Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, Matthew 24? We will read from verse 32 through verse 44.
But learn the parable from the fig tree: when already its branch becomes tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh;
even so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye that He is nigh, even at the doors.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father only.
And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left:
two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of Man cometh.
Let us turn also to Revelation 22:20.
He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.
Last night we shared together on this matter of the second coming of our Lord Jesus. According to the Word of God, our Lord Jesus came twice into this world.
Two thousand years ago, He came as the Lamb of God. He came to die on the cross to complete the work of redemption.
But He will come again into this world. He will come back to restore all things to God. The Bible is full of the promise of His coming again.
Now, this morning we will continue on this second coming of our Lord Jesus. We will consider together the imminent return of our Lord and how we should be ready for His coming.
We know that we live in the last days. As a matter of fact, the term last days is a Hebrew expression. It means the end of the period of the law, when Messiah Christ is introduced.
So, as a matter of fact, from the first coming of the Lord Jesus to the second coming of the Lord, that period is called the last days. Believers in the first century lived in the last days, and even at that time they were expecting the coming again of the Lord.
Before our Lord left this world two thousand years ago, on Mount Olivet He told His disciples. The disciples were asking the question, “When will the temple in Jerusalem be completely destroyed? And what is the sign of Your coming and the completion of the age?”
So, in the first century Christians were already waiting for the coming back of the Lord Jesus. And now we are at the end of the twentieth century, and we are also waiting for the coming of the Lord.
Christians in the first century lived at the beginning of the last days, and we live at the end of the last days. If they in the first century were expecting the coming of the Lord, how much more should we be expecting the coming of the Lord?
We know that in the second and third centuries, when God’s people were greatly persecuted, one of their greeting words was Maranatha: “The Lord cometh.”
Paul calls the coming of the Lord our blessed hope. The world is hopeless. We are here as strangers and sojourners, and we are hoping for the coming back of our Lord Jesus. When He shall come back, He will receive us to Himself, and we will be with Him forever. This is our blessed hope.
Brothers and sisters, we who live at the end of the twentieth century see many indications that His coming is near. Even though our Lord Jesus Himself said, concerning the day and hour, no one knows—not even the angels in heaven. My Father alone knows the day of His coming.
Among Christians in the twentieth century, there are many who will say, “Now the Lord is coming on a certain day, on a certain year, on a certain month, on a certain day.” But the Lord did not come.
Our Lord Himself told us very simply: no one knows the day and hour of His coming. Only the Father knows. So whenever people tell you that the Lord is coming on a certain year, or a certain month, or a certain day, you know he is a false prophet. Do not listen to him.
Now, why does the Lord not tell us the exact day of His coming? Because He wants us to be ready all the time.
On the other hand, the Lord also tells us, “When you see all these things happening, you know that it is near, at the very door.” In other words, He does not tell us the exact day of His coming, and yet He gives us enough indications about approximately the time that He will be coming.
So when we see all these things happening, we know that it is near, even at the door. Now, maybe a word of explanation should be given. The Scripture says, “It is near at the doors,” and “doors” is in the plural number.
You know, because of the Oriental background, it is not like in this country. When you come to a friend’s home, there is only that door there, and when you cross the door, you are already in the house.
But with the Oriental background, when you try to go to meet a family, you have to go through a number of doors. There will be a wall around the house, and you have to get in through the door of that wall.
There will be a courtyard there. If it is a rich family, you may have to go through several courtyards before you reach the family.
So the Lord said, when you see these things happen, you know it is near. It is at the door—maybe at the front door. But if you are at the front door, you are not very far. Very soon you will meet the family.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the Lord said there are many things that you can watch, and they are at the doors. The Lord is coming very, very soon.
There are many signs of His coming. You remember our Lord Jesus, in His last days on earth, one day left the temple on His way to Mount Olivet. His disciples looked back at the temple and said, “Look, what a beautiful temple that is. It is adorned with precious stones.”
The temple in Jerusalem at that time was enlarged and beautified by Herod the king. It was a beautiful building, and the disciples pointed to their temple and felt very proud of it, because the temple represented the presence of God.
To the Jews, the temple would stand forever. Yet unexpectedly, the Lord said, “The day is coming: not a stone will be upon another stone.” In other words, the temple would be completely destroyed.
