The Signs Of Jesus' Return Part 3 Series

We are looking at the Signs of Times. A person must be dumb, deaf, and blind, to miss the what is happening in today’s world, all around us. It was no different in Jesus’ day. The high and mighty religious officials were asking Jesus for sign and Jesus made this statement to the Pharisees and Sadducees:

Matthew 16:2–3 But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?

Look at the ruins of Pompeii, located just outside of Naples Italy. The Roman City of Pompeii was destroyed in A.D. 79. The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was so sudden, the residents were killed while in their routine: men and women were at the market, the rich in their luxurious baths, slaves at toil. They died amid volcanic ash and superheated gasses. Even family pets suffered the same quick and final fate. It takes little imagination to picture the panic of that terrible day. The saddest part is that these people did not have to die. Scientists confirm what ancient Roman writers record--weeks of rumblings and shakings preceded the actual explosion. Even an ominous plume of smoke was clearly visible from the mountain days before the eruption. If only they had been able to read and respond to Vesuvius’s warning! There are similar "rumblings" in our world. While not exactly new, these things do point to a coming day of Judgment. We need not be caught unprepared and unaware. [1]

We look around us. The warning signs are there. Jesus warns us of the tough times are coming for those who follow Him.

Matthew 24:9–14

College students sometimes decide to audit classes rather than take them as registered students. Auditing means that they can sit in on the classes and listen to the lectures, but they don’t have to do any of the work or use the textbooks. Auditing students simply listen and observe. One tendency of half-hearted Christians is to audit the Christian life. They might attend church or Bible study, but they don’t put those lessons to use in their daily lives. They might profess to follow Christ and even go through the motions of obedience, but they don’t really know God or live in His power.

In today’s passage, Jesus is warning His followers, it won’t be easy to be His disciple. You must be fully committed. We are not to audit the Christian life, we are to live it. Half hearted following will not work in the times that are coming.

Last week we looked at some of things Jesus said would happen before He returns. False Messiahs would come. Wars and rumor of wars, famines and earthquakes. The fact is these things everyone in the whole earth has experienced for many centuries, since Christ walked the earth. Jesus said:

Matthew 24:8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Like birth pangs, these things are increasing in intensity and frequency, and will continue do so till the time of the end. In other words, it will not get any better prior to Jesus’s return. However, today passage is different. Last week, we covered in verse 4-8, things everyone in the world has or will experience. What we look at in these verses today are things the Christian can expect will happen to them.

Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

Little words mean a lot. That first word, “Then,” in the Greek is “tote.” This is the first of three times in today’s passage (see verses 9, 10 and the end of verse 14). It is a word that sets you up for what comes next. So then, after you see the beginning of the birth pangs, “they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you.” Who are “they?” They are the one who hate Jesus, and all that He stands for. Many of who “they” are will be more fully defined in the verses that follow.

This is not the first place Jesus makes warning about His followers being delivered up.

Matthew 10:17–18 But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; 18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

Couple of things to take notice of: We will be delivered up as a testimony. Jesus called us to be His witnesses. Our being delivered up is being a witness in a big way. The words “witness” and “testimony” come from the same Greek root word “martyres” from where we get our word “martyr.” To be delivered up for tribulation and even to be killed, we do so as a witness to Jesus. Jesus also gives instruction on how we are to conduct ourselves: