In the sermon 'All These Things in This Generation' by Jason Dohm, the focus is on the interpretation of Matthew 24, particularly verses 30 through 35. Dohm emphasizes a critical shift from literal to figurative language beginning in verse 27, arguing that the events described in Matthew 24 were fulfilled in the generation alive during Jesus' time. He supports this with references to similar prophetic language used in the Old Testament, such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel, which often expressed God's judgments through figurative descriptions. Dohm argues that Jesus' coming on the clouds with power and glory, described in Matthew 24, should be understood figuratively, representing Jesus' reign and the judgment on Jerusalem in 70 AD rather than a literal event. The sermon ties these interpretations to the Great Commission, suggesting that the gathering of the elect from the four corners of the earth is a continuation of Jesus' ministry, as believers are sent out as messengers to proclaim the kingdom of God. Dohm concludes by asserting the enduring power and authority of God's word, which stands firm despite the transitory nature of heaven and earth.

At this time, let's read our passage for today, Matthew chapter 24, verses 30 through 35. 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 the end of heaven to the other. Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors.

Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. Our Father, we commit this time to You, praying that You would come and be among Your people in a mighty way to give us understanding of this text. I pray that Jesus Christ would be lifted up and glorified, made great as He is. I pray for faithfulness to the text, and I pray God that you would use it in a mighty way to bring change in our hearts.

This is what we need, O God, and so we ask you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Matthew 24, 33-35. All these things in this generation, we're coming to what I believe is the hinge point of the text in Matthew 24 verse 34 where Jesus says that everything leading up to this is going to take place in the generation which is alive at the time of Christ and the people that Jesus is eyeball to eyeball with in this text. And in Matthew 23 before that when he was facing down his adversaries.

There are two things out of last week's sermon that I want to bring forward into this week's sermon so that we don't lose sight of them. The first is that I said last week that I believe a really, really, really, really, really, really critical shift happened in verse 27. And that was a shift from literal to figurative. Everything leading up to verse 27, as near as I can tell, is literal languages. Literal famines, literal pestilences, literal wars and rumors of wars, literal false Christs, literal false prophets, literal abomination of desolation, which is a literal army around a literal city.

But in verse 27, we start talking about lightning. Jesus didn't come as a lightning bolt. It's not literal language. It's figurative language. And then in verse 28, Jesus speaks of eagles gathered around a carcass.

This is not literal eagles gathered around a literal carcass. So a major shift has happened in the chapter. A shift from Jesus speaking literally to Jesus speaking figuratively. And I believe that verses 29 through 31 fit in the mold of that, that Jesus continues in figurative language. I made that case for verse 29 last week and we saw, this is the second thing that I want to pull forward, so the first is the shift from literal to figurative.

The second is that there is lavish footing, lavish footing, in the Old Testament for God speaking this way to His people before. In other words, we're not pulling this out of thin air to say this is figurative language. We're going to the Old Testament prophets where God has spoken his people before and used the exact Same wording so I don't think I'm stretching and I don't think I'm pulling things out of air I think I'm going back to where God said the same things before to say well How is this fulfilled for instance in Isaiah? 13 we looked at Isaiah 13 and this was the prophecy against Babylon, a mighty city which was going to be wiped out by God and the darkening of the sun and the moon and the stars are spoken of just like in Matthew 24. And in Ezekiel 32, this prophecy about Pharaoh, a mighty king that's going to be brought to nothing, it speaks of the darkening of the sun and the moon and the stars, just like Matthew 24.

And in Joel 2, which is very, very significant, because Peter preaches on Joel 2, on the day of Pentecost, to say, this is that. Pentecost is the pouring out of the spirit that the prophet Joel foresaw and spoke of in Joel 2. And then in that same sequence, So you have the sons and daughters dreaming dreams in Joel 2. And then immediately after that, you have the sun darken and the moon becoming blood red. So you have very similar language in Joel 2.

So those are the two things that I'm pulling forward. The shift from literal to figurative and that God has already spoken this way before to his people and there's lavish evidence of that and I'll continue on that strain in this sermon. So now let's look at verse 30. We're going to go slow, go verse by verse for a little bit. Verse 30.

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." Verse 30 begins with, then, So we have a linking word that pulls this together with the things that have come before it, right? Then. And verse 29 started with the linking word to, immediately. So I think we're on sound footing to say that all these things happened in the generation that Jesus is eyeball to eyeball with because of verse 34.

