Matthew 24:32-33. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. Israel, who can produce no fruit forever, will show signs of life and prosperity, and have all the appearance of outward success, and this will be a sign to the disciples that the time is near.
Matthew 24:34-35. But, alas! it is the same perverse, unbelieving generation, as perverse as ever. In the days of Christ’s sojourn on earth, they stumbled over Him; but when He comes, He will fall upon them, and grind them to powder. (Matt. 19:44). Between these two points all the present interval has come in, but Israel, distinct from the nations, is unbelieving Israel still, and will so remain till all these things be fulfilled. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” All shall be fulfilled.
Matthew 24:36-41. Signs may show it is near, but the time of His coming is hidden. Faith depends upon it, and expects Him, but this faith may be so small that it is said, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7-8). Patience must be exercised amid the sufferings of that time, for of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only. With all Israel’s dates and signs, the exact time of the Son of Man’s coming is not known on earth. How much less could anyone presume to say when the Lord will come for the church, where neither dates nor signs are given?
“The wise shall understand,” and wait with expectant hearts, but the wicked will make it a time like the days of Noe – eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. But discrimination will be shown, and no righteous will be carried away with the wicked. Judgment will take the wicked one away, and leave the other one in the field; or those working together at the mill, one shall be taken and the other left. There can be no hiding from Him then. When the Lord comes for His church, all His own will be caught up to meet Him in the air. Christless professors will be left behind to perish with everlasting torments (2 Thess. 1:7-9; 2:10-12). It is just the opposite, at Christ’s coming for His saints: the good are taken, the wicked left. At His coming to the earth as Son of Man, the wicked are gathered out; the just are left to possess the kingdom. (See Matt. 13:41-42,49-50).
Matthew 24:42-44. Here is an exhortation to the believers of that time, warning them to be ready for the sudden appearing of their Messiah as the Son of Man from heaven. There is great temptation to yield to Satan in the hope of getting an easier path. Many of them shall fall, but “they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever” (Dan. 12:10,1-3).
From Matthew 24:45 to chapter 25:30, we have truth that applies to the present time. From Matthew 25:31 gives the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:45-47. The Lord speaks now to the heart of His servants, that they might wisely and faithfully feed His flock (Acts 20:28), a work precious to Him who loved and gave Himself for His church; and still loves them, even unto the end. All the service of Christ is precious to Him, but this is not so much gospel work which is sometimes allowed to displace Christ and the church because of its importance, but here we are reminded how the Lord desires the wise and faithful servant to give to His household food in due season, putting us in mind of that word in Luke 10:35: “And whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” And here, “Blessed is that servant, whom His Lord, when He comes, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that He shall make Him ruler over all His goods.” He wears our names upon His breast (Ex. 28:29).
Matthew 24:48-51. There are evil servants also, who know not the character of the Master they profess to serve, who are not waiting for the Lord; their hearts say, my Lord delayeth His coming. They assume authority that belongs to Christ, and abuse their fellow-servants; they eat and drink with the drunken, that is, have fellowship with the world that are such. Such servants get the doom of the hypocrite, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
This would apply to the profession as a whole, describing the kingdom. The professing church has settled down into the world, follows its ways and customs, and is unfaithful to Christ. There are faithful individual servants who will be rewarded, but this is brought out in the next two parables.
(Continued from page 214).
(To be continued).