It was a shock to the disciples. They dared not ask Him openly on the way, because they might be overheard by other Jews, who would consider it blasphemy.
So they waited. When Christ was on Mount Olivet, they came very quietly and whispered to the Lord, “When shall these things be? What is the sign of Your coming and the completion of the age?”
To the disciples, if the temple was destroyed, that was the end of the age, and Christ would come again. But, of course, they were mistaken.
Our Lord answered them, and in His answer He separated these events. The destruction of the temple of Jerusalem happened in A.D. 70.
At that time every stone of the temple was destroyed. The Romans surrounded Jerusalem and laid siege to that city. After a long period, they were able to break into the city. The defenders retreated to the temple because it was made of massive stones; it was like a fortress.
Josephus, the Jewish historian and general, had already surrendered to the Romans, and he asked Titus to spare the temple. But the soldiers threw fire into the temple, and the temple was burning. That was the way they broke into the temple.
You would say, “Well, if the fire was burning very intensely, all the wood would be burned. But you cannot burn the stones.” How could it be that not one stone was upon another stone?
It was because the temple was paved with gold. When the fire burned, the gold began to melt, and the gold entered into the crevices of the stones. The Roman soldiers wanted to get the gold, so they dug every stone out.
What the Lord had said—“not one stone upon another stone”—was literally fulfilled in A.D. 70. Now, if that was literally fulfilled, then the coming of the Lord and the completion of the age will also be literally fulfilled.
This Olivet Discourse of our Lord Jesus is recorded in three Gospels. In all these places, you find the question: “When shall these things be?”—that is, the destruction of Jerusalem—and the question concerning the coming of the Lord and the completion of the age.
What are the signs of His coming? How do we know that His coming is imminent? In the Scriptures we have many, many prophecies, but we will divide them into two kinds:
So far as the general signs of His coming and the completion of the age are concerned, first you find Matthew 24:37:
And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
The days of Noah are a sign of the coming of the Lord. What were the days of Noah? You have to go back to Genesis 6.
First, you find mankind increasing: population explosion. Number two, you find the sons of God marrying the daughters of men. The sons of God refer to angels. Angels do not marry, and yet they left their position and joined themselves with the daughters of men.
Giants were born. These were the results of hybrids, and it is spiritism that happened in the days of Noah.
Then you find God said that man had become flesh: “My Spirit will not strive with them forever.” You find that man was so evil; even his imagination was full of evil. There was violence upon the earth, and the whole earth was corrupted.
Now these are the days of Noah. Yet, strangely, at the same time civilization seemed to grow very rapidly. You find music, and you find all kinds of weapons created. Civilization coexists with the corruption of mankind.
Now, brothers and sisters, are we in such days? Scientists tell us there is a population explosion. If it continues like that, the supply of this world will be lacking.
Especially in our days, you find spiritualism and spiritism prevailing over all the earth. People try to have communication with evil spirits, and there is satanic worship everywhere. These things increase in our days.
Is it not true that people have become so corrupt today? Even our very imagination is full of evil. You know, with these television things, even little children’s minds are turned toward violence. The whole world is corrupted.
Brothers and sisters, as the days of Noah, so shall be the days of the coming of the Son of Man.
What our Lord Jesus emphasizes is this: in the days of Noah, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Unexpectedly, suddenly, the flood came and they were gone. So shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
Brothers and sisters, what is wrong with eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage? These are lawful things. These are necessary things of life. We have to eat, we must drink, and there must be marrying. These are the normal things of life.
But remember: these are not the purpose of life. What is the purpose of life? Why do you live on this earth? Do you live on this earth just to eat and drink, marry and give in marriage? Of course not.
But people today make eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage the very purpose of their lives. People are married six times, maybe eight times. You find that people indulge their flesh. They have become seekers of the pleasures of life.
We say the pursuit of happiness is our natural right. People seek after the pleasures of sin, and they forget their spiritual welfare. They are obsessed by sensual satisfaction, and they completely neglect the good of their souls.
This is the phenomenon of the time of Noah, and this is the very phenomenon of our time. Suddenly, the Lord will return, and they will all be swept away. This is one of the general signs.
In Luke 17, perhaps we will read from verse 28:
Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all:
after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
What were the days of Lot? You go back to Genesis 19. In the days of Lot, he lived in the city of Sodom. Sodom and Gomorrah at that time were so evil.