But even if you wiped out verse 34, you'd have this language buried in the text, like immediately. Like then, that links these things together and makes it hard to insert 2, 000 years requiring you to be teleported to the end of the age. So even if we don't have verse 34, we've got things that would make it difficult to do that buried in the text and immediately and then are two of those linking words that would make that difficult. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. Now historians, Josephus, Tacitus, others, record some strange things happening in the heavens.

Constantine saw something that looked like a cross, a star like a cross. At least that's what historians say. But I'm not taking this literally, so I don't need any of that. Maybe is what I would say. Historians say there were astrological things, some things, around the time of 70 AD.

And I look at that and say, maybe, because I'm taking this as figurative anyway. But I believe that verse 30, like verse 29, like verse 27, like verse 28, is figurative language, is prophetic language, is language that is representative of something profound that Jesus is actually teaching in this text. Now, when we come to the Son of the Son of Man in Heaven, There's something that needs to be noticed here that a casual reader would never notice, and that is that the New King James, what we're reading out of, is not in the sequence of the Greek. The words aren't in the sequence of the Greek, and neither is the New American Standard, and neither is the ESV, and neither is the NIV. Not in the sequence.

Now, this is not inherently a problem. This doesn't have to be a problem. This happens all the time because Greek is not the same as English. Greek word constructions aren't the same as English constructions. So you have to bring one over into another.

And for the sake of understandability and for the sake of readability, often the translators will change word order to make it better English, more understandable English, more readable English. And so this is what has happened here. But it's not the same word sequence as in the Greek. The King James, however, has actually brought it over into exactly the word sequence of the Greek. And in many cases, when translators do that, it doesn't change the meaning at all.

Here, I think it has a significant shift in the meaning. So I want to look at what it is in the King James, the same word order as it was written in, in Greek. So in New King James and NASB and ESB and NIV, all the same. They've changed the word order and it makes the sequence this. The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.

Okay, so you read this and you're left with one option. Right? This is your option. Look up. There's going to be a sign in heaven.

Heaven is going to be the location of the sign. That word order doesn't leave you with any choice. Heaven is the location of the sign, so it doesn't say what the sign is in the verse, but it alludes that there will be a sign and it leaves the reader looking to heaven for the sign because that's the location of it. Now listen to the King James which mirrors the Greek word order. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.

So in King James, you have appearing, the appearance of a sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And so then heaven becomes the location not of the sun but of the son of man. You see, I mean, there's a big difference there in meaning. And these other four modern good, sound translations, I'm not trying to impugn the translators in any way here. Expositors have a hard job, translators have a much harder job because languages are not one to one and you're always making decisions that can be second guessed later on by preachers and pulpits.

Okay, so not saying the translators have it easy, I'm saying they have it incredibly hard, but you have to know that what's inspired and authoritative is not the English. What is inspired and authoritative is the original language. That's the language that God picked the words in. Okay, so that leaves us with work to do to make sure that we've got the meaning right. And in this set of translations, which are good translations, the reordering of the words leaves heaven to be the location of the sign.

But The actual ordering of the words in Greek leads heaven as the location of the Son of Man. Big difference. So, if you think location is, that heaven is the location of the Son of Man, you're not left to just look up for a sign that isn't named. And actually, it leaves you looking for a sign, a demonstration that the Son of Man is reigning in heaven. That the Son of Man really is at the right hand of God, and His enemies are being made His footstool, and He's reigning in the midst of His enemy.

And that becomes the sign if you don't tinker with the word order for readability. Now I want you to turn to Matthew 26. So just flip a page to Matthew 26, the end of the chapter. This is the very end of Jesus' life. Very near it.

Matthew 26, I'll begin reading in verse 57 so we get the context. Matthew 26 verse 57, and those who laid hold of Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard, and he went in and sat with the servants to see the end. Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.

But at last, two false witnesses came forward and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose and said to him, Do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you? But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to him, I put you under oath by the living God.

Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, it is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven." Really similar, almost identical language to what we have in Matthew 24. So the false witnesses come forward and nothing sticks. But then two false witnesses come and said, Jesus said that he could tear down the temple of God.

So this answer is in the context of the tearing down of the temple of God, even though they don't understand what Jesus was really saying there. His body was the temple that would be rebuilt in three days. And then, the high priest puts him under oath to say whether he's the Christ, the Son of God or not, And this is how Jesus answers. Now listen to Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14. Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14.

Daniel says, I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. I believe in Matthew 26 when the high priest puts Jesus under oath to say whether or not he's the son of God and the Messiah.

