Mat 24:1-51 “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” – Part 2

[A study on Matthew 24 verses 10-15 – Study aired August 19, 2019]

Mat 24:10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 
Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 
Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. [2Co 4:4, many X 4 the whole world 1Jn 5:19]
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 
Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 
Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth [Rev 1:3], let him understand🙂

What must be fulfilled in the generation God is judging is described within the verses of Matthew 24:1-51, and this specific part of scripture that was written for the sake of God’s elect who are the generation to which Christ is referring (Mat 24:34), like all scripture, “is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

What must be “fulfilled” in this generation is described for us in Colossians 1:24 and accomplished by our hope of glory within Who can give us the ability to drink the cup of His suffering (Col 1:27). Matthew 24 just expands for us what that affliction is and tells us what we can expect to see unfold in the lives of those in whom God is working both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13).

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: 

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Mat 24:10. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

The first nine verses of Matthew 24, as we discussed in part one of this mini-series, has our Lord setting the stage for His disciples, explaining to them what is going to happen to the temple which, at this point, they did not know was referring to them (Mat 24:2, 1Co 3:16).

Mat 24:2. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Everything Christ spoke in this parable has to do with what is going to happen to the elect inwardly, and the outward manifestation of those spiritual events within are going to become more and more evident without, culminating in outward events in the physical earth that, had God not intervened, no flesh would be saved alive (Mat 24:22).

God’s word is written for the body of Christ, and because God’s spirit is in His people inwardly, no flesh is going to be saved alive so we can be in that blessed and holy first resurrection where flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom. Outwardly, in time, it is also true that no flesh will be saved alive. So this is a matter of timing, and God has determined “the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” of all nations of men within and without including those who were predetermined from the foundation of the world to be in the first resurrection (Act 17:26).

God’s children are reading scripture with the understanding that the words were written to comfort and assure that it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom of God even in troubled times (Dan 9:24-27, Col 1:24), and the spirit bears witness that we are His children, and this gives us great hope to have this manner of love bestowed upon us (Rom 8:16, 1Jn 3:1).

The troubled times are primarily for our carnal spirits which must be destroyed. As the old man decreases within us the new man is going to increase, John being a perfect type of this relationship happening in the body of Christ in this generation today and all the generations of those who have had God’s spirit within them since Pentecost (Joh 3:30, 1Pe 1:12, Jas 5:10). The two are working in conjunction with each other; the light and the darkness (Isa 45:7), the spirit against the flesh (Gal 5:17) which God is fashioning as the master Potter who is working the light and darkness to bring good. God has ordained that the flesh that is against the spirit is going to cause us to fall from time to time, less and less as we mature, but a complete seven times of falling nevertheless, which falling and getting up is all working according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11).

Even though Paul could never have conceived in the early-goings of his being humbled by the hand of God, regardless of what he perceived in His yet carnal mind, he was sealed by the Lord to do the work God had ordained for him to do from the foundation of the world. He was meant to be part of that manchild that makes up the body of Christ (Eph 2:10). God would now work on Paul’s life and does in each of the elect’s lives through a lifetime of much tribulation, ultimately delivering us from this body of death through death (Rom 14:8, Php 1:21).

Php 1:21  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

When we are exasperated with ourselves and our own wretchedness which God shows is within us (Rom 7:24-25), we experience this inward conflict of “then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another” our flesh being exposed for its weak and marred condition that cannot stand for Christ. We can be easily beset by the sin that is being shown us (Heb 12:1), but we must not despise His goodness which is leading us to repentance to see these things (Rom 2:4). That is the needful work taking place in the body of Christ, in the church, so that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened”.

That shortening of days in our life as His children is in fact the quick work God is doing in our life that is a vapor before Him (Rom 9:28, Jas 4:14), and the physical creation will literally not be destroyed because of the elect — for our sakes. This physical event reveals how we will not only save the world from destruction outwardly in that day, but also their soulishness in the lake of fire (Rom 1:20). God will use the physical creation as long as He deems it necessary, and its total destruction will happen at a time appointed of the Father as well, symbolizing that no flesh can inherit the kingdom.

