Matthew 24:25-51

²⁵ Behold, I have told you before.

Revisited notes: Back in the 1970’s-80’s Hal Lindsey became popular with his series on the end times. Other evangelist were also putting out similar content like Jack Van Impe. This was paired with the Thief in the Night series that many churches showed to their congregations. It seemed that the entire body of believers were on the edge of their seats just waiting for more signs, but there was a problem. Many of those teachers broke the rules of sound hermeneutics when reading and teaching the Word. Interpretive liberties were taken that should not have been taken… for example, there are people who think the locust that come out of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9 are black hawk helicopters. The Bible doesn’t say this, that was a person’s interpretation that they arrived at by way of assumption. That is bad hermeneutics… what the Bible says we should teach, what the Bible doesn’t say clearly, we should not teach. Every doctrine needs to be supported by and come from scripture exclusively. Jesus wants us to know the signs of the end times, but we need to take extra care when we study these verses. We don’t know the day or the hour, but we can know the season. Jesus wanted us to be aware of times, and he told us before they happened. This should give us peace and build our faith as those events he told us to look out for unfold before our eyes. It should also draw us into the word and prayer.

²⁶ Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

Prior notes:Settle this now, YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO GO OUT TO MEET JESUS ANYWHERE. When Jesus returns, you will not be able to miss him. As a Christian, he will be coming to gather you to him… not the other way around. The following verse is when Jesus gathers all of us together at the last trumpet…and by last, I mean last of the 7 trumpets in Revelation, this is the second coming and….there is no pre-tribulation rapture as some falsely believe. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Revisited notes: AGAIN… You will not have to go to Jesus, he is coming for you.

Revisited notes: Right now in 2026 there are churches that are teaching the congregations to confuse the moving of the Holy Spirit with emotionalism. For example the worship team will get everyone singing beautiful songs that isn’t actually placing God in the center of the worship and praising him, but instead places the experience of man at the center. Instead of singing how God saved us through the blood Jesus shed for us, people sing about how they can receive blessing in their life making themselves the center of worship. Their praise of God is to receive a blessing in an area of their life, not because God had sent his Son Jesus to save their soul. The tool used by the worship team is to get people into their emotions and tell them that the emotional feelings they have are the moving of the Holy Spirit. This trains people to believe they are on the correct path NOT BECAUSE THE WORD CONFIRMS IT…. but because they feel emotional warm fuzzy feelings.This sets them up to follow a charismatic leader that can envoke the same strong emotions. There will be no hinderance to this either because most of these same people spend little to no time studying the word personally.

²⁷ For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Prior notes:The return of Jesus is going to be hard IMPOSSIBLE to miss. There are a lot of teachings that needs to go here… like the fact that these events occurs at the end of the 7 seals and 7 trumpets of the book of Revelation. After these signs and the gathering of the Christians (verse 31), judgment falls on the earth as the vial/bowl judgments are poured out on the earth. The only ones on the earth receiving these judgments are the ones who completely rejected Jesus. Just remember, Jesus is coming for you…. you do not need to go to him.

Revisited notes:Just like it’s hard to miss the morning sunrise… we won’t miss the coming of Jesus in the Clouds.

²⁸ For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Prior notes:Note: This is my opinion and I wait on the Lord for clarity… but I think this verse has to do with everyone (Saints will be with Jesus and sinners on the ground with the antichrist) gathering at the battle of Armageddon. I believe that because of where this verse is placed and the events that are going to occur at that time. Also, Revelation 19:17 ¹⁷ And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;—–
In the next verse this refers to the bowl judgments in Revelation.

²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Revisited notes: Revelation chapter 11 and 12:4 ( And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.)

³⁰ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Prior notes:Jesus the CLOUD RIDER… like when Jesus was in the cloud leading the children of Israel through the dessert.

