Expository Sermon on Matthew 24
by Maylan Schurch
Bellevue Seventh-day Adventist Church 12/28/2019
©2019 by Maylan Schurch
(To watch the YouTube recording of this worship service, click the link just below. The sermon begins at the 52:33 mark.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ_Bv5tZ8pw&t=3204s
Please open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 24.
The event I’m going to tell you about happened a week ago this past Thursday, but I just learned about it yesterday. You might’ve heard about it too. I’m just going to start reading the news story from the Newsweek magazine online. (I’ll put the link online in the text version of this sermon on our church website.)
“Police charged Iowa man Carl Stroud with willful injury after he beat a man with a steel bar outside his Des Moines apartment on December 19.”
Okay, what’s so unusual about this? It’s a tragic occurrence, but it’s the kind of thing you hear quite frequently on the news.
Hold on as I read some more.
“The Des Moines Register reported that Stroud had spotted the victim from the window of his apartment and thought that the passerby was high on K2, a synthetic cannabinoid that is not legal to possess or sell in Iowa.”
So what’s happening here? Stroud looks out the window, think somebody’s high on an illegal drug, and goes and beats him up. Is this a discipline thing?
But that’s not the whole story. Here comes the news article’s third paragraph.
“According to the criminal complaint, Stroud left his home and confronted the man on the sidewalk. He then told the victim that he (Stroud) was God and wanted to heal him before beating him on the head with his ‘scepter.’”
Once again, let’s pause for a moment. Carl Stroud claims to be God. Is he, or isn’t he? How many of you think Carl Stroud is God?
How do you know? You don’t know Carl Stroud, and neither do I. I’ve seen his photo – a youngish -looking man with long brown hair and a beard. He could probably play Jesus in a religious pageant of some kind, except that his mouth is tight and small.
Okay, what am I getting at with this story? All I know about this man is that he decided to administer what he considered healing, or justice, to a kid he thought was high on something.
Of course, you and I already know that this self appointed deity is not really God after all. How do we know this? We know it because we already know some very good reasons why Carl Stroud is not God, even though he may personally believe that he is.
If you keep reading the Newsweek article, you find that Carl Stroud is a violent person who has had several run-ins with the police. At least one woman has taken out a restraining order against him, and the reason she gave was that he was off his medications.
https://www.newsweek.com/iowa-man-who-says-he-god-strikes-bystander-steel-rod-heal-him-1479360
Again, we know that this man is not God after all, because we know so much about God. And we know this because of what the Bible says.
I think this is a great story to start with as we take a look at Matthew 24. Why did I decide to focus on Matthew 24 this morning? Because if 2019 was a wild year, I have a feeling that 2020 is going to be at least as wild. Maybe nobody is going to actually confront us on the sidewalk claiming to be God, and even if somebody did, we wouldn’t be taken in by the claim. But as we’ll learn again in these verses, Jesus warns us that there will be many opportunities to be deceived, and we need to be ready.
And maybe our greatest encouragement is that Jesus Himself is doing most of the talking in this chapter. If you have a Bible which prints the words of Jesus in red, this chapter is almost totally red. And that’s really comforting to me. Because Jesus is the one who’s going to get us through this new year, and He’s going to tell us how to do it.
I’ve read through Matthew 24 many times, and as I was working through this sermon, I read it several more times. And this time I noticed how often the words “watch” and “see” and “look” are used. And this is important. Because the things happening in this chapter are not internal, or in the mind. They’re out there in the open where people can see them.
And I think the word “watch” is a great motto for Matthew 24. There are several reasons to “watch” in this chapter, but I’ve limited them to three. Let’s take a look.
To set the stage, the year is A.D. 31. Jesus is probably speaking these words on the first day of the week, and that coming Thursday night He will celebrate the first Lord’s Supper with His disciples, and by 3 o’clock that Friday afternoon, He will have given up His life on a Roman cross.
Jesus knows His time is short. For the last 3 ½ years, He has been celebrating Sabbath after Sabbath with His friends, but the Sabbath at the end of this week will find Him resting behind a heavy stone covering the entrance to a walk-in tomb.
So He knows that the words He is going to speak in this chapter are crucially important ones.
Matthew 24:1 – 2 [NKJV]: Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Notice how the emphasis is on seeing? Jesus’ disciples come up to Him and start showing Him the buildings of the temple – the literal Greek word means “pointing out” with their fingers. Construction was still happening on this temple, and maybe the disciples were pointing out to Jesus some new improvements that had been added.
But suddenly Jesus brings up “seeing.” “Do you see these things?” He asks, and then goes on to tell them that all the stones of this four-decade-long building project will be toppled.
