He comes to separate the good from the bad. Harvest in the gospel of Matthew speaks of judgment. It speaks of the Lord's coming to deal with the good and the bad. Go all the way back to Matthew chapter 3 and you'll see that. In John the Baptist's message he said, verse 11, that he came to baptize with water under repentance, but the one who comes after me, he said, that's referring to Christ, is mightier than I whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And the fire he has in mind is the fire of judgment. It's referred to in verse 10. It's kind of the fire of judgment when a tree that has no fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. And verse 12 says, His fan is in His hand and He'll purge His floor.

And they used a fan to throw the grain in the air and the chaff blew away and the grain fell back down. And the Lord's going to sift the good from the bad and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. In other words, here John the Baptist looks to a harvest and he sees the harvest as the time when God separates the evil and burns it and keeps the good and brings it into the barn, as it were, the barn of His own kingdom. In Matthew chapter 9, we find again this allusion to harvest and the Lord looks in verse 36 on the multitude. He's moved with compassion on them because they are wearied.

They are literally flagellated. They are literally abused by their false shepherds and they're scattered like sheep that have no shepherd. And He says to His disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His harvest. In other words, God is going to judge the world and Jesus sees compassionately the whole harvest as it were moving toward that judgment, the whole field of men moving toward judgment and desires that some be sent to warn them about the impending judgment when God will separate the righteous from the unrighteous.

In Matthew 13, would you notice also verse 30? And here is the parable given of the wheat and tares. And it says in verse 30 that the wheat and the tares are to be allowed to grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather together first the tares, bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into My barn.

And again the harvest is seen as a time of distinguishing, a time of judgment and a time of burning on the part of those that are evil, reward on the part of those that are good. By the way, that's explained in verse 40. The tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the age. Verse 41, the Son of Man will send forth His angels. They will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity and cast them into a furnace of fire.

There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Now in all of those incidents in the gospel of Matthew where you have the look at a harvest, it is a time of rewarding that which is good and of burning and punishing that which is evil. So what the Lord is saying is very simple in this uncomplicated analogy.

When you see the leaves come forth in the spring, you know that the coming of summer is near and there will be soon a harvest. And since they would perceive the harvest to be the second coming, the coming of God's judgment, they would very easily understand the intent of what the Lord is saying. So the uncomplicated analogy leads secondly to an unmistakable application, an unmistakable application. Verse 33, So likewise ye...he says...when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near at the doors.

Now in saying so likewise ye, he links the parable or the analogy to the application. When you see all these things, and somebody says, What are all these things? And the answer is, all these things. You say, What is the antecedent to all these things?

Well, it's all the things that he's just talked about. What are all those things? The birth pains of verses 4 to 14, the abomination of desolation of verse 15, the need to flee because of great tribulation in verses 16 to 28. So the birth pains, the signal for the beginning of the birth pains, the calamities that come upon the earth, the subtle confusion of those who cry out, The Messiah is here and the Messiah is there, the sinful corruption like a dead carcass to be eaten by birds. And then the sign of the Son of Man in heaven as the sky goes black and the Son of Man appears in all His glory. All these things, he says. When you see all these things, it's like the tree putting forth leaves, you know that it is near. And somebody says, What is it? Doesn't He tell us what it is?

Yes He does. And Luke in recording the same Olivet Discourse was specific, more specific than Matthew at this point. And Luke records this in chapter 21 verse 31, So also when you see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near at hand. So you can write in your Bible margin, it means the kingdom of God. That is the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the end of man's day. It is the beginning of God's day. Know that the kingdom is near. The millennial kingdom of Revelation chapter 20 verse 4 and 5 is in view here when Jesus Christ reigns with His redeemed saints for a thousand years upon the earth and Satan is bound. The glorious kingdom promised to Israel when Israel will be back in its land and will be preserved from all its enemies and become the servants of the Most High God, the time when Gentiles ten at a time will grab onto the skirt of a Jew and the Jew will take them to God that they may know the true God. It is the time promised by all the prophets of old, that great kingdom. So what He is saying is when you see all these things, when you see all the birth pains and all the signs and the ultimate sign of the Son of Man in heaven, know that it is near, so near it's knocking on the door is the metaphor that is used.