³¹ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Revisited notes: Revelation 12:1-5 ¹ And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:² And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.³ And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.⁴ And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.⁵ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

³² Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

³³ So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Prior notes:Jesus wants us to be aware of his return and he wants us to know the signs. I know of 4 reasons why many Christians today don’t bother reading Revelation or deeply studying these text.
1. Fear. They are scared. (Fear is a killer of Faith… remember Psalms 23… I will fear no evil, thy rod and thy staff comfort me. The rod and staff of the Lord are what guide us in truth and teach us of the ways of the Lord…. because there is faith in the word, so knowing the word combats the fear of the unknown.)
2. Because there were times when Christians thought the end was coming and were very focused on Revelation and end times so intensely, it became obsessive. At the same time, people weren’t studying and growing in other areas of their walks with God and became unbalanced in their walks with the Lord. So, people overcorrect and completely ignore end times, thereby ending up in the ditch on the other side of the road. 2 Timothy 3:16-17¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:¹⁷ That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
3. People believe it is too complicated to understand. –The solution is to read it like a child…get rid of all the preconceived ideas you have about it and read it…rightly dividing the word of truth… look into some of the many teachers who are teaching sound doctrine on this topic.
4. People believe they will be raptured out of here and won’t need to know any of this.—there is no pre-tribulation rapture.

Revisited notes:Christians are being killed, persecuted, thrown into jail and harassed nonstop because of their Testimony for Jesus. This could happen to any Christian on the planet. If COVID-19 has taught us nothing, it taught us that the world can change overnight and our freedoms can be stripped away for what the powers that are in charge deem a worthy cause. When COVID-19 hit, the government wanted to shut down Churches. There are politicians that openly declare their hatred of Christianity and proclaim it to be the worst thing that happened to society. Americans have gotten very comfortable and confident in their freedoms…even when our freedoms are threatened, it isn’t taken seriously. People think America can’t change into one of those countries that strip us of freedoms, but it’s happening now. When Biden was in office and Mark Zuckerberg was pandering, Christians were being censored if they disagreed with gender politics, BLM, and liberalism… we were stripped of our voice leaving us feeling unheard and isolated. The goal was to break our spirit and take our hope away. People who did speak up were mobbed, doxxed and cancelled. Then after Trump was elected, it didn’t get better… paid agitators have steadily caused as much trouble as possible to keep the chaos going. The liberal extremist mocked and celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk, a man who only ever wanted to open the lines of communication.

The Lord Jesus has gone through the trouble of outlining the signs for us. These are going to be hard time…. it will be troubling, and we will need to truly understand end time prophecies. I’ll be completely honest, I’ve never met anyone who believes in the pre-trib rapture give end times prophecy the attention it should get because of their beliefs. When they do study it, they force fit the verses to their beliefs in the rapture, so they get it incorrect anyway. Going at the verses with the presupposition of the pretrib rapture is why most of them feel so confused when they try to read the eschatological text.

³⁴ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

³⁵ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

³⁶ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Prior notes:I’ve heard people use this as an argument for dismissing the signs of the coming of Jesus. For example, when someone says that “Jesus is coming soon, the signs of his return are being revealed”… someone else may say, “no man knows the time when the Lord is coming back.” This chapter is here giving the signs of the time… and then it says that when the fig tree grows the tender branches and starts to put out new leaves, you know that summer is near (verse 32). The lord is showing us the season of his return…. he even says that “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” in verse 34. The Lord is showing us the season of his coming, but not the exact moment. We are to be aware of the season, but the exact minute will be a surprise.

³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Revisited notes: There is a lot to unpack in these verses. It starts with Jesus saying we won’t know the day or hour, but we’ll know the season, then he goes on to say that it’ll be like the days of Noah.

