PT-3 "Intro to Matt. 24:36-51)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/31/2024 8:21 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-3 “Intro to Matthew 24:36-51”

 

Bible Reading &Meditation                                                           Reference:  Matthew 24:36-51

 

            Message of the verses:  “36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38  "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. 45 “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? 46 “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

          I have mentioned that I have always had trouble with this section of Scripture, and I am beginning to better understand it now, especially after praying about it.  There is a section in this passage that I believe is the key to understanding what the Lord Jesus is saying But of that day and hour no one knows.  I think that one has to put themselves in the position of those saints who are living in the tribulation period to best understand this, for they will understand the signs and know that it will be soon when the Lord returns but not actually know the day or the hour because of all the very difficult times that will be going on during this awful time period.  I remember going to my first Moody Founders Week back in 1978, I remember it well because there was a very bad blizzard that happened during that January of 1978, and mostly because the theme of the conference was the second coming of Jesus Christ.  I bought a book that was like a novel of the tribulation period and in that book there was a woman, a wife of a man who was blind and they had to be careful to care for her because of her blindness.  At the end of the book when this couple knew that the Lord would soon return this woman regained her sight as the Lord returned.  My point is that they did not know the day or the hour, but they did know it was going to happen very soon. 

          I will now continue to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary and will do this until I am done with this introduction, which will probably take a couple of days to finish it.  I will continue from where I left of yesterday.

          “Even if they knew the precise time of Christ’s appearing and were certain they would live until then, they would be fooling themselves to think they could simply receive Him before that time.  The fact that they will have put off trusting in Christ for as long as they have will be certain evidence they have no sincere desire to follow Him as Lord and Savior.  If the indescribable perils of the Tribulation will not persuade them to turn to the Lord, the knowledge of His exact arrival time certainly will not.

          “As far as believers are concerned, knowledge of the specific time might also make them careless, causing them to withdraw and become spiritually sedentary, thinking it would be pointless to make plans for serving the Lord or to make further effort to win the lost.  No one, believer or unbeliever, could think of function normally knowing the exact day and hour of Christ’s coming.

          “Neither will the supernatural would know the precise time, not even the angels of heaven.  Although the righteous angels enjoy intimacy with God, hovering around His throne to do His bidding (Isa. 6:2-7) and continually beholding His face (Matt. 18:10), they are not privy to this secret.  The angels will be directly and actively involved in the end time as God’s agents to separate the saved from the unsaved (see Matt. 13:41, 49), but for His own reasons God the Father will not reveal in advance exactly when He will call them into that service.

          Still more amazingly, not even the Son knew at the time He spoke these words or at any other time during His incarnation.  Although He was fully God as well as fully man (John 1:1, 14), Christ voluntarily restricted His use of certain divine attributes when He became flesh. ‘although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (Phil. 2:6).  It was not that He lost any divine attributes but that He voluntarily laid aside the use of some of them and would not manifest those attributes except as directed by His Father (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38).”

            Lord willing I will finish quoting this section from MacArthur’s commentary in my next SD.  I have to say that I am excited to have new insight into this passage.  PTL. 

1/31/2024 8:55 AM

 

PT-2 "Intro to Matthew 24:36-51"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2024 9:27 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-2 “Intro to Matthew 24:36-51”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matt. 24:36-51

 

            Message of the verses:  “36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38  "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. 45 “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? 46 “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 

            This section of Scripture is something that has been sort of a mystery to me.  When I first became a believer I was listening to sermons by Hal Lindsey, and after become a believer I continued to listen to his preaching on cassette tapes, and in one of his sermons he was saying that this section was talking about those who would go in the Rapture of the church.  I know now that this entire section of Matthew 24 and 25 speaks of the tribulation period for the church is not mentioned as it is already gone to be with the Lord in the Rapture.  The part that I don’t understand in these verses is when the Lord says that no one will know when He returns, and the reason that I have a problem with that statement, even though I know it is true, is that according to prophecies in Daniel which tells us how long the tribulation period will last and that the Lord will return after that is that date is pretty much known.  I will continue to study this section as I continue to listen to the two sermons from John MacArthur on these verses and also continue to look at His commentary until it makes sense to me, and that best way that will happen is to ask the Lord for wisdom to understand this section in the right way.  With all of this said I suppose that there will be a great number of quotes from MacArthur’s sermons and commentaries to help me understand it better.