Jesus lays claim to Daniel 7, using the words of Daniel 7, to lay claim to be God and to lay claim to being given a kingdom that is everlasting, and He'll rule over all the nations of the world. Now Jesus speaks about the tribes of the earth mourning. We're back in verse 30 and 24. We're back in verse 30 and 24. The tribes of the earth will mourn.

So tribes, no problem linking that to Israel, right? The history of Israel is the history of the 12 tribes. The tribes of the earth, the word underneath earth, the word that has been translated over, the Greek word, gay, is sometimes translated earth and sometimes translated land. It's about a four to one ratio, most often is translated earth, but not infrequently translated land. This appears hundreds of times, and about one time out of five, it is translated land.

But listen to some of those spots where it's translated land. Matthew 2 verse 6, but you Bethlehem in the land of Judah. So we've got a tribe there, right? Judah in the land of Judah. It becomes complete nonsense if you translate it the earth of Judah.

What is that? It can't be Judah there. It's associated with the tribe. It's got to be land there. Or Matthew 2.20, Arise, take the young child and his mother and go to the land of Israel.

Same problem, if you translate that, the earth of Israel, you're just ending up scratching your head wondering what in the world that is about. It's the land of Israel, or Matthew 4 verse 15. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. So again, you've got two tribes. You've got Zebulun and Naphtali.

And if you translated it, the earth of Zebulun and the earth of Naphtali, you'd be left with nothing that made any sense. It's the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. Finally, in Hebrews 11, verse 9, the faith chapter, speaking of Abraham and where he dwelled by faith, it says, the land of promise. The land of promise. That's where God took Abraham To dwell by faith is into the land not not the earth of promise not that not the whole world of promise But it's the land of promises the promised land now I want to take you to a spot where exactly the same language of Matthew 24 verse 30 is used, and that's Revelation 1.

So turn to Revelation 1. Revelation 1. Revelation 1, I'll read the first seven verses and I'll sprinkle some comments in there. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants, things which must shortly take place. So I'm a partial preterist.

I think Revelation is partially fulfilled too. Obviously not all fulfilled because Revelation goes to the end of time. But I do believe that Revelation was written before 70 AD and I do believe some of Revelation speaks of 70 AD and the destruction of the temple. And I don't know how you can wiggle out of things happening near when Revelation was given based on the language that we're going to see here in Revelation 1, beginning with, he said, things which must shortly take place. Continuing in verse 1.

And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before His throne and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth. So here's where I think the parallels start. Jesus is introduced as the one who is reigning.

He is the ruler over the kings of the earth. Continuing in verse 5. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen." So there are many points of intersection here in verse 7. We've got a coming of Jesus. We've got eyes seeing Him come, even they who pierced Him.

Now to me, it is not satisfactory to just say that's the Jews. Not all the Jews pierced him. Some of the Jews were saved. Some of the Jews were his disciples. So they who pierced him is a subset of the Jews and not all of the Jews.

And it's said just like in Matthew 24 that this will be a people who are mourning. And you have tribes of the earth or tribes of the land, the exact same Greek construction that you find in Matthew 24. So we know that for the Jews, for the people of Israel, that you have many, many, many causes for mourning that happened when the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was destroyed. You have the slaughter, you have the hardships that were happening inside the walls of Jerusalem, you have the starvation, but more than anything else, overwhelming anything else, you have the Kingdom of God being taken away and given to a nation who will bear the fruits of that Kingdom. This is what's happening in 70 AD.

Last week I called it a mega shift. You have a mega shift happening. You have 1500 years of settled practice and sacrifices and the temple being the center of the religion of God, and that is changing. And the people who had been entrusted with the oracles of God, it's taken from them. And it's given to a nation of faith, not a genealogical nation.

Ever again, It will never again, never, however long history lasts, however long that is, it will never again be a genealogical nation. It won't be the blood in your veins. It will be the blood of faith. It's a believing nation. It's a royal priesthood.

Now we see Jesus saying, and They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory We're back in Matthew 24 here Matthew 24 chapter 30, and it's the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory sure sounds literal But the question isn't what does it sound? The question is, what is it? Does the text require that? And If nothing else, I at least want to shake your faith that the text requires that. The text does not require that.

I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 19. Isaiah chapter 19. Isaiah chapter 19. What does it mean that they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. It matters a lot because that's the language in Matthew 24 and that's the language in Revelation 1.

