Matthew 24:1 – “Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple…”.
The buildings were massive. They were a massive sight - it was glorious; one of the wonders of the world really, just tremendous building. And Jesus said…
“…Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone will be left upon another that shall not be thrown down”.
That's a staggering claim to make. He's now prophesying. They're all saying: look at this awesome building, wow! Look, the gold, all the beauty of it – massive! He says: the whole lot is going to be thrown down. There won't be two stones left on top of one another. That's a whole study of its own, to find out what happened in there.
Then He sits down, and so they ask Him some questions. They just admired this big building, but Jesus said: don't put your hopes in the building. That building is coming down, and so of course, once they got alone, they sat and talked, and they asked Him some questions. As they sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. That's what disciples do - they ask questions privately. They said: tell us, when will these things be? What will be the sign of Your coming; and the end of the age?
So, there's two key questions that are asked here. 1) The destruction of the temple - what will indicate it's happening? 2) What will be the signs that indicate Your return is imminent? Jesus then answers that, and His answers are spread, as they often are in the Bible, in more than one place. You've got to read the different places to find them, but Matthew 24 and 25 is a good place to start. You could also go into Mark 13, and Luke 21, but we'll just mostly look in Matthew, and then a little bit in Luke.
Matthew 24:4 - “He answered them and said, take heed that no one deceives you”.
His first thing is to warn them of the possibility of being deceived. To be deceived means that you think something's true, when it's not true. He repeats this warning: Take care, in case you be deceived. That you start to believe things that are not true, as though they were true - and that affects how you live your life.
Matthew 24:5 - “For many will come in My name, saying I'm the Christ, and deceive many. You'll hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you're not troubled.”
Don't be anxious when you hear all these reports or read the news. All these things must come to pass, but that's not the end.
Matthew 24:6 - “For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There'll be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”.
He says: then they'll deliver you up to the tribulation and kill you; and you'll be hated by all nations for My name's sake. Then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will arise and deceive many.
Notice the “then… then… then”. He's talking about a sequence of steps or actions that will take place, one after the other.
“…but he who endures to the end shall be saved, and this gospel of the kingdom of God will be preached in all the world, as a witness to the nations, then the end will come”.
Now you have an idea of what must come before the end, and we're not waiting for anyone or anything… God is waiting for us. This gospel of the kingdom must be preached throughout the whole world - then the end will come! So, don't wait around for Jesus to come. Pray… and get busy!
He's now asked two questions. The first question (in verse 3) was: what will these things be? They're asking about the temple. What about the temple? Tell us about the temple?
In Luke, it's described a little differently...
Luke 21:20 - “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is near”.
He's now giving them a sign. He's saying: when you see this, you know. This is what you can absolutely be certain to know, that its desolation, or its total ruin, is very close. That's the sign that He's given them; and this is a consequence - it's about to be destroyed. Then He tells them what to do.