Notice in verse one of Matthew 24:1 that it is the disciples who “came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple”, and we know they came to him by our Father dragging them to Christ just as he does all the elect who are being dragged to Christ to be judged in this age (Joh 6:44, 1Pe 4:17). Being dragged to Christ does not preclude that you are going to be judged, or that you are one of God’s elect, but if God continues to drag us to His son then we will be disciples indeed. If we truly hear the voice of the true Shepherd we will be encouraged by the prophecies that speak of the certainty of His power to deliver us and keep us bound to the altar as His living sacrifices in this age.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

All of these verses in (Revelation 22:6-9, which we’ve been recently discussing as the body of Christ, are the quick work, the things “which must shortly be done“. It is as has been recently demonstrated with scripture, speaking of an aorist, ongoing event, because it applies to, “This generation [that] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” It is speaking of the very real struggles the new creation of Christ within us must go through so we can identify with the truth that only Christ can be Christ within these earthen vessels (Rom 8:9), and that it is the light of Christ coming out of us, assuring us that nothing can separate us from the love of God which must mature and grow in stature just as Christ himself did (Luk 2:52, 1Jn 4:17).

Rev 22:6  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. 

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

1Jn 4:17. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

The struggle is real for our spirit, so much so that we being like Christ in this flesh are being heard because we fear to disappoint our Father and are having to die daily, or resist sin unto the shedding of blood as He did (1Jn 4:17, Heb 12:4). That is how armed we must make ourselves, and if need be Christ will give us the power to even drink a cup as deep and foreboding as the one that he drank (1Pe 4:1).

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

All our struggles as one body are different and yet working together for good (Rom 8:28) and are being accomplished as an act of love toward all the world, toward all those who are in hard bondage today, with any plethora of problems that exist in the flesh (Joh 3:16). We can show no greater love today to our neighbor than to lay down our life now and through Christ, which is what we have been called to do, and can do and will do, if He has us in His hand (Joh 15:13, Joh 10:28).

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 

Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

There’s nothing good in the flesh, and no part of that flesh can inherit the kingdom, not just the physical body of flesh, but especially the vain thoughts and imaginations of our hearts which must be pulled down by the brightness of His coming that is going to overcome the man of sin who wants to overcome but cannot and which law in our members keeps us in the bondage of sin (Joh 8:36, Rom 7:23-25).

Christ Himself said there is none good, no not one in the flesh, but what is good is the good work that God is doing within the lives of those who are being built up as a new temple in the Lord, living stones, even as the old temple is being torn down. None of this is linear, and there is a building of the new man and a tearing down of the old man who is learning obedience by the things that he suffers (Heb 5:8).

Both are incomplete, the old man is not completely destroyed until his last breath, and the new man cannot go unto perfection until the third day. These verses in Luke speak of both those parts in us.

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Mat 24:11. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. [Php 4:13]

These next three verses explain what must be contended with by all mankind in time (Rev 19:20), and the only way we can be among those who “endure unto the end” is through Christ who is that strong man in our lives (Col 1:27, Mar 3:27) who is able to bind the many false prophets which deceive the many nations within us, and can overcome the self-righteousness “iniquity” that naturally abounds in our hearts.

Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Mar 3:27  No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

The love of God would wax cold within us (Mat 24:12) if it were not for God showing mercy to us in this age (Rom 11:30-31). That mercy is given to the disciples indeed who continue in the word of God, these are “the same shall be saved” who are being spoken of in this 13th verse and who will one day show the same mercy to the rest of God’s creation.

Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 
Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth [Rev 1:], let him understand)

For those to whom God has ordained to know the true gospel, to read, hear, and keep the sayings of the prophecy (Rev 1:3), an ending is going to come within “and then shall the end come“, and that ending is talking about the end of the old man, the destruction of the man of perdition by the brightness of Christ’s coming (2Th 2:3-6).

However, there must be a “witness unto all nations” given to each of us within, and that is why we are angels unto one another who witness for three and a half years as the two witnesses to the world within each of our lives, pouring out those seals trumpets and vials upon each other so that we can be cleansed and sanctified by the word of God (Joh 17:17) that is represented by those judgments (Rev 16:1-21). As God’s two witnesses we will also cast bread upon the water that will come back in many days when the day of visitation comes upon the rest of the world in the great white-throne judgment (1Pe 2:12-14).

1Pe 2:12  Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
1Pe 2:13  Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1Pe 2:14  Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

The bread we cast today for the body of Christ, can only be received by Christ giving us entreatable hearts which are likened unto a child (Mat 18:3, Isa 66:2). We are being witnessed to today, and that witness comes from Jesus Christ in each of us causing us to “see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet“. So, when you know you are the man, there should be only one place you want to stand now, “stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth [Rev 1:3], let him understand)“. That holy place is where the elect come together often and are being healed and strengthened so that we can endure until the end and be saved Lord willing in this age (Mal 3:16, Heb 10:25).

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.