 

            Let me begin by quoting from MacArthur’s commentary the following:  “Daniel and Revelation also speak of an expanded period of 1290 days (Dan. 12:11; Rev. 12:6).”  I have to stop at this point from his commentary and say that in Daniel 12:11 it does say 1290 days, but in Revelation 12:6 we read “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”  He goes on to write “30 days more than the basic 1260 of the Great Tribulation.”  In the case of Daniel I agree that it says 1290 days, but not in Revelation 12:6.  He then goes on to write “Daniel also mentions a 1335-day period (Daniel 12:12), adding another 45 days to make a total of 75.  As suggested in chapter 3 of this volume, it seems that the best explanation for those additional days is that they will cover the time when the Messiah descends to the Mount of Olives, creates the great valley in which the nations of the world will be judged, and executes that judgment (see Zech. 14:45; Matt. 25:31-46).”  I will look at Zechariah 14:4-5, but not all of the verses in chapter 25 of Matthew as we will go over them when we get there later on this year.  “4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!”  Now in his commentary John MacArthur writes Zechariah 14:45, but there is no Zechariah 14:45 so I have to believe it means Zechariah 14:4-5 which what I put here.

 

            I will quote two more paragraphs here and then will stop for today.  “Nevertheless, even with all those indisputable signs and precisely designated periods, the exact day and hour will not be known by any human beings, not even Tribulation believers, in advance.  Although the Lord gives no reason for their not knowing, it is not difficult to imagine some of the problems that such knowledge would cause.  For one thing, if unbelievers knew the precise time of Christ’s arrival, they would be tempted to put off receiving Him as Lord and Savior until the last moment, thinking they could make the decision any time they wanted before He actually is scheduled to appear.

 

            “But even if they planned to wait until the precise date and hour of Christ’s appearing, they would not know if they would live until that time.  Like the rich farmer (Luke 12:16-20), they will have no guarantee of the length of their lives and therefore have no guarantee they will still be alive when Christ appears.  Although the generation living when the signs bein will not pass away until Christ returns (Matt. 24:34), many individual members of that generation will pass away, come by natural causes and a large percentage at the hand of the Antichrist.”

 

1/30/2024 10:33 AM

 

PT-1 "Intro to Matt. 24:36-51"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/29/2024 8:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-1 “Intro to Matt. 24:36-51”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matt. 24:36-51

 

            Message of the verses:  “36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38  "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. 45 “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? 46 “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 47 “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 

            I want to begin by saying that these verses above are very lengthy, and it will take us a long time to go over them.  I have listened to two sermons from John MacArthur on these two verses, close to two hours long, and in his commentary there are 13 pages of notes.  This total section will take us through the 24^th chapter of Matthew, a chapter along with the 25^th chapter come from the Words of our Lord telling us what will happen during the end times, that is during the tribulation period which goes along with Revelation 6-19.  Keep in mind that these are the Words of our Lord that He spoke to His disciples in answering a question that they ask Him while sitting on the Mount of Olives, a question that they may have thought that they knew a part of the answer, but the answer that they got from the Lord goes deep into the future and has not yet happened even in our time which is some 2000 years after it was asked.  I have to say that I truly believe that the answer that Jesus gave His disciples is very close to being seen.  I look at what is going on in the Middle East, especially in Israel for the last 100 plus days and it could be the time what the Lord will descend in the clouds, and with the sound of the trumpet and the voice of the arc angel call His bride home to be with Him, and then return with the Old Testament Saints and the bride of Christ to end the greatest war ever to happen on planet earth.

 

            When most of us were kids we use to play a game called “hide and seek” a game where a group of kids would chose a person to stay behind and count to 60 while the rest of the kids would attempt to hide from him or her.  Right before he or she would open her eyes that person would say “Here I come, ready or not,” and then would go to find the other kids before they could come to a certain place to touch a given object and be home free without being caught.  That phrase “Here I come ready or not” “could well be applied to Jesus’ second coming, because He is coming according to the sovereign plan of God, with no regard for worldwide or individual readiness.  Jesus is coming when He is coming, because the when and how of His return have long since been predetermined in the sovereign wisdom of God” writes John MacArthur in his introductory comments on these verses we will be looking at for a while.

 

            I have written about the question that the disciples asked Jesus which is recorded in Matthew 24:3 “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’”  It is time for a little review.  We have already looked at the “birth pains that would immediately precede His coming in verses 4-28, and the abomination of desolation in verse 15, which would precipitate those signs, and of the supreme sign of His own appearing on the clouds of heaven in verse 30.  Now He gives them a partial answer to the “when” part of the question, when will it happen?

 

            John MacArthur writes the following which I have to say still do not quite understand:  “Although there will be observable, worldwide, and unmistakable indications of His coming just before it occurs, the exact time will not be revealed in advance.  Of that day and hour no one knows, Jesus declared categorically.  The signs He had just been describing will be conclusive proof that His arrival is very near.  Once they have begun, the general time period of His return will be known, because one of the key purposes of the signs will be to make it known.  But even during those sign-days the precise day and hour of Jesus’ appearing will not be know, a truth He reiterates several times in this Olivet discourse (see 24:42, 44, 50; 25:13).”

 

            With that being said I have to say that I look forward in continuing to look at these concluding verses of chapter 24 of Matthew’s gospel.

 

1/29/2024 8:50 AM

An Unchanging Authority" (Matt. 25:35b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2024 7:51 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  “An Unchanging Authority”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 24:35b

 

            Message of the verse:  “but My words shall not pass away.”

 

            I mentioned in the last SD that it would be short, but it was longer than I thought it would be as the Lord laid some things on my heart that I had to express in that SD.  Today’s SD will be short as I will just quote from what John MacArthur has to say about this last part of verse 35 that are written in his commentary. 

 

            Finally, Jesus declared, although the heaven and the earth will pass away, My Words shall never pass away.  On another occasion He said, ‘It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law’ that is, His Word, ‘to fail’ (Luke 16:17).  It is not possible for the Word of God to be broken (John 10:35), including what Jesus says here about the end time.  The psalmist established the same great truth when he wrote that Scripture is ‘clean, enduring forever (Ps. 19:9).  Whatever is touched by sin must pass away.  The Word is untouched!  It is like silver refined seven times in a furnace of fire—utterly pure (Ps. 12:6).”

 

            We live on a sin cursed earth, sin cursed because of what first happened in the garden of Eden when both Adam and Eve sinned, causing every other person ever born, with the exception of Jesus Christ, to be born with a sin nature, and that is why we all sin.  As I think about the Word of God which Jesus is talking about here and the other references that John MacArthur brought up from the Scriptures it amazes me that His Words are the only real pure thing left on planet earth, and it is by God’s grace and mercy that I am able to read and understand the truth of His Word because of the Holy Spirit who lives within me, and that happened when the Lord Jesus saved me 50 years and two days ago.  For that I am ever thankful.

 

1/28/2024 8:05 AM

An Unpresented Alteration (Matt. 24:35b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2024 7:15 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  “An Unprecedented Alteration”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 24:35a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Heaven and earth will pass away”

 

            This SD will be very short as it is Saturday, and my wife and I have been on vacation in Maui, Hawaii for a few weeks staying at her sister’s house as she and her husband are in Antarctica on a vacation.

