Matthew 24:1-51 - Heartlight

¹As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.

²“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

          4Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.
          5For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
          6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
          7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
          8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

          9Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
          10At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,
          11and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.

¹²Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

¹³But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

          15So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),
          16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
          17Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.
          18And let no one in the field return for his cloak.

          19How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
          20Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath.
          21For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again.
          22If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

          23At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.
          24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.
          25See, I have told you in advance.

          26So if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
          27For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
          28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days:

‘The sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from the sky,

and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’

³⁰At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.

³¹And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

          32Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.
          33So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, right at the door.
          34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.
          35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

          36No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
          37As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
          38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.
          39And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
          40Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
          41Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

          42Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
          43But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
          44For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

          45Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?
          46Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
          47Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

          48But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’
          49And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
          50The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate.
          51Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

— Matthew 24:1-51

(BSB)

Related Resources from Heartlight

There are 12 resources related to this passage:

Make That Time Short!

Illustration of Matthew 24:15-22 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:15-22 NLT -- "Daniel the prophet spoke about 'the terrible thing that causes destruction.' You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place (the temple)." (You that read this should understand what it means.) "At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. People should run away without wasting the time to stop for anything. If a person is on the roof of his house, he must not go down to get things out of his house. If a person is in the field, he must not go back to get his coat. At that time, it will be bad for women that are pregnant or have small babies! Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away. Why? Because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again. But God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no person would continue living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen."

The Loyal Servant

Illustration of Matthew 24:45-51 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:45-51 NLT -- "Who is the wise and trusted servant? The master trusts one servant to give the other servants their food at the right time. Who is the servant that the master trusts to do that work? When the master comes and finds that servant doing the work he gave him, the servant will be very happy. I tell you the truth. The master will choose that servant to take care of everything the master owns. But what will happen if the servant is evil and thinks his master will not come back soon? Then that servant will begin to beat the other servants. That servant will eat the food and get drunk with other people like him. Then the master of that servant will come when the servant is not ready. It will be a time when the servant is not expecting the master. Then the master will punish that servant. The master will send him away to be with the hypocrites. And in that place people will cry and grind their teeth {with pain}."

Keep Your Faith to the End!

Illustration of Matthew 24:9-14 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:9-14 NLT -- "Then people will treat you badly. People will give you {to the rulers} to be persecuted (hurt) and killed. All people will hate you. All these things will happen to you because you believe in me. At that time, many believers will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. Many false prophets will come. They will cause many people to believe wrong things. There will be more and more evil in the world. So most believers will stop showing love. But the person that continues strong to the end will be saved. The Good News about {God's} kingdom will be told in the whole world. It will be told to every nation. Then the end will come."

Like Lightning!

Illustration of Matthew 24:23-28 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:23-28 NLT -- "At that time, some person might say to you, 'Look, there is the Christ!' Or another person might say, 'There he is!' But don't believe them. False Christs and false prophets will come and do great things and miracles. They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will do these things to try to fool his people, if that is possible. Now I have warned you about this before it happens. "Some person might tell you, 'The Christ is there in the desert!' But don't go into the desert to look for the Christ. Another person might say, 'There is the Christ in that room!' But don't believe that. When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by all people. It will be like lightning flashing in the sky that can be seen everywhere. {My coming will be clear, the same as} any time you see vultures gathering, you know there is a dead body."

No One Knows!

Illustration of Matthew 24:36-41 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:36-41 NLT -- "No person knows when that day or time will be. The Son and the angels in heaven don't know when that day or time will be. Only the Father knows. When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as the thing that happened during Noah's time. In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. People were marrying and giving their children to be married. The people were still doing those things until the day Noah entered the boat. Those people knew nothing about what was happening. But then the flood came and all those people were destroyed. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. Two men will be working together in the field. One man will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain with a mill. One woman will be taken and the other woman will be left."

To the Ground!

Illustration of Matthew 24:1-5 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:1-5 NLT -- Jesus left the temple area and was walking away. But his followers came to him to show him the temple's buildings. Jesus asked the followers, "Are you looking at these buildings? I tell you the truth. They will be destroyed. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another." Later, Jesus was sitting at a place on the Mount of Olives. The followers came to be alone with Jesus. They said, "Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to show us that it is time for you to come again and time for the world to end?" Jesus answered: "Be careful! Don't let any person fool you. Many people will come and use my name. They will say, 'I am the Christ.' And they will fool many people."

The Time Is Near!

Illustration of Matthew 24:32-35 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:32-35 NLT -- "The fig tree teaches us a lesson: When the fig tree's branches become green and soft, and new leaves begin to grow, then you know that summer is near. It is the same with these things that I told you would happen. When you see all these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to come. I tell you the truth. All these things will happen while people of this time are still living! The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but the words I have said will never be destroyed!"

Gathering His Chosen!

Illustration of Matthew 24:29-31 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:29-31 NLT -- "Soon after the trouble of those days, this will happen: 'The sun will become dark, and the moon will not give light. The stars will fall from the sky, and everything in the sky will be changed.' "At that time, there will be something in the sky that shows the Son of Man coming. All the people of the world will cry. All the people will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds in the sky. The Son of Man will come with power and great glory. The Son of Man will use a loud trumpet to send his angels all around the earth. The angels will gather his chosen people from every part of the earth."

The First Pains!

Illustration of Matthew 24:6-8 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:6-8 NLT -- You will hear about wars that are being fought. And you will hear stories about other wars beginning. But don't be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes.

When You Don't Expect Him

Illustration of Matthew 24:42-44 NLT

Illustration of Matthew 24:42-44 NLT -- "So always be ready. You don't know the day your Lord will come. Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time the thief was coming, then the owner would be ready for him. The owner would watch and not let the thief enter his house. So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you don't expect him."

Everlasting

Illustration of Matthew 24:35

Inspirational illustration of Matthew 24:35 -- Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Spoken by Jesus.)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my...

Illustration of Matthew 24:35

Illustration of Matthew 24:35 -- Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Spoken by Jesus.)

Cross References for Matthew 24:1-51

Cross References Provided by Open Bible

The Berean Standard Bible

The Berean Standard Bible (BSB) is a modern, clear, and faithful translation based on the best available Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Ideal for reading, study, and sharing, it entered the public domain in 2023. For more information, visit berean.bible.