Today we use the word sodomy. It comes from Sodom. That is homosexuality, and that happened in Sodom. It was practiced openly in the whole city. If you read Genesis 19, you see the description there.
Because of such evil, God was going to destroy that city, and fire would burn the city. Today, if you go to Israel by the side of the Dead Sea, you will discover that place was full of sulfur. God destroyed the city completely because of evil.
Now, brothers and sisters, is this not the phenomenon of our time? Never in the world has homosexuality been such an open thing. Because of this evil, God will judge this world.
But what our Lord Jesus especially emphasizes is this: He said that in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, and they built.
In other words, with all these sins they committed, they were still seeking everything in this world. They did not repent of their sins, as if their sins would never be judged. They went on with their lives as usual.
They ate and drank. They bought and sold. They planted and built. So, brothers and sisters, are we not in such days?
Yet people live their lives as if nothing had happened. They live for the world, for the pleasure of the world. They will buy and they will sell, and suddenly fire will come down.
A third general sign is found in Revelation 3. We will consider Revelation 3:14-22. These are the days of Laodicea.
We know there are seven churches in Asia which practically represent the whole period of the church. Today we are in the days of Laodicea. So far as the church in general is concerned, the church is in the state of Laodicea.
Instead of holding fast Christ as the Head, we find the church is governed by the opinion of the majority. Instead of humbling ourselves before God, there is pride—even so-called spiritual pride.
People think that they need nothing. “We are rich.” Christianity today boasts of its wealth: “We lack nothing,” not knowing that it is wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
Under that kind of circumstance, apostasy is preparing the way for the appearing of the man of sin.
So, brothers and sisters, when you look at the general condition of the church, you find that it is preparing for the appearing of the man of sin, the antichrist. We are in the days of Laodicea, and that shows the coming of the Lord is near.
But these are the general signs. Let us now turn to more specific signs.
First of all, return to Matthew 24. The Lord Jesus said, “Learn a lesson from the parable of the fig tree.”
We know that the fig tree is a representation of the Jewish nation, just as the maple is a sign of this country.
Our Lord Jesus, when He entered into Jerusalem for the last time, was hungry. He saw a fig tree full of leaves, but He could not find any fruit there. So He cursed that tree.
Our Lord Jesus cursed only once. He cursed that fig tree, and it dried from the root. Why did He do that? It is symbolic.
The Lord was entering Jerusalem. He offered Himself to His country. They were like the fig tree. They should have produced fruit for the glory of God, but all they had was an appearance of godliness. There was no reality there.
They could not satisfy God’s heart. They rejected God’s own Son. Therefore, God rejected them and put them aside temporarily. That is why the Lord cursed that fig tree.
But almost immediately the Lord said, when you see that fig tree branch out and begin to have leaves, then you know it is near at the door. In other words, the fig tree that was cursed to death would one day be revived. When it is revived, it is near.
Brothers and sisters, the Jewish nation was destroyed by the Romans. Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple was completely destroyed, and the Jewish people were scattered throughout the whole world.
For almost two thousand years, the Jewish people were the wandering Jews. They had no country, no land, and no government. Do you know that it is a miracle? No race on this earth could exist without a country, without a government, without a land, and continue on for so long.
You do not find that in human history. The Jews are the chosen people. For about two thousand years, there was no country. The fig tree was dead from the root.
Yet the Lord said it would branch and have leaves. Today we know it is a fact. After the Second World War, the nation of Israel was reborn.
That was a surprise to everybody. The fig tree began to put forth branches. It began to have leaves. It does not have fruit yet, because the restoration of the Jewish nation today is a political restoration. It is not a religious restoration.
There is no fruit yet. They have not repented and turned to the Messiah yet. They are still waiting for their Messiah. They still do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. But one day they will.
Brothers and sisters, the very fact of the establishment of the nation of Israel is a fulfillment. That is a specific sign which shows that it is near at the doors.
Number two: Luke 21:24. The Lord was describing, or prophesying, how Jerusalem would be destroyed.
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Here our Lord said Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the people would be led captive into all the nations. This had been fulfilled. But He continued to say, “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Brothers and sisters, from the first century to recent times, Jerusalem had been trodden under the feet of the nations. Jerusalem was controlled by the Gentiles—by the Turks and by the British. Jerusalem was trodden down by the nations after it was destroyed.