 

            I have to say that studying the prophetic sections of the Bible is something that I truly enjoy doing.  On my other blog where I publish things that I have written earlier I am posting my study of the book of Daniel, and at home in our Sunday school I am teaching through the book of Zechariah.  I have mentioned that it was through the end-time prophecies that the Lord got my attention and used them to draw myself to Him 50 years ago yesterday to which I am eternally grateful.  As many of you know on my blog that I am writing to at this time I am studying the book of Matthew and am in my fifth year of studying it and it just so happens that I am in the 24^th chapter of the book of Matthew which along with chapter 25 are what is called “The Olivet Discourse” and the reason is that the Lord Jesus Christ is talking to His disciples on the Mount of Olives and the things that He is teaching them, and us as to do with the end times of what is called the Tribulation period.  I think that it is best because of the shortness of what is found in MacArthur’s commentary on this partial verse that I just quote what he has written. 

 

            “Jesus says explicitly that both heaven and earth will pass away.  That expression first appears in 5:18, where it is not primarily used as a prophecy but as an analogy to express the enduring quality of the Word of God.  It is used similarly in this text.  The universe will fail, but what Jesus has just said will not fail to come to complete fulfillment.  That analogical use of this phrase does not, however, preclude a directly prophetic intent.  It is clearly predicted in the Old and New Testaments that the universe will be dramatically affected in the divine judgment of God.  But that even will occur a thousand years after the return of Christ, when heaven and earth as we now know them will cease to exist (ct. 2 Peter 3:10; Rev. 21:1).”

 

            I want to look at these two verses and then comment on the one from 2 Peter 3:10. 

 

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up (2 Pet. 3:10).

 

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea (Rev. 21:1).

 

            I want to focus in on the word “elements” in 2 Peter 3:10 and look at its meaning in the Greek and how this Greek word is pronounced as seen in the Strongs concordance.

 

4747 στοιχεῖον stoicheion stoy-khi’-on

 

1) any first thing, from which the others belonging to some series or composite whole take their rise, an element, first principal e.g. the elements, rudiments, primary and fundamental principles of any art, science, or discipline {He 5:12 }

1a) the elements of religious training, or the cermonial precepts common alike to the worship of the Jews and of the Gentiles {Ga 4:3,9 }

1b) the ceremonial requirements esp. of the Jewish tradition, minutely set forth by theophists and false teachers, and fortified by specious arguments {Col 2:8,20 }

1c) the principles and practices of the old covanent world order {2Pe 3:10,12 }

 

I have mentioned that I was searching for how this world would end when the Lord Jesus Christ saved me.  One of the things that I learned very early on in my study of the Word of God comes from this word “stoy-khin’on” and the term that I learned was similar to what is found in Strongs.  Basic building block is how I was taught what this word meant and then was told that the basic building block of the universe is the “atom.”  Then I was taught that no one knows how the atom is held together, and the way that it was explained to me came from an example of a magnet.  You put a north and south part of the magnet together and they stick together, even jump to be able to touch each other.  You put two North’s or two South’s together and the repel.  That is what I was told are in the inside of the “atom” and that is why no one knows what hold the atom together.  When these elements “atoms” are let loose as seen in 2 Peter 3:10 then the universe will be like one very large atomic bomb and it will burn up.

 

1/27/2024 7:53 AM

PT-2 "An Unmistakable Application" (Matt. 24:33-34)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2024 8:19 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  PT-2 “An Unmistakable Application”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 24:33-34

 

            Message of the verses:  “even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.  Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

 

            In my last SD I went into some detail in talking about “this generation” writing my thoughts on what this is referring to.  In John MacArthur’s commentary, and in his sermon on this subject he has much to say about his feelings of what generation Jesus is talking about and actually comes up with the same answer to this question that I have for it, and that is that the generation that Jesus is talking about is the generation that will see all these things happening, the things that He went over in earlier verses.  So what generation is the one who will see all these things happening?  Well the answer in my estimation is the generation that goes through the tribulation period, as they surely will see all these thing that Jesus spoke about earlier in this 24^th chapter of Matthew.