This is a great shock to the disciples. To them, the temple of God is permanent. It will always stand. But Jesus says it won’t.
In fact, this is a good place to insert what I would call Sermon Point One, if you’re taking notes. What is one reason Jesus urged us to keep watching as we move through the events of the last days?
Jesus said to watch – because at the end of time you will see beliefs and buildings crumble.
When I say “beliefs,” of course, I’m talking about beliefs which aren’t based on the Bible. The disciples believed that the temple was eternal – or at least if it was finally toppled, this must mean the end of the world. The Pharisees, including Saul of Tarsus, believed that Jesus was not the Messiah, and his followers were deceived. But those beliefs crumbled.
When Shelley and I first came to Washington back in 1982, we needed to find a bank we could use. I didn’t know a thing about Washington banks, so I asked our landlord Ernie which bank he used. Ernie was a dependable guy, and when he told me that Pacific First Federal had always treated him well, Shelley and I immediately signed on with Pacific First Federal.
Several years later we were startled to learn that Pacific First Federal would be taken over by Washington Mutual. So we cautiously let our money transfer over to WAMU rather than put it somewhere else. But then, after the financial crisis of 2008, Washington Mutual failed, and was taken over by J.P. Morgan Chase.
Institutions crumble, and buildings crumble. I remember where I was on February 28, 2001. I had just left the parking lot of the Kirkland Seventh-day Adventist School, and was traveling south. Suddenly, it felt as though I was driving over large, gentle lumps in the road. I knew it wasn’t my tires, but I couldn’t figure out for a while what it was, until I glanced up at the power lines in saw them swaying back and forth. Then I realized it was an earthquake, and I later learned was the 6.8 magnitude Nisqually earthquake.
I immediately turned off the main road, because I didn’t like the idea of being under those powerlines if they happen to snap. And very quickly, things calmed down.
So whatever happens during 2020, we need to keep watching with Jesus’ “20/20” vision. (When Shelley asked me what my sermon would be about, she was the one who suggested the tie-in to the new year and 20/20 vision.)
20/20 vision means that you’re always in focus. And your eyes are open. You don’t shut them when you see something you disagree with. You keep alert. Not only do institutions fail, and get taken over by other institutions, but hazy ideas get replaced by other ideas, hopefully ones with better support.
So, keep your eyes open. Watch the rise and fall of nations, and just get used to the idea that change will continue to happen.
Now let’s look at another reason Jesus wants us to keep on the alert, keep watching.
Verse 3: Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Notice that they don’t disagree with Him. They don’t say they disbelieve Him. They have learned that whatever He says, no matter how startling, is true, or eventually will become true. They’re not wondering if—they’re just wondering when. And of course they are assuming that the destruction of the temple means the end of the world.
Jesus knows, of course, that the end of the world won’t happen for quite a while. But notice what He says next.
Verses 4 – 5: And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
Do you see where it says “take heed”? That’s the Greek word blepo, and it’s another “watch” word, another sight word. The NIV says, “Watch out that no one deceives you.” So does the English Standard Version. It means keep your eyes open.
So what’s another reason Jesus tells us to watch?
Jesus says to watch – not only because at the end of time you will see beliefs and buildings crumble, but so you’ll learn not to be tricked.
There is a video that is sometimes shown to high school or college students, often in psychology classes. Maybe you’ve seen it. It’s a lesson in selective perception. In the video you see several young people shooting basketballs back and forth to each other. Some of them have white shirts and some have black shirts.
Before the video starts, a narrator instructs you to count how many times somebody with a white shirt passes a basketball. The basketball game starts, and your eyes are darting to and fro, trying to keep an eye on the people with the white shirts.
At the end of the video, the narrator asks, “Did you see the gorilla?” And if you’ve been watching, you wonder, “What gorilla? I didn’t see any gorilla.” And then they replay the video, and sure enough, while those basketball players are passing the ball, in walks a person in a black gorilla costume, who pauses in plain sight in the center of the frame and waves cheerily to the viewer, and then strolls away.
The point is, of course, you as the viewer had been programmed to selective perception. Your assignment wasn’t to watch the video and draw your own conclusions from it. Your assignment was to count how many white-shirted people passed the ball. And if you were doing a conscientious job of counting, you simply did not see the gorilla.
I think that people sometimes read the Bible with selective perception, looking only for what they’ve been programmed to believe is there.
If you know anything about Matthew 4, you remember that Jesus makes predictions about the time just before the destruction of the temple the disciples have been talking about. And the latter part of the chapter talks about things which will happen just before Jesus’ return.
And in both of these sections, Jesus warns against being deceived. Later in this chapter, in the “pre-second coming” part, He stresses this again:
Verses 23 – 26: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.