And comparing those, the tribes of the land, the mourning of the people, it certainly sounds like we're talking about exactly the same thing because exactly the same words and phrases are used. Isaiah 19, I'm going to read one through four. Isaiah 19 verse 1. The burden against Egypt. Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud." Are you with me?

You see in the tie-ins. The Lord is riding on a swift cloud and will come into Egypt, the idols of Egypt will totter at His presence and the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst." Isaiah 19 verse 1 setting the stage for the chapter is talking about a coming of the Lord, and it's talking about the Lord riding on a swift cloud, and it says His presence will be there. So this sets the stage for Isaiah 19. Now, verses 2 through 4 fleshes that out. What's that going to look like?

What's actually going to happen in the fulfillment of the Lord coming to Egypt and His presence being there and He's coming and he's riding on a swift cloud. Verses 2 through 4. I will set Egyptians against Egyptians. Everyone will fight against his brother and everyone against his neighbor. City against city.

Kingdom against kingdom. The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst. I will destroy their counsel, and they will consult the idols and the charmers, the mediums and the sorcerers. And the Egyptians I will give into the hand of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them, says the Lord, the Lord of hosts." Then skipping to verse 8, The fishermen also will mourn. All those will lament who cast hooks into the river, and they will languish who spread nets on the waters.

Moreover those who work in fine flax and Those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed, and its foundations will be broken. All who make wages will be troubled of soul." I don't know of anyone who argues that what happened in Egypt in fulfillment of this prophecy was a literal, verse 1, was a literal appearing of God riding swiftly on the clouds, his presence being visible and literal. But this absolutely was a prophecy that was fulfilled with the coming of a foreign nation brought by God upon the Egyptians to judge them and to bring them into mourning for their sin. This is what's being talked about in Matthew 24. This is what's being talked about.

You cannot require there to be a visible Jesus on a visible cloud. You can't require it. You might think that's it. And you might be right, but you can't say in light of the Old Testament language that that is the only possibility in verse 30. Because God has spoken these same words before.

This is exactly what I said last week, with the darkening of the sun and the moon and the shaking of the heavens. Those words have been used before. No one argues that those previous fulfillments were literal. No, it's prophetic language. It's figurative language that's representing something that's profound.

Or we could go to Psalm 18. In Psalm 18, the psalmist is speaking of the anger of God being poured out. And he talks about God flying upon the wings of the wind. His canopy around him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Or Psalm 104, where the psalmist says that God makes the clouds his chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind." This is not language that is foreign to the Old Testament at all.

It's many places in the Old Testament. And it's figurative language. Believe me, believe me, when the armies came in 70 AD, Jesus Christ, who they pierced, was at the head of those armies. Believe me, he was present. Believe me, his enemies were being made his footstool.

Believe me that he reigns today in the midst of his enemies. Now in the incarnation, Jesus took on the form of a servant. And he willingly gave himself over to be abused and to die. But Jesus is declaring in Matthew 24 and in Matthew 26 when He's face to face with the high priests and the chief priests and the elders and the whole council and the scribes when he's face to face with the high priests and the chief priests and the elders and the whole council and the scribes, when he's face to face with these men who are about to put him to death, he says, next time it won't be the same form. And he declares himself with no ambiguity to be God himself and to be reigning in heaven.

Now back to Matthew. Back to Matthew. Verse 31. 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. The gathering of his elect.

Admittedly This sounds like the end of the age. This sounds exactly like the language in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4, which is absolutely about the day of judgment at the end of the age. And he's going to come in the clouds and there's going to be the blowing of trumpets. This sounds like the same language. This doesn't bother me at all.

Because as I've been saying since the very beginning of our exposition on Matthew 24, there are two great events in this chapter. There is the destruction of the temple, and there is the end of the age where God will come to judge the living and the dead, but they're the furthest thing in the world from disconnected, isolated events. They're completely connected And one is a picture of the other. One is a microcosm, a little world, a little representation of the other. So for the language of the end of the age to be used also in conjunction with 70 AD is not problematic to me at all.

Not in any way because they're not disconnected. One is picturing the other. The other. Verse 31 says, the Son of man will send his ongalos, his ongalos. I'm saying the Greek.

Maybe. What do I know? No, that is the way to say it. It's ongalos. The Son of Man is going to send his ongalos from the four winds collect up to gather his elect.

Now Here's what that word literally means. A messenger, an envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God. Overwhelmingly, it means angelic, heavenly beings. Overwhelmingly, it means that, but it doesn't always mean that. For instance, John the Baptist is an angelos in Matthew 11 verse 10 and Mark 1 verse 2.