 

            In the 24^th chapter of Matthew, also in the 25^th chapter we do not see anything about the church, or church age.  In the book of Revelation we see the church in chapters 2-3 as Jesus writes letters to seven churches.  Then we read the following in chapter four “1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’”  Again we see the term “after these things” and perhaps wonder what things is the angel talking about.  The things in the first three chapters of Revelation, and as stated the letters to the seven churches.  Now I believe that the term "Come up here” is a picture or the Rapture of the church, and one of the reasons is that you don’t see anything about the true church again in Revelation as it is in heaven when all these things that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24-25, and all the things found in Revelation 4-19 speak of what will be going on during the tribulation period.  Now chapters 4-5 are an introduction to what is going on in heaven right before the tribulation period begins in chapter six.  The point that I am making is that the church will not go through the tribulation period, however there will be new believers that go through it and those are the generation that Jesus is speaking about in chapter 24 of Matthew.

 

            I am not going to go over all the different people’s opinions about what “this generation” is talking about.  John MacArthur does go over then in his sermon and in his commentary and you can listen to his sermon on this section by going to his website gty.org and look for this particular sermon there. 

 

            I will end this SD by quoting from the very last paragraph in MacArthur’s commentary as he sums up his thoughts on “this generation.” 

 

            “This generation” will therefore be composed of Jews and Gentiles who are alive a the rapture but not taken up because they do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.  Among that generation, however, will be many who will later come to salvation during the Tribulation through the witness of the divinely called and protected 144,000 Jewish believers (Rev. 7:3-8) and the supernatural preaching of the angelic messenger (14:6-7).”

 

            I have to add to this that once one of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists leads a person to the Lord then that person will also become a witness for Jesus Christ, and that is why there will be many, many people come to know the Lord as their Savior during that time period of the tribulation period.  I have heard some commentators say this will have the most believers in it than any generation before it.

 

1/26/2024 8:51 AM

PT-1 "An Unmistakable Application" (Matt. 24:33-34)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/25/2024 10:15 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                     Focus: PT-1 “An Unmistakable Application”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 24:33-34

 

            Message of the verses:  “33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

 

            I have to begin this SD with what I think is an important quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary:  “When the context is studied carefully, Jesus’ application of the parable is as unmistakable as its analogy is uncomplicated.  All these things can only refer to what He has been talking about—the birth pains (vv. 4-14), the abomination of desolation (v. 15), the need to flee because of the impending perils (vv. 16-28), and the catastrophic upheaval of the universe (v. 29).  Those things will indicate that He is near, just as the budding fig tree indicates that summer, the harvest time, is near.”

 

            This definition that I just quoted may seem very simple, but that is ok, as simply understanding this section of Matthew 24 is what we need, as we don’t need to make it more difficult than it really is.

 

            MacArthur goes on to write “In the NASB text, He translates the Greek verb estin, which literally means ‘it is,’ as the term is most commonly rendered.  In Luke’s account Jesus says, ‘the kingdom of God is near’ (21:31), which is consistent with the reading of ‘it’ (KJV) in Matthew 23:33.  The supreme event of the last day, and the event about which the disciples had queried Jesus (v. 3), was the Lord’s personal coming to establish His kingdom.  The basic idea is therefore the same, whether the pronoun is He or ‘it’ or whether the antecedent is the appearance of Christ, Christ Himself, or Christ’s kingdom. When Christ’s appearing is near, He Himself will be near and His kingdom will be near.  When those signs occur, the divine King will be right at the door, knocking and ready to come in. 

 

