This is your daily reminder. God has not run
out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome
to the New Mercies Podcast. Welcome back to the
New Mercies podcast. My voice is failing me a
bit today, so I do covet your prayers. Hopefully
there will still be an episode that comes out
tomorrow, depending on how my voice handles the
rest of this episode and the coming days. So
do be in prayer as I try my best to get through
this today. A little bit less energy too, you
might see, but still yet, our reading today takes
us to Matthew chapter 24. This is towards the
end of the book of Matthew. Again, this mirrors
what happened in Luke 21 the other day, and I
want us to note a couple of things. Okay, so
this is a lot about prophecy, a lot about end
times prophecy. I'm going to share with you some
thoughts, and I'm going to give you a little
bit of a, maybe a grander vision of what we are
reading today. To kind of zoom out just a little
bit, picture what the Lord wants us to know from
his text and from his word. Now, again, if you're
following along on a reading plan, I hope and
pray you Read it, soak it in, pray, let the Lord
speak to you today. But I want to give you just
a little insight. So the book of Matthew has...
two sermons that are full sermons in it from
Jesus. The first one's in Matthew chapter 5,
6, and 7, and then this one at the end. This
is kind of Jesus's bookend ministry teachings.
So, Matthew has Jesus's first long, full sermon
in there. It's the Sermon on the Mount, as we
know. That's when Jesus teaches how to live faithfully
under a king. Now, in this sermon that Jesus
teaches. He is teaching prophetically about basically
how to live faithfully until the king returns.
And so these two sermons will give a lot of back
and forth to each other. Maybe you've seen this
discourse and mirrored it to the book of Daniel
or to the book of Revelation or whatever. But
there's also this beautiful picture in the book
of Matthew with Jesus' teaching. Because I also
think it's interesting in Matthew, the first
thing we see is Jesus tempted in the wilderness
by Satan. overcomes and wins that temptation.
Then he teaches how to live practically under
the king. Now he's at this other sermon. He's
teaching how to live faithfully until the king
returns. And then right after this, he conquers
death. So Jesus is the conqueror of temptation,
of time, of death, of everything. He conquers
it all. So I want to make sure that we understand
some of the day. Whenever we read a couple of
verses, this is a long chapter. There's a lot
to it. I really wanted to teach the majority
of this today on the podcast, but I would be
teaching for over an hour and really just scratching
the surface. There's a lot in Matthew 24. So
what am I taking from this as a daily reading
today? is found towards the end of the chapter.
But I want you to know that this is not an end
times talk. There's been a lot going on in our
nation and in the world. Geopolitical issues
and war and famine and all kinds of problems
are happening right now in the world. So many
things simultaneously going on. And I look at
the text and I think, looks like it's lighting
up. Looks like we are here. But I don't want
this to be an end times talk today. This is the
king. preparing us to live faithfully until he
returns. That's what this is. That's what the
word gives us. That's the instruction that we
have, live faithfully until Jesus returns. And
so the setting, here we are, he has just disputed
all of the religious leaders and the hypocrisy
and the nastiness, the corruption that is within
them. And in Matthew 23, now he's judged the
religious establishment, the religious establishment
of the day, he's now turned privately to his
disciples and begins to teach really the fabric
of prophecy. He takes the Old Testament and the
New Testament and weaves them together and gives
us this glorious truth. Jesus is brilliant at
doing that. He does that in the Sermon on the
Mount as well. He takes the Old Testament law,
weaves it in with the New Testament lens, Jesus's
lens, and it's a beautiful, incredible piece
of... work of art, really, as he teaches that
sermon. Now he's into this sermon. This is what's
known as the Olivet Discourse. If you ever read
a lot or study a lot of scripture, this is the
Olivet Discourse. This is when Jesus is on the
Mount of Olives. He's there with his disciples.
He's now teaching, weaves this fabric together,
and it's absolutely beautiful. I want us to remember
and to know that he's not satisfying curiosity
here. Yes, there are questions. Yes, there are
concerns. He's not doing this to satisfy the
curiosity of everybody. So I want you to know,
I had a conversation with a guy earlier today
who said, you know, I used to be so obsessed
with the end time stuff and like figuring out
the timelines. You know, Jesus doesn't give us
a chart. He doesn't teach with a chart. He doesn't
give visuals. He says, here's what this means,
and here's how you can live faithfully. This
is Jesus shepherding his flock. He's not trying
to answer questions. He's trying to shepherd
his people and knowing that the times that are
coming are going to be difficult. They're going
to be turbulent times. So how can I best teach
and train up these that will need my word to
continue and endure? So here's the moment. He's
in the temple, right? It's Herod's temple still
under construction. Beautiful, gorgeous, amazing.
People are talking about it. People are saying
how beautiful it is, and Jesus is warning them,
don't anchor your faith into visible structures.
Don't anchor your faith into what you see, right?
Faith is the believing without seeing. That's
what faith is. Don't just anchor your faith and
your trust and all of your hopes and dreams in
what you can see. The temple can fall. It's going
to, in fact. We've got some things that are happening.
He wants to make sure and clear us up and say,
it's about my presence. It's not about your monuments.
