F.M. Riley (20
May 2018)
"Matthew 24"
The Overlooked Progression
The Lord Himself Set Forth in
Matthew 24
By Pastor F. M. Riley
May 14, 2018
"But of that day and hour knoweth no
man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only,"
Matthew 24:36.
Introduction
I am quite familiar with this inspired
Scripture in God's Word. I have been looking for "the
blessed hope" of my Lord's coming again most of my years in the
Lord's ministry. I have watched the "signs" over the
years, just as our Lord instructed His people to do. See Matthew
24:42, 25:13, Mark 13:32-33, 13:35-37, Luke 12:37, 21:36, and
many more such Scriptures in the epistles of Paul and Peter.
There have been times in the past, when
the "signs" appeared to be indicating the Lord's coming at any
minute, and so I have made mistakes. I freely admit and
confess this to my readers. Most have realized that we are
still in our natural bodies with a "sin nature" received from
Adam, and are subject to making mistakes. However some to
this day have never forgotten or forgiven my errors, and have
used Matthew 24:36 as a club to beat me over the head with
it. So I am quite familiar with this Scripture. Now
let's see how familiar our readers and critics are with
it.......
Matthew 24:36
I will now ask every reader to read
this Scripture again, and look at it very closely.
If the reader knows anything at all
about correct grammer, then notice that in this Scripture the
Lord was speaking in the present tense. In other words, at
the time He spoke these words, no man knew the day nor the hour
of His coming again.
But also notice that the Lord did not
say that the day of His coming again could never be known.
And I am emphasizing this point, due to what the Lord continued
to say in His discourse. Now let's look at the Lord's
continued words in this 24th chapter of Matthew.
In 24:37-39 the Lord described "the
days of Noah," and said that the timing of His return would be
like a repetition of those days. And so it has come to
pass. We living today, are living in a repetition of "the
days of Noah."
Then in 24:40-41 the Lord described the
future rapture of New Testament believers. Two will be in
the field working; a believer and a lost person. The
believer will be taken "in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye,," 1 Corinthians 15:52. In other words, when the
rapture occurs, the believer will just suddenly vanish right
before the eyes of the unbeliever. Also two shall be
grinding grain into flour at the mill; a believer and an
unbeliever. Suddenly the believer will vanish right before
the eyes of the unbeliever. Talk about a "witness" to lost
unbelievers left behind at the rapture! Wow!
But when this occurs, it will be too late for the unbelievers to
repent and be taken in the rapture. But it will not be too
late for them to call upon the Lord and be saved. Any
reader who is still unsaved, following the rapture, needs to
remember this.......
Next in this chapter, the Lord made a
wonderful and revealing statement, "Watch therefore: for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come," 24:42. Hello!
What happened to the day in this Scripture, which was mentioned
in 24:36? In this inspired Scripture the Lord did not even
mention the day, which He had previously mentioned in
24:36. Is it possible that with the passing of time, "the
day" will have been revealed, but not "the hour" of the
day? Is that possible? Think about it!
Then in 24:43 the Lord said, "But know
this, that if the good man 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."
In the time of the Roman Empire the
nights and days were divided into four watches; 6 to 9, 9 to 12,
12 to 3, and then 3 to 6. This division was applied to both the
hours of the day, and the hours of the night.
Surely our readers who seriously
study the Scriptures are aware that certain hours in certain
watches are spoken of in the inspired Word. See Matthew
14:25 and Acts 2:15 for examples.
It appears to me that the Lord was
progressing forward in time in these Scriptures in Matthew
24. If a believer should be enabled to determine the day
when the Lord will come again, then what hour of what "watch" of
the day or night will He come? This is not hard to
understand, if a reader is willing to see it. And it
certainly harmonizes with the prophetic situation we see
today.......
Pentecost
According to Jewish scholars and
tradition, the great prophet Enoch, was born on the Day of
Pentecostt, Genesis 5:18. Enoch lived so close to the Lord
that he "walked with God," 5:22. Then after 365 years,
Enoch was raptured to God and to glory, 5:23-24. His day of
grace was over! The Jewish scholars also claim
that Enoch was raptured to glory on the Day of Pentecost.
The Day of Pentecost is the day that
the Lord God made a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai,
authorizing the Israelite people to serve as His "witnesses" on
the earth, to all the rest of mankind, Exodus 19:4-8;
20:1-17. Sadly, over the centuries the nation and people
of Israel went into idolatry, and apostasy, and turned away from
serving the Lord. So much so, that when their Messiah and
Savior came into the world at His first coming, they rejected
and crucified Him.
Then on the Day of Pentecost as
recorded in Acts 2, the authority to serve as God's "witness"
upon the earth was transferred from apostate Israel, to the
Lord's Church and people, and the Dispensation of Grace began.
Today as I write, is the 70th
anniversary of the existence of the reestored nation of Israel.
Israel became a nation again, in their own ancient homeland on
May 14th, 1948, and today, May 14, 2018, they have been a modern
nation for exactly 70 years. "70" is the number in the
Bible which signifies, "the restoration of Israel." All of
the "signs" the Lord has graciously given us in His Word to
"watch," are pointing to the very imminent return of the Lord
Jesus Christ to resurrect and rapture His New Testament Church
and believers to glory. When He comes and raptures His
Church and all New Testament believers out of this world, then
the authority to serve as His "witness" to mankind on the earth
will be transferred back to Israel, and this present
Dispensation of Grace will end, as the seven year Tribulation
period begins. And what "day" will this transition of
authority occur once more? If a precedent has been
established by the past, then it should occur on the Day of
Pentecost. And if the count of the omers was began on the
correct day, as recorded in Leviticus 23, the Day of Pentecost
should occur on May 20th of this present month. If there
was an error in the day the count began, then the Day of
Pentecost will come one week later on May 27th. Either day
indicates that the resurrection and rapture will occur this
month. And as I write the Day of Pentecost as listed on
the calendar is exactly one week from today.
Are our readers absorbing what I
have written? It appears to me that the day of the Lord's
coming, which the Lord mentioned in Matthew 24:36 has been
revealed. But we still do not know the hour of the watch,
or in what watch of the day or night, our Lord is coming.
Therefore be ready!
Conclusion
Every reader should have the assurance
that they are saved by the grace of God and ready to meet the
Lord in the air, or those readers who are still in unbelief and
lost in sin, will have plenty of reasons to regret that they
were not ready. Our Lord is coming, 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18.
Seek the Lord right now now in earnest and sincere prayer for
salvation and assurance, while you still have time and
opportunity to be saved before the rapture occurs, 2 Corinthians
6:2.
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Permission is granted to any true
believer, or Bible believing Christian ministry to reproduce
this study to share with others, or to quote from it in context
as written.
Those readers who want to contact me
personally over the next week, or possibly two weeks, should
call or email me as listed.
Email:
francismriley34@gmail.com
Phone: 573-202-6493
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