            Now we want to look at verse 34 and comment on some things that go along with it.  34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”  I may have talked about what I am about to write in an earlier SD, but I believe that even if I did it will be worthwhile to write about it again.  I want to say that tomorrow January 26, 2024 is a special day for me, for it was on that date 50 years ago that the Lord Jesus Christ saved me while visiting a high school friend of mine who lived in Florida.  One may wonder what this has to do with verse 34, but bear with me as I try to explain.  While visiting my friend in Florida he suggested that I listen to a series of tapes which were sermons on the end times by Hal Lindsey.  In one of these lessons Lindsey spoke about this section in Matthew 24 and what he said about the words “this generation” in my opinion now was not what the text really means.  He like others taught that the meaning of “this generation” were the people who were alive during the time when Israel became a nation on May 5, 1948.  There is more to my story, and that happened in November of 1973 when I got a whim to get on an airplane to visit my friend in Florida for a weekend.  Flying from Cleveland, Ohio to Florida routed me through Atlanta, GA, where I had a layover.  I ran into a young couple who began to talk to me about this very verse from Matthew 24, and they were explaining to me the same thing which I learned from Hal Lindsey’s message.  God was preparing my heart for salvation.  So what does this mean when the Lord was talking about “this generation?   I have one more little story that goes along with this, and it has to do with when I was studying the gospel of Mark a fairly long time ago.  I was using the sermons that John MacArthur was preaching on Mark because his commentary had not yet come out and I would listen to them while walking on my treadmill.  Mark 13 is also about the Olivet Discourse and that was what I was listening to that day.  When the subject of “this generation” came up I believe that Lord spoke to my heart before MacArthur said what he thought this meant, and that is “this generation” is speaking of those who are alive on planet earth during the tribulation period, those who are believers that is, as they will not pass away until all these things take place, and I have already mentioned what “these things” mean earlier in this SD.

 

            I have to say that looking back 50 years ago from tomorrow that the Lord has truly been very faithful to me by saving me that day and then a few months later saving my wife.  We have two grown children ages 47 and 45, and have seven grandchildren, eight if you count one who is in heaven after a miscarriage a long time ago that my daughter had.  Thinking about what the Lord has done in my life after that wonderful event 50 years ago has gotten me emotional, and very thankful to the Lord for saving me what seems to be a long time ago.

 

            Lord willing we will pick up where we left off today in the next SD.

 

1/25/2024 11:05 AM

 

 

           

PT-3 "An Uncomplicated Analogy" (Matt. 24:32)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/24/2024 8:41 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-3 “An Uncomplicated Analogy”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matthew 24:32

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now learn the parable from the fig tree; when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;”

 

            I ended a rather short SD yesterday by talking about the Greek meaning of the word “learn” and the reason it was so short was because my wife and I were going out to breakfast with some rather new friends, and then we went out to eat lunch with some older friends of ours, not older in age, but knowing them for a longer period of time.  I can say that driving on Maui is very nerve wracking as the traffic seems to always have too many cars going at any part of the day. 

 

            Now back to the word learn as Jesus reminded them of a commonly known fact about a fig tree in which He stated “when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;” and this is nothing that His disciples did not already know but it was a part of this parable that He is speaking to them.  Now we have a rather large maple tree in our back yard, a tree that when we first moved into our house over 46 years ago I could touch the top of it.  In early spring the “sap” begins to move up the tree in order to produce the leaves that usually come out in late April or early May.  The same is true with this fig tree that the Lord is talking about as the sap begins to flow into the branches, which make them tender, and new leaves appear on the tree, then “you know that summer is near;”  Even the children knew this truth that a budding fig tree meant it was spring and that summer was near, right around the corner.

 

            Now I have been studying the gospel of Matthew going on five years and one thing that is true in Matthew’s gospel is that the figure of harvest represents judgment, the time of separating unbelievers from believers and of condemning the unbelievers to judgment.  In the beginning of Matthew we saw that John the Baptist spoke of the Lord’s coming with “His winnowing fork…in His hand [to] thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12; cf. v. 10).  Next we want to look back at Matthew 9:37-38 “37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.’”  MacArthur adds “Without saving faith in Him, those thousands of people, and millions of others like them, were destined to judgment.  That field of people was ripening for God’s judgment just as a field of wheat or a budding fig tree ripens for the harvesters.  In the parable of the wheat and tares Jesus spoke of the farmers’s allowing the good wheat and the bad tares to grow together until the harvest time, when the tares could be accurately identified and destroyed (Matt. 13:30).”

 

            As I conclude this last SD on this verse in Matthew I want to conclude it by again quoting the last paragraph in MacArthur’s commentary to sum up his thoughts on this verse:  “In all of those instances, the harvest symbolizes a time of reearding the righteous and punishing the wicked.  In this present parable of the fig tree Jesus was simply illustrating to the disciples that, when the signs He had just been describing begin to transpire, the time of His return will be very near.”