Back in my office I have a biography of Adventist pioneer preacher Stephen Haskell. He knew Ellen White very well and was a faithful pastor and evangelist. I was reading it a couple of weeks ago and noticed this story.
Elder Haskell’s beloved wife passed away late in life. They’d been married for several decades. One night a few days after she died, Haskell was lying on the bed trying to get to sleep. Suddenly in the corner of the room he saw a shadowy figure. The figure approached his bed, and he heard the sweet voice of his wife talking to him. She comforted him, and said that she was happy, and that she would be always with him.
Now, Haskell knew his Bible very well. He had preached many evangelistic sermons about what happens when you die. He and his wife had written a little book called the Bible Handbook, which laid out clear text after clear text that say that when you die, you rest in a dreamless, unconscious sleep until Jesus returns.
So even though his heart was torn by grief, Elder Haskell spoke to the shadowy figure. “You are not my wife,” he shouted through his tears. “You are a demon. In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to depart.”
Haskell says that the shadowy figure retreated, but turned back briefly to face him, and on its face was an ugly, malignant expression. And then it vanished. And he never saw it again.
My brother, who is also a pastor, told me a story about how when he pastored in the Midwest, he preached an evangelistic series which dealt with many topics, including what happens when you die. Attending that series was a man who had recently lost his wife in death. The man came to the lecture on that topic, but then stopped coming.
My brother went out to visit him, and as they sat talking together at the man’s dining room table, my brother mentioned that he missed seeing him at the meetings. He asked the man what he thought about the topic of what happens at death.
The man said he didn’t believe it. He told my brother that every night, he prepared 2 cups of tea, and set them on that same dining room table. And he said that every night his wife came to talk to him from the chandelier above the table, and when their conversation was done, her teacup was empty.
I don’t know what deceptions the devil will try to foist off on you or me this coming year. But Jesus made it very clear that we need to watch so that we will not be tricked.
And we need to regularly focus our eyes on a real Bible print. Remember the man in the gorilla suit? The reason nobody saw him was that the video’s narrator had programmed the viewers to focus so hard on one specific aspect of the video that they weren’t expecting the gorilla.
How do we keep ourselves from being so programmed to focus on nonessential ideas so that we might lose the bigger picture? Well, the answer is to get better and better acquainted with the bigger picture. Anybody who tries to tell you that some parts of the Bible are not important is trying to program you to miss part of Scripture. They may not mean to do it, but that’s what’s happening.
In your bulletin you will find a copy of a Bible reading plan which will take you through the entire Bible by the end of December. Some people like a plan like that. Others will prefer to dive into a Bible book and stay there for a while, and then go to another book and really absorb that.
If you’re new to the Bible, and would like to get a comprehensive overview of its important topics, I can supply you with a set Bible lessons that will help you toward this bigger picture. Ask me about this afterward, or write me a note on the communication card in your bulletin, or email me.
I know I’ve told the following story before, but it’s been a while. Shelley and I saw, firsthand, how simply reading the Bible will blow away the clouds of superstition. We knew a lady years ago who wanted Bible studies, so we went to her place on Tuesdays study with her. This woman firmly believed in reincarnation, the idea that when you die, you come back to earth again in some form to have another chance at life.
I told her I would write her up a little research paper on that topic, but never got around to it. Finally during one of our studies I apologized to her and said I was sorry I hadn’t taken the time to write that up. She opened her eyes wide, and said, “Oh, that’s all right. I don’t need that. I’ve been reading the Bible, and I see that God has a better plan than reincarnation.”
I’ll never forget hearing her say that. Because here was a Holy Spirit event that had happened. Now, this lady had not settled down to specifically study out what the Bible said about this topic. She had simply read her Bible, made it a habit to read her Bible. And the Holy Spirit had helped settle her mind about reincarnation, even though she hadn’t done a deep and complete detailed study about it. If we read our Bibles humbly and prayerfully, the Spirit will guide us into all truth.
That is very amazing, and it has given me a great deal of courage as I give Bible studies to people.
There’s just one more sermon point to this sermon. What’s another reason Jesus mentions looking, seeing, watching so much here in Matthew 24? Let’s starat down at verse 23 again.
Verses 23 – 31: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
You see, Jesus says to watch – not only because at the end of time you will see beliefs and buildings crumble, and watch so you’ll learn not to be tricked. But He also says to watch so you can see the happy ending!
In other words, stay in the habit of watching your Bible’s print, watching what’s happening in the world, and if you let the Holy Spirit soften and reorient your heart the way He did with the woman I mentioned a moment ago, you will one day be overjoyed to meet your Creator and Savior and King. Would you like to raise your hand if that’s a New Year’s resolution you would like to follow this coming year?