The Signs of the Times, Part I
Matthew 24:29-35
1. Everyone and Everything will Know When Jesus Returns!
a. The Church Will Be Purified! (Matthew 24:29, Daniel 12:9-10)
Daniel 12:9-10, He said, “Go on your way, Daniel, for the words are secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.
b. The Universe Will Testify! (Matthew 24:29b, Isaiah 13:9-10, Ezekiel 32:7, Revelation 6:12)
Isaiah 13:9-10, Look, the day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with rage and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners. Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shine.
Ezekiel 32:7, When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
Revelation 6:12-15, Then I saw him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of hair; the entire moon became like blood; the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
c. The Lord’s “Standard” Will Be Flown and Trumpet Sounded! (Matthew 24:30-31; Isaiah 11:12, 18:3, 27:13)
Isaiah 11:12, He will lift up a banner for the nations and gather the dispersed of Israel; he will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Isaiah 18:3, All you inhabitants of the world and you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet sounds, listen!
Isaiah 27:13, On that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as those dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they will worship the LORD at Jerusalem on the holy mountain.
d. The People of Earth Shall Mourn. (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7, 6:15-17)
Revelation 1:7, Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth, will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen.
Revelation 6:15-17, Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?
e. Jesus Will Appear on the Clouds in Great Glory! (Matthew 24:30b, Revelation 14:14-16)
Revelation 14:14-15, Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man, was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”