³⁸ For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

Revisited notes: The world is going to be running like business as usual. Here is where the pre-tribulation rapture belief causes a huge problem when you interpret these verses threw that presupposition. In the pre-tribulation rapture theology the entering into the ark is the same as the rapture….except, it isn’t…. Noah and his family were not taken to heaven, they were preserved through the flood. Noah obeyed God and built the ark as God planned it and instructed him to. Noah’s obedience wasn’t easy… it took him over 100 years…. It was a tremendous amount of work. It took faith because it hadn’t even rained during all those years. The entire time Noah was building this ark in the middle of a perverse generation of people, he was preaching repentance. If we are to apply Noah’s life to ours now in these end times in this perverse generation, it would look like us walking in faith. Since faith comes by hearing the word of God, we would be building our faith by study of the word, praying, and following Jesus. We would preach repentance and warn people of the coming judgment like Noah preached repentance and warned people of the coming flood. We would be mocked for our belief in God like Noah was. People around us would be carrying on with life like nothing was going to change. Like Noah who was building a huge boat on dry land in a lifelong drought, we would be building our faith in a place that seems impossible.
Noah was not building the ark to escape the world completely, but to be able to endure the coming judgment on the earth when the floods came. This is where the pre-tribulation rapture belief becomes dangerous for Christians. Reading the end time scriptures from a place that they don’t apply to you because you won’t be here for it undermines the need to develop enduring faith. Enduring faith for the end times is to read and understand what’s coming so we are not shaken when it arrives. People who aren’t expecting a catastrophe are going to be shaken when it occurs… and many will fall away.

³⁹ And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Revisited notes: The rains that brought the flood were a judgment against the people.
Genesis 9:11-13 ¹¹ The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.¹² And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.¹³ And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
When Jesus removes his Church, it’s before the judgment of God pours down. The 7 vials are judgments. Revelation 16:1&7  ¹ And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. verse 7 ⁷ And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Read the entire chapter that talks about these vials being the judgment of God and the pouring out of his wrath. Revelation 16 Click here to read

⁴⁰ Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

⁴¹ Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Revisited notes: The taking away here is like the taking away of the people who were swept away by the flood. The Lord said this would be as in the days of Noah… the people who refused to repent were swept away by the flood in judgment… so these folks here that are taken are taken to judgment…not raptured. The person in the field and the woman at the mill were taken away to be judged like the people who were taken away by the flood waters.

⁴² Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

⁴³ But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

⁴⁴ Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Prior notes:NEVER let your guard down… never say, “Jesus isn’t coming anytime soon” and begin to live in the world again. Stay faithful to the Lord always.

Revisited notes:Peter was expecting the Messiah to come and take out the Romans that occupied the area and then take the throne and rule as king on the seat of King David. So when Jesus started telling him that he was going to be crucified, Peter rebuked Jesus. Matthew 16:Prior notes:NEVER let your guard down… never say, “Jesus isn’t coming anytime soon” and begin to live in the world again. Stay faithful to the Lord always.

Revisited notes:Peter was expecting the Messiah to come and take out the Romans that occupied the area and then take the throne and rule as king on the seat of King David. So when Jesus started telling him that he was going to be crucified, Peter rebuked Jesus.

• Matthew 16:22 ²² Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee
• Jesus admonishes Peter:
  Matthew 26:40-41⁴⁰ And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?⁴¹ Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

⁴⁵ Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

Revisited notes:When wealthy men of that time left their homes to go tend to their other homes or business, they would leave a servent in charge of the house. This servent was supposed to run the house like it was run while the ruler was there and was expected to act in the interest of his master. A faithful servent was rewared when the master returned to find everything running the way he wanted it. This parable means that we are to be faithful of Jesus as his servents and do what he has instructed us to and when he comes back and finds us following his will, he will reward us.

⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

⁴⁷ Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

⁴⁸ But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

⁴⁹ And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

⁵⁰ The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

⁵¹ And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Prior notes:The word says that this generation shall not pass away… so that means when the signs begin, the end will happen in that generation. I think we are going to see events line up that will set the stage for the fulfillment of the events of the 7 years of tribulation to happen. We will see those things happening before the 7 years begin… I think we are in that time now. None of us are going to know when the clock begins on the 7 years…and we won’t know when the end of that time is going to happen. What we do know is to watch for the signs, know that the season is near for these things, and stay faithful to the end.