He's not a heavenly being. He's a messenger sent by God. He's an envoy sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. John the Baptist is an angelos. For instance, Jesus, when he was going into Samaria, sent people to prepare before him.

In Luke 9, 52, he sent some disciples ahead to make ready. They were ongalos. Ongalai? Ongalos, plural. That's what they were.

That's the same word is used of disciples that were sent ahead in Samaria. In James 2, 25, James is speaking of the 12 men who had gone to spy out the land that Rahab receives and hides in Jericho. They were the plural of Angelos, whatever that is. They were. So normally Angelos is a heavenly being and they are messengers and they are sent by God, but it doesn't have to be a heavenly being.

John the Baptist was and the disciples that Jesus sent into Samaria were, and the spies that were received by Rahab and Jericho were that word as well. Now look at this. We're in chapter 24. Look at verse 36. This word's going to be used again, but it's going to be modified.

Look at this in verse 36. But of that day and that hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven. So Jesus has used the word once and He uses it again in verse 36, but He puts the modifier. I think He puts the modifier there because He wants it clear that it is the angelic messengers sent by God now. It's not modified the first time, it is the second time, because they're used in short succession and Jesus is making the distinction.

So I believe that in this case, the ongalos are not heavenly beings. I believe they're messengers like John the Baptist that are sent by the Son of Man to gather his elect. Now I want to talk about the trumpet because this this all fits together. The trumpet. I want to take us to two places in the Old Testament that speaks.

They're trumpet passages, okay? We're going to trumpet passages. The first has a literal trumpet. So the trumpet you hold in your hand, the trumpet you can hear with your ear when it's blown. But it's ceremonial law.

It's part of the ceremonial law given to the people of God, which all points to Jesus Christ. So it is a literal trumpet that will be talked about in this first text, but it's ceremonial law, so it absolutely has application to Jesus. And this text is Leviticus 25. So go there to Leviticus 25. Leviticus 25.

Leviticus 25. Leviticus 25. Leviticus 25 begins speaking of the cycle of years associated with the Sabbath years. So the beginning of the chapter says, you worked the land for six years, but the seventh year is the Sabbath year, just like at that time the seventh day was the Sabbath day. So same is true of years.

Work the land six years, then the seventh year is the Sabbath year, just like at that time the seventh day was the Sabbath day. So the same is true of years. Weren't the land six years, then the seventh year is the Sabbath year. Now we'll pick up in verse 8. Leviticus 25 verse 8.

And you shall count seven Sabbath years for yourself. Seven times seven years. And the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. So seven cycles of Sabbath years. Seven times seven, forty-nine years.

Verse nine. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the day of atonement, you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land and to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you.

And each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine." So this is ceremonial law. Seven cycles and then blow a trumpet. Blow a trumpet and proclaim that All the indentured servitude that had come about, it's over.

All the prisoners, all the captives go free. Proclaim liberty, okay? It's a proclamation, the blowing of the trumpet is the proclamation that the time has come for liberty and then everyone returns to their own inheritance to be with their own family. So you see how this ceremonial law is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Jubilee year.

Jesus purchased the Jubilee year and the proclamation of liberty for captives through the shedding of His blood. And the blowing of that trumpet didn't cease at the crucifixion. No. That trumpet, I pray, is blown with might Every day as the Jubilee year in Christ continues to be proclaimed throughout the whole world. Now listen to this, just listen to this.

I'm not even going to tell you where it is so you won't be tempted until afterwards. So Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Then he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him.

And he began to say to them, today The scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus is the Jubilee. Even the prophets said that Jesus' ministry was going to be a Jubilee ministry to come and to proclaim liberty for the captives. Not that this ended. In no way did this end at the end of Jesus' physical life.

No. It exploded at the end of his physical life. It multiplied exponentially at the end of his physical life. And how is that? Because he gave his disciples a great commission.

I believe what we have in Matthew 24 is a beautiful cross-reference text to the Great Commission that speaks of all authority being given to Jesus Christ and portrays him as God Almighty coming on the clouds and ruling in the midst of his enemy and then speaks of the Son of man sending out his ongelai, ongelases, out to gather his elect. Now in verse 14, we saw that the gospel had been preached in all the world. At least Paul thought it was. I'm satisfied with Paul's assessment when Paul says that the gospel had been preached in all the world in his time. But the fruitfulness of it is only beginning at that time.