It must be the very end. This is Grace to You with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us. In addition to teaching each day on the radio, John also serves as Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, and today's lesson here at Grace to You focused on this question, could Jesus come today? And you know, John, as we're seeing in these lessons, the Christian view of human history is linear and things will not always continue as they are today. We are moving and there is an end to the story and we are moving towards that conclusion. Does that view in itself set biblical Christianity apart from other religions? Well, of course it does, because it tells the truth about the end. Other religions may have some fable about the end, they may have some lies about how things are going to end, or they may propagate the cyclical view of human history, but those are all lies.

The truth is found on the pages of the Word of God and there alone the truth resides. So the only way we can actually know the future is if we look to the Scriptures. And again, this then poses the question, why are so many Christians who have a Bible in which God tells the story of the end confused about the end?

It's not necessary. I remember reading years ago a book in which a guy was defending the amillennial view that there was no millennium, and he said, this is the problem. He said, if you don't change your rules of interpretation when you get to prophecy, you'll end up a premillennialist. In other words, because the Bible so clearly led you to be a premillennialist, that is Christ coming and set up his kingdom, you had to change the rules of interpretation to avoid becoming that, which is essentially a strange admission, but it actually is the fact. If you take the Scripture at face value, I remember I was in Russia, I was in Kazakhstan, and I was teaching for a week everything the New Testament teaches, you know, doctrinally, and the leaders of this group said to me, when are you going to get to the good part?

I said, what's the good part? And he said, the book of Revelation, how it all ends. You know, they were suffering a lot in those days. So I spent a whole day on Revelation, and I didn't know what they believed. I didn't, and they had no formal education. At the end of the day, I went right through the book of Revelation, chronologically, just as it lays out, and they came to me afterwards. One of the most wonderful moments in all the teaching years of my life, they said, we believe what you said today. I said, you do? Yes, we believe what you said today is the truth. All they had was the Bible.

You don't need to be confused about this, and I want to help you with that. I have a booklet called A Jet Tour Through Revelation. This is the high speed tour through Revelation. One little booklet will give you the high altitude panoramic view of this book from beginning to end, and once you understand the structure of the book, you can go back and dig a little deeper, and you can get a copy of Because the Time is Near or even the two volumes on Revelation.

But here's the good news. The Jet Tour book is free to anyone who asks, and you can do that, and we'll get it to you quickly. Yes, we will. And what awaits you and everyone at history's end? The book of Revelation tells the story, and you get a clear, detailed overview of the Bible's final book in this booklet, A Jet Tour Through Revelation. To get your copy, we will send it to you free.

Just get in touch with us today. You can call today during business hours at 800-55-GRACE, or you can go right now to our website, GTY.org. Maybe you've always assumed that the book of Revelation could only be understood by long-time students of Scripture, not just average Christians, but wherever you are on the spectrum, you are going to appreciate this booklet. It's an excellent resource that really takes the mystery out of the Bible's final book. Again, to get a free copy of John's booklet, A Jet Tour Through Revelation, call 800-55-GRACE, or go to GTY.org. And while you're at the website, don't forget about the Study Bible app. It's preloaded with the English Standard, New American Standard, and King James versions of the Bible. And for a reasonable price, you can unlock the footnotes from the MacArthur Study Bible. That's 25,000 footnotes, plus charts and introductions to every book, and it will help you understand Scripture better than ever. Just go to GTY.org and download the Study Bible app. Now for John MacArthur and the staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for being here today, and come back tomorrow when John will look at the changes Christ will make to the earth and to heaven when he establishes his kingdom. Be here for another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace To You.