Jesus continues instructing His disciples

in verses 21-28 here in Matthew 24.

Jesus begins to speak of a great tribulation

such as never ever occurred in history.

Such tribulation is it, that God cuts those days

short for the sake of the elect.

The elect that Jesus refers to is the nation of Israel, not the church. The church is not present in the tribulation. Jesus speaks of these elect again in verses 24 & 31.

Dr. Mitchell shares the truth concerning those

days which are called the Day of Lord.

It will be a time of great distress.

Dr. Mitchell brings out that the one who trust in Christ has been delivered from the wrath to come.

God’s righteousness has been vindicated by the

shed blood of Jesus Christ for you and me.

In Matthew 24 verses 9 thru 22,

Jesus continues His overview of what will be happening in the world prior to His return.

Jesus speaks of the rampant lawlessness

during these days of which He speaks.

The Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the nations

then the end of the age comes.

Dr. Mitchell carefully distinguishes between the

gospel of the grace of God now during the church age, and the gospel of the Kingdom which will be proclcaimed during the tribulation after the

church is gone from the earth.

The gospel of grace proclaims forgiveness of sins

in Jesus’ name and thru justification by His blood, salvation from the wrath of God.

The gospel of the kingdom proclaims the coming of Jesus as King to setup His millennial kingdom.

These are separate gospels in two different ages.

In Matthew 24 verses 4-8 Jesus is talking to His

disciples. They wanted to know when the end of the

age would come.

Jesus then begins to tell them of what to beware

of - false christs and possible wars between

nations.

But He hastens to add that these things were not

the end but merely the beginning -- the beginning

of birth pangs.

Dr. Mitchell reviews the context of Jesus’

explanation to His disciples.

He ties these verses in Matthew together with

verses found in the book of Daniel. In Daniel

God reveals His purposes for the nation of Israel

God’s truth is always relevant and current.

We are in Matthew 24 verses 1-6. The disciples

had 3 questions for Jesus. Jesus takes up the 3rd question first and answers it.

What will be the sign of the end of the age.

The disciples wanted to know when the present age would end.

The Jews only knew of two ages. There is the

present age and then the age to come. The age to

come would be when the Messiah would reign on His throne in Jerusalem.

Our Lord will take that up in the coming verses

but for now,

He warns the disciples about false messiahs

and to be on guard from being led astray from Him, the only true Messiah.

Thank you for being with us on the Unchanging Word

Bible Broadcast. Our teacher, Dr. John G. Mitchell

finishes up Matthew 23 and begins chapter 24.

In these passages, we see Jesus full of compassion

for Jerusalem and those living in it. He wanted so

much for them to come to Him and receive Him as

their Messiah, but they would not.

Each person has a choice to make in regard to the

Person and Work of our Lord Jesus Christ. What has been your decision?

As we continue in Matthew 23 this lesson begins

with verse 29. Here Dr. Mitchell will finish out the last of 8 indictments of the Lord Jesus against the religious rulers of Israel.

Dr. Mitchell reminds us that Jesus knew the motives

of these leaders which is why He could bring just

rebukes and indictments against these rulers.

At the end of His speaking, we still see Jesus’ willing heart of compassion for His Jerusalem,

to gather them together to Himself,

but they would not.

Dr. Mitchell admonishes the believer not to be the judge of another person’s motives.

Only Jesus has omniscience to know all things inwardly and outwardly, past, present and future.

He only can and will deal the ones who live a hypocritical life in words and deeds.

Our study continues in Matthew 23 vs. 16. where

Dr. Mitchell shares Jesus’s stern rebukes and

indictments on the religious leaders of Israel.

Matthew records these words for us to read and hear.

This lesson focuses on the next 4 of these 8

indictments in verses 16 thru 28.

These four are:

1. Swearing an oath: Lack of distinguishing between the greater and the lesser.

2. Tithing: majoring on the minors and minoring on the majors.

3. Cleansing outwardly to cover up the sins inwardly.

4. Stressing the outward appearance but losing sight of the inward sins.

This lesson causes one to discover what the real

focus is in life, both the known and the unknown.

After giving a short overview of the previous

lesson, Dr. Mitchell shares what Jesus said and

Matthew wrote. These were Jesus’ verbal judgments

on the Pharisees and Scribes. These consist of 8

woeful indictments.

Dr. Mitchell will guide us through the first 3 of

these indictments.

The first concerns not entering the kingdom of God and hindering those who would.

The second concerns widows houses and long prayers.

The third concerns proselyting to their religion.

We now turn to chapter 23 of Matthew verses 1-12.

Here Jesus speaks to the crowds and His disciples who were following Him.

As He speaks to His disciples he uncovers the attitudes and practices of the Pharisees.

The problem was the hypocrisy of these leaders. Their motives were not right,-- as Dr. Mitchell explains.

He also points out that Jesus was speaking, not to the church, but to the Jews of His day, who were under the laws of Moses. The church had not yet come into existence.

The Unchanging Word Bible Broadcast begins in

Matthew 22 verse 34.

Once again, the Pharisees mount another assault

on the Savior thru a lawyer. A lawyer

at that time was one who studied and taught

the law of Moses, the first 5 books of the Bible.

Dr. Mitchell notes that this particular lawyer was rather sincere in his inquiry. He asked Jesus which commandment in the law was the greatest. Jesus responded, once again, as He often does,

with Scripture.

Dr. Mitchell notes that love for God

is manifest in one’s love for his neighbor.

Jesus then questions the Pharisees about the Messiah, the Christ. Whose son is He?

Jesus, quoting Scripture once again, puts these

religious rulers on the horns of a dilema.

How is Christ both the Lord of David and yet also his son?