The gathering of the elect, the fruitfulness of the Kingdom of God, is just beginning at the time of the lifetime of Paul. Most of the fruitfulness for the Kingdom of God happened long after Paul's dead and buried. And yet, the trumpet is still sounding. The messengers, the envoys are still being sent to the four corners of the earth to gather His elect. By the way, that was Luke 4.

That was Luke 4 verses 16 through 21, where Jesus is actually reading from Isaiah 61. Now, turn to Ezekiel. That was our first trumpet passage. A blast of the trumpet to announce the Jubilee year, the setting free of captives, and the returning to an inheritance. Ezekiel 33, verses 1 through 11, our second trumpet passage.

Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man Speak to the children of your people and say to them When I bring the sword upon a land and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if The sword comes and takes him away. His blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning. His blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. So you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them for me. When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way. That wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but His blood I will require at your hand.

Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked to turn from His way, and He does not turn from His way, He shall die in His iniquity. But you have delivered your soul. Therefore you, O Son of Man, say to the house of Israel, thus you say, if our transgressions and our sins lie upon us and we pine away in them, how can we then live, say to them? As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from His way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel?" This is the nature of a messenger sent from God.

This is the nature of the envoy. They are a watchman set on the wall to see the danger coming of sin and the consequences of sin and to blow the horn so that those who are in danger might hear, might hear the blast of a trumpet and might be warned that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but unless they repent, they will likewise perish. Jesus said that many would come from the north and the south and the east and the West and sit down at a banquet table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but the sons of the kingdom, the genealogical sons of the kingdom would be cast out where there's weeping and mashing of teeth. I believe that's what's being taught in Matthew 24, verses 30 and 31. Finally, they're called His elect, His elect, His chosen ones.

Jesus Himself has sovereignly determined to show mercy on some who never deserved it, who never earned it, who never figured it out. But it's because of His mercy. They're His elect. He picked them out and to show himself to be a God of mercy, put his hands upon them, though they never did one thing to earn it. He put his hands upon them to show himself to be a merciful God.

They are His elect. This phrase, His elect, should be such a precious phrase to us. They are those who could never be snatched out of His hand. They are those who brought nothing to the table, earned not one ounce or cent of it, And yet God in His mercy said, I'm going to save you. I'm going to die for you.

I'm going to pay for you. They are His elect." Now, verses 32 and 33. Back to Matthew 24, verses 32 and 33. Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.

So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors. Jesus has already said something similar to this in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 16, Jesus is being asked for a sign by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Here's what Jesus says, when it is evening you say, it will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today for the sky is red and threatening." Hypocrites.

You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. Jesus in Matthew 16 is condemning the Pharisees and the Sadducees for not being able to look at the signs of the time and Track that back to God's holy word and the things that he prophesied and say The Messiah is here Say you can tell what the weather is going to be like by the way it looks in the evening, whether the sky is red or not. This is the same things we learned in Boy Scouts. Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailors Take warning.

Good boy scouts out there, some of you. And Jesus is saying, it's so plain in the prophets what the Messiah would be like. And I'm everything that the prophets said that the Messiah would be. You can't, you know what the weather's going to be like, but you can't discern the signs of the times. Jesus is saying something so similar here.

Here's how I see this chapter progressing. First, he talks about some things. He talks about famines and wars and rumors of wars. He talks about pestilences. And he talks about false Christs.

But then he says, the end is not yet in verse 6. And he says, these things are the beginning of sorrows, or the beginning of birth pangs in verse 8. So not yet is the first part of the chapter. And then, in verse 14, he says that the Gospel will be preached in the whole world. And then at the end of 14, he says, then the end will come.

And then in verse 15, he gives them something that they can see that will trigger action. They'll see the abomination of desolation, or they'll see the armies surrounding Jerusalem. And that's their sign, their trigger, that they're to flee immediately. And now, Jesus speaks of the result of this. What is all the result of this?

What is the result of the destruction of the Temple and the destruction of Jerusalem? It's the elect being gathered from the four corners of the earth. It's not defeat. Jesus has been talking about the destruction of the temple. But Jesus doesn't fundamentally have a message of defeat here.

He has a message of victory. He has the message of the Son of Man reigning in heaven at the right hand of the Father. And gathering, sending messengers to gather his elect from the four corners of the earth. And this is exactly what history says has happened. Verses 34 and 35.

Assuredly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. As I've been saying, I take verse 34 very literally and naturally. That generation should be taken in the natural sense. It means the people who are alive that Jesus is speaking to.