 

            Lord willing in tomorrow’s SD I will begin to look at Matthew 24:33-34 as MacArthur entitles this section “An Unmistakable Application.”

 

1/24/2024 9:12 AM 

 

 

 

 

 

PT-2 "An Uncomplicated Analogy" (Matt. 24:32)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/23/2024 7:30 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-2 “An Uncomplicated Analogy”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference: Matthew 24:32

 

            Message of the verses:  “32 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;”

 

            I have mentioned many times as I study this 24^th chapter of the book of Matthew that in it Jesus is talking about what will happen during the end-times, the Tribulation Period, which is the 70^th week of Daniel’s prophecy given in Daniel chapter nine 24-27.  With that said then this parable that Jesus is giving must fit into that period of time in order to make sense.  Given that information then the parable should not be that difficult to understand.  MacArthur writes “Palestine had an abundance of fig trees, which were not only grown commercially but were also found in many family yards, for the sake of the delicious fruit as well as for the shad they provided during the hot summer months.”

 

            He goes on to write “Jews were used to the fig tree’s functioning as an illustration.  Jotham used it in his story shouted to the inhabitants of Shechem from the to of Mount Gerizim (Judg. 9:10-11); Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs in his vision after Nebuchadnezzar took captives from Judah to Babylon (Jer. 24:1-10); Hosea used it as a figure in his prophecy about Israel (Hos. 9:10); and Joel used a splintered fig tree to illustrate the devastation of Judah by a plague of locusts (Joel 1:4-7).”

 

            Jesus speaking of fig trees in this parable to His disciples would have been a very familiar thing for them to hear for they knew much about fig trees and even meanings found in the OT that related to them.  Jesus used fig trees in stories that He told in Matt. 7:16; 21:19 and Luke 13:6-9.

 

            The Greek word for learn is “Manthano” and it means to genuinely understand and accept a teaching, to accept it as true and to apply it in one’s life.  It was something used of acquiring a life-long habit.  The Apostle Paul declared that he had “learned (manthano) to be content in whatever circumstances” he was in (Phil. 4:11).  That sort of learning is much more than mere head knowledge; it involves genuine acceptance of a truth and determination to live a life consistent with it.  Jesus wanted the disciples to learn in their inmost beings what He was teaching to understand and receive it with regard to the its great importance (writes MacArthur).

 

1/23/2024 8:00 AM

PT-1 "An Uncomplicated Analogy" (Matt. 24:32)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/22/2024 9:16 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-1 “An Uncomplicated Analogy”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matthew 24:32

 

            Message of the verse:  “"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;”

 

            I have talked in earlier SD’s about the way Jesus used parables, but it may be good to talk a little more about theme here as we begin looking at this parable.  Parables had a two-fold purpose in Jesus’ ministry.  When unexplained, they concealed truth; when explained, they revealed truth.  Now when Jesus gave a parable to the multitudes or to the unbelieving religious leaders without also giving an explanation, was a riddle to them.  When He gave a parable to His disciples and explained it, it was a vivid illustration that make a truth clear and understandable, and so I believe this will help us out as we look at these verses in which Jesus called a parable.

 

            I have also explained why it was that Jesus did speak in parables which is the question that His disciples asked Him when He first began to do this in Matthew chapter 13, and explained that after the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of doing miracles in the power of Satan and not in the power of the Holy Spirit that He gave up in teaching them.  This is called the unpardonable sin and could only be done while the Lord was here on earth.  Saying that miracles were done through the power of Satan caused those leaders to never be able to come into the kingdom of God, ever. 

 

            Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 13 10-11, 13 “10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 11 Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted…13 "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

 

            Now in light of the fact that Jesus’ parables were given for the sake of helping the disciples understand His teaching, it is evident that He told the parable from the fig tree to give them further light about His second coming, because that is the subject of Matthew chapters 24-25.

 

            Now the key thing here is to remember that these verses constitute a parable from Jesus and to understand what a parable is (as we just explained).  You have to understand this in order to understand this parable.  I will conclude this SD with a quote from John MacArthur’s commentary, and Lord willing will finish this section in the next SD.