It's not about what you can build for me. It's
about my presence being with you. That's what
Jesus says over and over and over again. Now,
as we read Matthew 24, let me give you my interpretation
of sort of the pockets that you're going to see.
There's a bit of a flow that happens. From verses
4 to verse about 14, we'll see him talking about
the nations, the ongoing conflicts, the deception,
the witness, all the things that are going on
in the nations. Then he changes and heads to
the Jewish nation specifically, the nation of
Israel, the Jews. specifically mentioning Jacob's
trouble and the tribulation, the deliverance
that will happen, all that with that nation of
the Jewish nation. Then he goes into the church
age, or the church understanding is implied there
from verses probably about 32 to the end of the
chapter, a lot towards the end there. And so
a lot about being ready, being watchful, being
alert and not being asleep, not being lazy, but
being ready. And so I want to share something
here that is. is kind of, in my opinion, is very
valuable. But it's down in verses 36 and following.
I want to read just a couple of verses here.
Towards the end of the chapter, I know you're
saying, well, I really wanted to hear what your
thoughts are on all these other pieces and these
other elements and the timelines and all that.
If Jesus would have said, here's your chart,
and I'm going to map it out, I would have said
that. But instead, he says, here's the signs
of what's ahead. I was telling our students a
couple of months ago in one of our small group
sessions that there's a difference. in a sign
and the actual event, right? So for instance,
if you're driving down the road and you see a
sign that says curvy roads ahead, you know, it's
got the squiggly line on it. That means that
is signaling you that the road ahead is curvy.
If I were to take that sign down, is the road
still curvy? Yes. I'm just not prepared for it,
right? That is as simple as I can make this.
this understanding of Matthew 24. These are signs
of what is to come, meaning prepare yourselves.
It's not about the sign. It's about your preparation,
right? So I want to read just a couple of verses
here, beginning down at verse number 36. The
Bible says this, But concerning that day and
hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven
nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were
the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the
Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage until the day when Noah entered the
ark. And they were unaware until the flood came
and swept them all away. So will be the coming
of the Son of Man. You know, there's some more
pieces in that that I would love to share and
love to get into. Symbolism, a lot of signs,
symbols, and contrast, comparisons. And it's
wonderful and gorgeous and beautiful. And I hope
and pray that as you read it today, you're taking
some notes. But that's kind of where I wanted
to focus in, though. Nobody knows the day, the
hour, the time. The Father is the only one that
knows. Jesus is saying not even the Son knows.
Now Jesus is talking in this moment. Not even
I know what day. I don't want you to get caught
up in the sign. I want you to be prepared for
what's ahead. That's what I want you to do. His
first warning in all of this discourse is deception.
As we read also in Luke 21, we also read about
the deception. We read about the deception that
would come in there, and we talked about it a
little bit, but there's first deception. Why?
Because Satan always wants to deceive before
he destroys. We also see don't be deceived and
don't be alarmed. Don't be worried. It's okay.
This is Jesus teaching, saying there's signs
of the end, but don't be deceived. Don't be worried.
And I want you to keep from growing cold, as
it says in verse 12 of Matthew 24. Go back and
read it. He says, don't get cold. Don't, listen,
stay red hot with me. Stay in this communication,
in this relationship. Make sure that we are still
moving. But he talks about towards the end, like
to endure, bear witness, be a person that's active
in the faith. As he says down in verses 36 and
following, he says, listen. And you know this
was happening at this point. People wondering,
I wonder when, I wonder when, I wonder when.
We get so caught up in, I wonder when, I wonder
when. And Jesus just says, here's what you need
to do. Just like the days of Noah, people are
going to be unaware. There are going to be people
unaware, but not you. Because I've told you,
look for the signs. The great Vance Havner once
was quoted by saying that he is no longer looking
for signs, he's listening for a trumpet. is what
he's doing. The signs are all around. The signs
are everywhere. We're preparing for what is to
come, but now I'm just to the point where I'm
listening for the moment that Jesus returns.
He shows back up, and I meet him in the air.
That's what I'm looking for and leaning into.
I want to say that prophecy is not for fear,
but for purity. The prophecy that Jesus gives
us is to purify us. We get lost sometimes in
trying to think we need to be afraid or we need
to learn or we need information, we need more,
we need to know, we need to know, we need to
know. And God's saying, I need you to be pure.
I need you to be holy. And then you're ready
no matter what happens. Here's what's going to
take place, but I need you to be ready. Matthew
did not bracket Jesus' ministry with two sermons
by accident, right? One taught us how to live
under the king. The other taught us how to live
until the king returns and warns us the king
is coming back. He is coming back to reign. There
is a first warning is not war. It's deception,
right? He says, don't be deceived. He didn't
say. Better protect yourself. He said, don't
be deceived. It's because the enemy doesn't just
want your fear. He wants your worship. That's
what the enemy wants. The scariest judgment is
not persecution. It's cold love. It's not loving
the one that loved you. I want to encourage you
today when you read Matthew chapter 24. The return
of the king demands the readiness of your heart.
So today, take some time, align your heart, align
your values, align everything in your life with
this great king because he is returning.