Generation is used ten times in Matthew. Ten times. The other nine times, completely unambiguous, completely no question what it means. It means generation as you think of generation, starting with the genealogies in chapter 1. Fourteen generations, fourteen generations, fourteen generations, tracing Abraham to David to Christ.

Generations means generations, lifespans, People who lived. And so to me, it will not do to come to verse 34 and say that generation means something different than it means everywhere else in Matthew and essentially everywhere else in the New Testament. That it means that it's the people who will be alive at the end of the age. It's that generation. No, the Greek just will not have that.

It will not support that. This generation has to mean this generation. Otherwise, it would have to be that generation. And that's particularly true in the Greek. It won't do to say, generation is a type of people, and so it means Christians will remain until the end of the age and to force unnormal, unnatural meaning on the word.

So to take 34 literally and say generation just means generation, it means what everybody thinks generation means, requires verses 29 through 31, The darkening of the sun and moon, the blowing of the trumpet, the sign of the Son of Man, the clouds, it requires all that to be figurative. It requires that to be figurative. But to me, this is no great difficulty, Because you can go to the Old Testament and say, God used that language. It ought to be figurative language. Even if we didn't have history, we should look at the Old Testament and say, this is figurative, because that's how God has used the language before.

But to take Generation in 34 figuratively requires these other verses to be literal without Old Testament support for it. So I think it leaves you in a jam. Now, there are a couple of other places that have to be reconciled with this generation being a literal generation. Here's one of them. We already encountered it in Matthew 16, verses 26 and 27.

Listen. Matthew 16, 26 and 28. For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, that there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." Here it's not generation. Here He's eyeball to eyeball with His disciples and He says, some of you standing here will not taste death.

That would take you to a literal, a normal understanding of the word generation. Now, I turn to Mark 8. This one's very important, Mark 8. Mark 8 is the parallel text to what I just read in Matthew 16 verses 27 and 28. And it shines additional light on it.

It absolutely is the parallel text. Both of these have the same thing before them and the same thing after them. They both roll immediately into the Transfiguration text. So this is absolutely a parallel text, Jesus at the same time speaking on the same subject. So we're in chapter 8, the last verse, and then the first verse of chapter 9.

For whoever, this is Mark 8.38, for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And he said to them, Assuredly I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." So, this is very easy to reconcile with generation being generation, the people alive that Jesus is actually speaking to in the text. Jesus says, He uses the word generation, this adulterous and sinful generation, in verse 38, and it is the most adulterous, the most sinful generation in the history of man because they were face to face with the Messiah. They saw things that we'll never see. They heard things that we'll never hear.

They watched the dead be raised. And they could go speak with Lazarus themselves, and many of them did. They wanted to kill Lazarus because he had the audacity to be raised from the dead. This is the generation that killed Jesus. He's speaking of this adulterous and sinful generation.

And he says that if you're ashamed of the Son of Man, when He comes back, He'll be ashamed of you. The Christians, His people, saw the sign and they fled. They saw the army surrounding and they got out of there and they were preserved. And those who were not his people, who did not believe his word, who did not obey him, were annihilated, obliterated in Jerusalem. And then the end of Verse 1 in chapter 9, Some will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.

Doesn't this match up with the other things that we've been seeing, like Isaiah 19, which we went to, which said that the coming of God actually wasn't a visible Literal coming but it was the sending of an army Okay Now back to our text. We're almost done in chapter 23 in chapter 23 Right chapter 23 and 24 and 25 are a flow. It's not right to disconnect them because it's one train of thought playing out. Now look back at Matthew 23, and I'll begin reading in verse 32. Matthew chapter 23, beginning in verse 32.

This initiated the whole discussion about the destruction of the temple. Matthew 23 verse 32. Fill up then the measure of your father's guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men and scribes.

Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city. See the book of Acts. That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar, assuredly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." It's not right to come into chapter 24 and go to 24 verse 34 and say, Generation doesn't mean what he meant by it in 23 when he was face to face with his adversaries and he says all this blood will come upon you because you're just like your fathers and not content with killing all the prophets, you've killed the Son of God. It means that all these things will come upon this generation in the most natural meaning of it. Finally, Jesus punctuates the certainty of His prophecies with an exclamation mark.