 

            “Unfortunately, this parable, like many others, has often been made confusing and misleading by those who view it as a complicated allegory rather than a simple analogy.  Some interpreters, for instance, contend that the fig tree represents Israel.  A popular version of that view is that the budding of the fig tree refers to Israael’s becoming a political state in 1948.  Because Jesus does not identify the fig tree as Israel, that meaning would have been totally obscured to the disciples and to every other believer who lived before the twentieth century.  In that  view, Jesus would not have been employing the parable to clarify His meaning but to conceal it.  Some who hold to that interpretation suggest that the budding of leaves on the fig tree represents a spiritual revival in the new state of Israel.  But modern Israel, though very much alive physically, is one of the most secular nations on earth.  As a state, it is very resistant, if not hostile, to the gospel.”

 

1/22/2024 9:58 AM

           

PT-2 Intro to Matthew 24:32-35

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/21/2024 9:11 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-2 “Intro to Matthew 24:32-35

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference: Matthew 24:32-35

 

            Message of the verses: “32 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”

 

            Today is January 21, 2024, and I have mentioned that on January 26, 1974 is when I became a born-again believer in Jesus Christ.  In five days it will be 50 years ago that the Lord saved me.  In today’s SD as I desire to conclude the introduction to these verses, which are a parable spoken to our Lord’s disciples by Him, He talks about the parable of the fig tree, and to understand this you must realize that it is a parable that He is using here.  Another thing that reminds me of when I came to know the Lord is the verses that John MacArthur uses in his introduction to these verses.  He writes “Believers anticipate the day when they will ‘all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye’ and their perishable and mortal bodies put on the imperishable and immortal (1 Cor. 15:51-53), when ‘death is swallowed up in victory’ (v. 54), and when ‘the saints will judge the world’ (6:2).  They look forward to the day when they will be absent from the body and…at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8) and when the church will be presented to Christ as His pure virgin bride (11:2).  They look forward to the day when the will see Him just as He is and become like Him (1 John 3:2).”

 

            I remember during the week that I was visiting a friend of mine in Florida in 1974 where I was listening to a series of tapes spoken by Hal Lindsey on the end times and he brought up the verses in 1 Corinthians 15 which spoke of how believers would be changed from a mortal body to an immortal body and I was telling my wife about this saying that I did not know if I wanted that to happen to me.  That certainly has changed in my mind soon after I became a child of God as I look forward to that more and more each day of my life.

 

            As one reads over the New Testament they will find that the theme of Christ’s second coming permeates there and is the great anticipatory reality of Christian living.  The truth is that the Lord’s return will be as real and as historical an event as His first coming, it is just in the future when it will happen and people who will be living in the Millennial Kingdom will look back on both His first and second coming like we as believers look back at His first coming now.  I have to say that fifty years ago I look different than I look now, but when I get to heaven in my new immoral body that I will look the same throughout eternity, and I look forward to that.  MacArthur adds “In that day Satan will be defeated, the curse lifted, Christ worshiped, the creation liberated and restored, sin and death conquered and saints glorified.”  That is a day that I truly look forward to.

 

            He goes on to write “Among the many passages in Scripture that describe the Lord’s coming again, Matthew 24-25 is unequaled because it is the message from Jesus’ own lips about His return.  After He told them of the series of signs that will precede His coming, including the supreme sign of His personal appearance, the disciples no doubt were still wondering about the time when those dramatic signs would begin, about what their duration would be, and about how long it would be from the sign in heaven of His appearing to His establishing the kingdom.

 

            “In Matthew 24:32-35 Jesus gives another parable about a fig tree.  The parable summarizes and illustrates what He had just said and acts as a transition to His answer to the disciples’ question about when His coming would be (see v.3).  In this parable and its explanation, four elements can be discerned; and uncomplicated analogy (v. 32), and unmistakable application (vv. 33-34), and unprecedented alteration (v. 35a), and an unchanging authority (v. 35b).”

 

            I truly look forward to better understanding this parable as I move through this section of Scripture.

 

1/21/2024 9:49 AM