Only in A.D. 135, for a few months, Jerusalem was in the hands of the Jews. Aside from that, Jerusalem had been trodden under the feet of all the nations.
Until the times of the Gentiles—the time of the nations—be fulfilled.
Now again, I have to explain a little bit. You go back to Daniel 2. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream.
He saw a huge image with a golden head, silver breast and arms, bronze body, iron legs, and feet half clay and half iron. Then he saw a stone strike upon the feet, and the whole image disintegrated. That stone began to enlarge and fill the earth.
This image tells us of the times of the Gentiles, because at that time God delivered the government of this world to the nations.
At first He raised up the nation of Israel to represent His government, but they rebelled against Him. So God took the government of the world from the hands of Israel and delivered it to the nations. It began with Nebuchadnezzar.
The times of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar and will continue until Jerusalem is no longer trodden down by the Gentiles.
During the Six-Day War in 1967, for the first time the Jewish people captured the whole of Jerusalem.
I visited Jerusalem the first time when it was still divided. I had to cross a no man’s land to enter into the new city of Jerusalem. It was in the hands of Jordan.
But during the Six-Day War, the Israeli army entered into Jerusalem and captured the whole city.
Then in the 1980s, the Knesset, the parliament of the Israel nation, declared that Jerusalem is the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel and of the Jewish people.
Now, of course, today it is still a controversy. Not only the Arabs will not recognize it; many nations will not recognize it. Many nations do not have their embassies in Jerusalem.
But, brothers and sisters, if Jerusalem remains in the hands of the Jews and does not go into the hands of the Gentiles, then the times of the Gentiles have been fulfilled. You find how close we are now.
Another sign is the gathering course of world politics: the center of the world’s attention upon the Middle East.
We live in a very exciting time. During the last few years, how the world map has changed—and it is still changing. You find that communism is dead. The USSR has broken up, and there are still civil wars going on there.
In other words, the whole world is in turmoil, trying to rearrange itself, because the world is rearranging for that time to come.
We do not have time to go into details. You have to look into it later.
At the coming of the Lord, there will be ten nations in confederacy. They will occupy the territory of the former Roman Empire, including the territory of the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman empires.
There will be a confederacy of ten nations, and this confederation will be led by the antichrist. You have to read Revelation.
Now, brothers and sisters, we are watching and seeing that in the former territory of the Roman Empire there is a gradual change, trying to form the ten-nation confederation.
We are very interested in the so-called Common Market of Europe, because it is gradually, gradually forming a political confederation. It will become the United States of Europe, and it will cover the former territory of the Roman Empire.
We find this is gradually forming. It is not there yet, but it is coming.
Furthermore, you find that the attention of the world is now drawn to the Middle East. Why is it that today all the eyes are upon the Middle East? It is a small place, a small territory upon this earth, and all the world is centered upon that place.
Why? There is oil there. Today’s civilization depends upon oil, so the whole world is looking into the Middle East.
How quickly all the armies of the nations will gather in a small spot. You know, the battle of Armageddon will be fought there. So you find everything is shaping up now.
Brothers and sisters, the world can change. You may wake up tomorrow and find it has changed. So the Lord’s coming is very, very near.
Now, brothers and sisters, we are hearing these things not for curiosity. We hear these things because the Lord wants us to learn our lessons.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Bible tells us that we do not know when He will come. He does not tell us when He is coming.
Are we sleeping? We should wake up, because He is coming soon. Let us be on watch. Let us look and see these things, and be ready.
Dear brothers and sisters, we should pray. Watch and pray, that you may escape these things and stand before the Son of Man.
Brothers and sisters, we need to pray that our hearts will not be weighed down by the things of this world. We should pray for His kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Brothers and sisters, we should be ready. Prepare ourselves.
You know, in 1 John 3:3, if we have this hope in our hearts, we shall purify ourselves, that we may be like Him.
Oh, brothers and sisters, we need to confess our sins. We need to repent. We need to turn our hearts to the Lord. We need to give ourselves to the Lord. We need to live for Him.
We need to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. This is the way to prepare ourselves.
He is coming. If we are prepared, then He can come at any time, and He will take us to Himself.
Oh, bless You. Today, we are not waiting for death. We are waiting to be taken. Shall we pray?