Heaven and earth are transitory, at least as we know them. There will be a new heavens and a new earth. But heaven and earth are going to pass away, but the Word of God will never pass away. Jesus wants His disciples to know that heaven and earth will pass away sooner than any one of these words that He's spoken will hit the ground with the greatest certainty, the things that he said. Now, when Jesus said this, back to some of the things we said early in the chapter, when Jesus said this, all this was highly improbable, highly improbable.

The Roman Empire was enjoying an unprecedented time of peace and lack of wars. But right after Jesus said this, the cauldron started churning and everything that Jesus said came true. A few closing comments and I have three. They're the most important things I've said all day. And I waited until after the hour mark to say them.

I'm sorry about that, but here they come. Zone back in. Number one, Jesus Christ is on the throne. This, what we've studied today, is about the Son of Man and His glory and His kingdom, His everlasting kingdom, and about Him ruling over nations. And as intended in this text, this is the big picture that makes every other little picture Okay.

So his disciples, when he's saying this, are staring at some pretty interesting little pictures, aren't they? That there's going to be a total destruction and annihilation of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple. Not the happiest little picture. There's going to be a flight to the mountains for their lives. And they can't even spare the time to come off the rooftop into the house to pack up and go, just go.

They can't even spare the time to come out of the fields and get ready, just go. Not the happiest of little pictures. But Jesus wants his people to see all the little pictures in the context of the big picture, which is this. The Lord said to my Lord, sit while I make all of your enemies your footstool." Psalm 110. Jesus Christ is ruling in the midst of his enemies.

He's in control of all the affairs of nations. Every king answers to him and does his bidding. Every person answers to him and does his bidding. It's the big picture that makes every little picture okay. And as Paul says, these momentary afflictions are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed.

Do you know that? Do you know that all the little pictures that are causing disquiet... Disquietude? Disquietude. Disquiet.

All the little pictures that are causing disquiet, they're nothing. They're not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed because Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father and He's been handed an everlasting kingdom. Number two, Jesus, this King of heaven, this King, working in and through you, is the fulfillment of verse 31. Is the fulfillment of the great blast of the trumpet and the elect being gathered from the four corners of the world? You probably didn't come in here thinking that.

You might not have been convinced. Here's what I would say about this sermon. The synapses have connected in my brain. I'm pretty thoroughly convinced you're going to have a hard time moving me off of the things that I preach because I've been spending a lot of time on it. I have a lot of sympathy for people who walk in here relatively cold relative to the amount of time I've had to study and stew on it.

Hey, write down the cross references and go stew on them yourselves. Okay, so you probably didn't come in here thinking that you were the fulfillment of 31, and you might still be a little suspicious that that's true. I just want you to go home with all the cross references and go stew on them for a little bit. Go stew on them. And consider that you might be the angollos of verse 31.

The envoy, the messenger sent by God to collect up his elect from the four corners of the earth. I believe that our text today is a beautiful cross reference to the Great Commission. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Therefore, go and disciple the nations and baptize them and teach them to obey all things that I have commanded. Finally, The Word of God is the most sure thing in all of our experience. The Word of God will never pass away.

Everything else in your experience is going to pass away. The heavens and the earth are going to pass away and be replaced with a new heavens and a new earth. Everything in your experience is going to pass away. The Word of God is the one sure thing that's not going with it. You can build your life on it.

It is a rock that you can plant your feet on and bet the farm and everything else. Bet everything, brothers and sisters. Bet everything on the Word of God. Believe that God is true in the face of whatever odds, in the face of whatever data to the contrary. The heavens and the earth are going to pass away, but His Word will be fulfilled to the last jot and tittle.

He is true. He will keep every one of his promises. Listen to what Peter says in 1 Peter 1 verses 23 through 25. Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever. Because all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.

The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. This is Peter quoting Isaiah 40. We can build our lives upon the word of God. What else would you build your life upon?

As Peter said, when everyone was forsaking him, Jesus said, do you want to go too? What did Peter say? Where would we go? You have the words of life. Let's pray.

Oh Father, I thank you for the words of life. I thank you for this precious deposit and treasure that you've given to your people. May we rejoice in it. May we trust every word of it. God, I thank you for even hard passages like this, which are so difficult to wrestle with and to understand.

But God, we want to apply ourselves to them, to work on them through time, have our understanding upgraded as we continue to take little, little bites and digest them and begin to see connections that we never saw before. Father, I pray that you would make us trustworthy with your word and teach us to love the things that you love and hate the things that you hate. We might be faithful sons and daughters adopted into your kingdom because of your grace. We thank you for your word in Jesus' name, amen.