When God Acts; It’s Obvious (Matthew 24:23-29).Sunday December 7, 2025
Intro:
Without an understanding of dispensations, this sermon is very difficult to interpret.
Dispensationalism chart. (Mystery Age: Church and Tribulation)
Mat 24:23-29
Satan’s ultimate purpose is to lead people away from Christ.
Satan attempts to fool the world with false teachers (even the elect) and false Christ’s.
Mat 24:23-24 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. 24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
In the Tribulation, the proclamation by false teachers who claim to have Christ in their group, are motivated by Satan to draw the saved Jews out of hiding.
In the Tribulation there is no restraint.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
What is then unrestrained is also in the church restrained.
The NT epistles do not call for or encourage signs, but rather: faith, knowledge, wisdom, and good works and all through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit experienced by faith. These are for a witness to the world and ultimately for the glory of God.
Deu 13:1-3 If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,' 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
God’s instruction on false prophets gives us perfect insight into Satan’s whole game plan - lead people away from God; plain and simple.
Leading you astray from the Lord’s mind is easiest for the devil when you are in great need.
It is when we are in a great need of relief from some trouble or pain that we are most susceptible to false solutions.
We are offered solutions, in our own minds, from outside of us, that promise relief. Are they godly?
Satan knows we are impatient creatures.
We have to wait on the Lord. We will be delivered, but it will not be easy to wait.
Application: What to do while you wait?
Cast your burdens on the Lord as frequently as needed. You will take the burden back a few times, likely. (1Pe 5:6-7; Mat 11:29-31).
Mat 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Hope in the future: deliverance is certain. Imagine how wonderful it will be.
The particular situation in the Tribulation: (Rev 12)
Believing Israel is hidden away [protection / frustration of the enemy]
Rev 12:6 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.
Rev 12:13-17 And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. 17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Fulfillment of the prophecy through Isaiah.
Isa 26:20-21 Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course. 21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain. [look at vv. 16-19 for Israel’s inability to victory]
Psa 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.
Psa 31:19-22 How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men! 20 You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues. 21 Blessed be the Lord, For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city. 22 As for me, I said in my alarm, "I am cut off from before Your eyes"; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried to You.
Warning: The Word of God is always warning us. Keep it close.
Mat 24:25 “Behold, I have told you in advance.”
Mat 7:15; Mat 15:3-14; Mat 16:6-12; Mat 23:1-36; Mat 24:11.
Deception v. the reality of God’s acts.
Mat 24:26-27 "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. 27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Deceivers are always pointing to obscure, not so obvious things: He is in the desert or the inner room.
Jesus then tells us that His second coming will be as evident as a massive lightning storm flashing across the sky.
Scripture teaches that truths in the Bible are obvious. He is not hiding anything in His Word cryptically.
Lightning in the Book of Revelation is always tied to His authority and His judgment on the earth:
From His throne comes lightning in Rev 4:5, upon the breaking of the seventh seal (Rev 8:5), again at the seventh trumpet (Rev 11:19), and again at the seventh bowl (Rev 16:18).
Mat 24:29 “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
Not vultures - eagles (there is another word for vulture: gups)
Proverbial in Job 39:30.
Job 39:26-30 "Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south? 27 "Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes his nest on high? 28 "On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place. 29 "From there he spies out food; His eyes see it from afar. 30 "His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he."
Judgment is just as obvious as the second coming. There is no mistaking God when He acts. |