Some of Christ's Last Words

There are five great sciences of the Bible: (1) theology—the science of God, (2) anthropology—the science of man, (3) soteriology—the science of salvation, (4) ecclesiology—the science of the assembly, and (5) eschatology—the science of last things. We will be beginning a long study on the second coming of Christ, a very contradictory subject. There are probably more arguments over eschatology than any of the other sciences.

Read Matthew 23:37-24:14. A subjective concept apart from objective proof is false. Objective proof is in the Word of God. No subject has caused more controversy among students of eschatology than what is called the future coming of the King of kings. It may not appear to be a subject of great importance to most professing believers, but diligent students of Scripture will find the subject to be one that boggles the mind. Therefore, zealous believers must be told the subject involves Israel, the times of the Gentiles, the first advent of Jesus Christ, and the assembly of Christ. Furthermore, the assembly is to be followed by the tribulation, the second advent of Christ to set up His kingdom on earth, and then the eternal state with His own for whom He died.

The sign of Christ’s coming to consummate the present age was of the greatest interest to the disciples in the Olivet discourse. Having finished His discourse of lamentation over Israel in the preceding chapter, “Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down. As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:1-3).

There is no prophetic symbol in the whole of our Lord’s great prophetic discourse. There is no dream or vision. It is a verbal prophecy from first to last. There are a few figures of speech, but not a word of symbolic language. Three things are mentioned: (1) the destruction of the temple, (2) the personal coming of Jesus Christ, and (3) the end of the age.

The sign of Christ’s coming to consummate the present age was that of the Olivet discourse (Matt. 24:3). True eschatology is concerned with the expectation of Jesus Christ, and that is why Matthew 23 must be studied in connection with our present study. Matthew 24:1 connects the two chapters. Jesus Christ of Matthew 23 and 24 is not the Person of the fashionable pulpit of our time.

Jesus Christ was deliberately leaving the temple when He predicted its destruction. (Read Romans 9—Israel’s past, Romans 10—Israel’s present, and Romans 11—Israel’s future.) Therefore, the Son of God saw what neither the Jews nor His disciples saw. The Jews could not see because of empty formalism, and His disciples saw only the outward beauty of the temple.

To the Christian, Satan is the second largest fact of revelation. The largest fact is the revelation of God. There is nothing our nation needs as much as a revelation of Satan and his work. Evil heads up in a fiendish individual called Satan. Even though modern day philosophy denies the very subject which now engages our attention, the facts are (1) the testimony of Divine revelation and (2) the crushing of a world reeking in crime, lust, and war.

These are the great questions: (1) Where did Satan originate? (2) Why did he come into existence? Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Exodus 12 all prove the sufferings of the Son of God and why He suffered. But what about figurative interpretation? It would be bad unless there is an explanation, and we have that in the Holy Scriptures.

Satan was the first actor of sin, and the first tempter to sin. Therefore, as the Puritans said, “Sin is the Devil’s first-born.” His sin is not to be discovered by comparing it with the wickedness of human spheres, but rather by a due comparison of it with the holiness of God. As God is the embodiment of good, so Satan, in his restricted sphere, is the embodiment of evil.

The sinfulness of Satan’s sin is not to be discovered by comparing it with the wickedness of human spheres, but it is true that Satan, being finite, is evil to the extent of his resources and means. Satan’s sin was pride. Ambitious pride and untruth are two closely related evils. Within the scope of these are sins that continue to live by the power of the evil one—the evil nature and undertakings of Satan.

It is true that the death of Jesus Christ placed the disciples in a state of perplexity. “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You. But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s. Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:21-28).

The saints of this dispensation are represented as waiting for the kingdom. If we are waiting for it, it is not here. Some passages “seemingly” contradict this, but there are no contradictions. Paul said, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thess. 1:3-12).

The apostles, after Christ’s ascension, did not say the kingdom was established, and they made no reference concerning the coming kingdom. During His ministry, Jesus Christ nowhere said, “The kingdom has come.” James taught that believers are heirs of the kingdom. He said, “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5).

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ depart from the Temple? It was because it was desolate. Christ said, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39). This discourse was spoken two days before the Lord’s death, and it follows the woes upon the Pharisees (Matt. 23:37-39).

The saints of our dispensation are represented as waiting for the kingdom (II Thess. 1:5-10; Rom. 8:23; Heb. 11:39-40; I Pet. 1:2-13). The house of Israel is left desolate (Matt. 23:38) until Christ comes again. At that time, its fallen, desolate condition will be removed, when Israel shall mourn before the personal presence of Jesus Christ (Matt. 24:30).

There is to be a Jewish kingdom, based on Jewish covenants. This is proved by Jewish Scripture, Jewish prophets, and the climax of it all is the Jewish Son of Man in descent and office. The Lord Jesus Christ is King of the Jews—“And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Matt. 27:37). This title belongs to Him as the covenanted Davidic Son, as the promised King.

The apostles did not know how to reconcile Christ’s death with their view of covenanted predictions and expectations. The resurrection, however, dissolved their perplexed state and reconfirmed their faith in the covenant predictions. (See Acts 1:1-7.) After the ascension, the apostles did not preach that the kingdom was established.

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.