Panel Discussion – End of the Age – Matthew 24:3

This transcript was generated automatically. Its accuracy may vary

Short Summary
The panel discussion focused on the significance of Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24, emphasizing its purpose to strengthen believers against deception, encourage endurance, and highlight the global preaching of the gospel during the Gospel age. The participants explored the importance of recognizing the signs of Christ’s parousia, the meaning behind the four parables following the prophecy, and the interpretation of key verses such as the unknown day and hour of Christ’s return and the identity of “this generation.” Throughout, the discussion underscored the need for watchfulness, faithfulness, and readiness as central themes for believers awaiting the fulfillment of these prophetic events.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Panel Discussion on Matthew 24 and Related Prophecies

Purpose of Jesus’ Prophecy in Matthew 24:
– Jesus gave the prophecy primarily for believers living during His “secret presence” and the harvest period, rather than for Jews at His first advent.
– It serves to strengthen believers by:
– Preventing them from being led astray.
– Avoiding alarm that could cause love to grow cold.
– Encouraging endurance through trials.
– Affirming that the gospel will be preached worldwide.
– The prophecy also foretells the destruction of the Jewish temple, confirming the kingdom would not be established in that generation.
– It warns of future deceptions—false individuals and pseudo-Christian systems (referred to as the Antichrist).
– Jesus’ statement “Behold, I have told you before” (Matthew 24:25) emphasizes the importance of forewarning as being forearmed.

The Gospel’s Worldwide Preaching (Matthew 24:14):
– As the church approaches completion, the gospel message spreads wider than ever.
– This is facilitated by Bible translations into over 1500 languages and advances in media such as photodrama, radio, television, and the Internet.
– Such global reach is unprecedented and vital for fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy.

Endurance as a Key Christian Trait (Matthew 24:13):
– The emphasis on enduring to the end highlights the necessity of faithfulness amid temptations, persecution, and false doctrines.
– Endurance is presented as essential for salvation, reinforcing the need for steadfastness.

Why Emphasize the Signs of Jesus’ Parousia (Presence)?
– The signs are not about pinpointing an exact date but about recognizing the Lord’s invisible presence and activities.
– Example: The return of the Jews to Palestine in the late 19th century (starting 1878) is a major sign.
– Historical context includes the decline of the Ottoman Empire, economic hardships, and geopolitical changes facilitating Jewish resettlement.
– Signs in the heavens and on earth (Luke 21:25-28) include distress among nations, natural disturbances, and cosmic signs indicating the Son of Man’s coming.
– These signs serve to alert faithful believers to the time of deliverance.
– The concept of “parousia” was used in Roman times to describe an emperor’s official visit, implying Jesus’ presence is ongoing, not a sudden, visible arrival.

Judgment Begins at the House of the Lord (1 Peter 4:17) and Its Relation to Matthew 24:
– The judgment of nominal Christian systems (“Babylon”) is happening now.
– Christianity is being increasingly maligned and persecuted, especially in traditionally Christian nations.
– This judgment leads to societal breakdown and the onset of the “time of trouble.”

The Four Parables Following the Prophecy (Matthew 24:45–26:1):
Wise and Faithful Servant vs. Wicked and Slothful Servant:
– A warning to remain faithful and not become prideful or negligent.
– It can also be applied to how believers treat one another amid doctrinal differences—whether they help or hinder each other.
Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13):
– Emphasizes watchfulness and personal responsibility to maintain the “oil” (Holy Spirit).
– Highlights that some virgins are “foolish” and unprepared, though still given opportunity.
Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30):
– Encourages faithful use of God-given resources, being proactive in service, and cooperating with others.
– Faithfulness during the harvest period is crucial.
Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46):
– Represents the mediatorial kingdom phase after the great judgment.
– Teaches about sins of omission—failing to do what is right harms Christian character.

No One Knows the Day or Hour (Matthew 24:36):
– Jesus did not know the exact time of His return while on earth, as the Father had kept that knowledge.
– This prevented Satan from interfering prematurely.
– The unknown timing creates a perpetual sense of urgency and watchfulness.
– Analogous to a Jewish wedding custom where the bridegroom’s coming time was unknown, requiring the bride to be vigilant.

Understanding “This Generation Shall Not Pass Away” (Matthew 24:34):
– Various interpretations exist:
– Some link it to literal chronological periods (e.g., 120 years, based on Moses’ lifespan).
– Others see “generation” as the consecrated church class—those alive during the harvest and signs.
– Psalm 22:30 suggests that “a generation” includes all who serve the Lord.
– The fig tree is a symbol of Israel; its budding (Israel’s restoration) signals the nearness of these events.
– The passage stresses the need for watchfulness rather than date-setting.
– Historical prophetic time periods (1260, 1290, 1335 days/years) tied to events involving Israel and Jerusalem support the timing framework but remain speculative.

Overall Themes and Encouragement:
– The prophecy and parables teach watchfulness, endurance, faithfulness, and readiness.
– Believers are encouraged to avoid date-setting and instead focus on living faithfully, watching world events and spiritual developments.
– The Lord’s return is a process involving judgment, separation, and ultimate establishment of His kingdom.
– The discussion affirms the ongoing relevance of these prophecies and their application to the Christian life today.

—

Key Bible Verses Referenced:

– Matthew 24:3-26:1 (The Prophecy and its context)
– Matthew 24:13 – “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
– Matthew 24:14 – “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world…”
– Luke 21:25-28 – Signs in sun, moon, stars, distress of nations, and the coming of the Son of Man.
– 1 Peter 4:17 – “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God.”
– Matthew 24:36 – “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
– Matthew 25:1-13 – Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.
– Matthew 25:14-30 – Parable of the Talents.
– Matthew 25:31-46 – Parable of the Sheep and Goats.
– Psalm 22:30 – “A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.”

—

Summary Keywords:
Matthew 24 prophecy, Jesus’ return, parousia, signs of the times, endurance, gospel preaching worldwide, Jewish restoration, Ottoman Empire, watchfulness, wise and foolish virgins, talents, sheep and goats, judgment begins at the house of the Lord, no one knows the day or hour, this generation, fig tree, time of trouble, Christian endurance, separation from Babylon, spiritual harvest, marriage idiom, prophetic timing, Bible translations, modern technology spreading the gospel.

Transcript

It’s interesting discussions we’ve been having here and we hope that could put together a few more questions that will spark everyone’s interest here. So I think we’ll just get into discussion here. There is a comment I was going to add into the last discussion intermission, but I think maybe it’ll come up when we talk about a little bit later on. We’re going to be talking about why the signs are emphasized and we’ll get to into that at that point. But the first question is on Matthew 24, this great prophecy that we have, You know, kind of why did Jesus give this prophecy?

And in that first preamble to it he lists five ways that it will strengthen us so that we’re not led astray, that we’re not alarmed so your love does not grow cold, that you may endure, that the gospel may be preached. The question is how does this prophecy do that? How does it help us along these lines so that we don’t fall away and don’t lose the leadings of Jesus and God? Brother Rick, we’ll get you to start that, please. Thank you.

Brother Ben Jesus gave this long prophecy. It continues from Matthew 24:3 all the way through 26 chapter verse 1. He gave it primarily for us. Primarily there wasn’t advantage to the Jews living at the first advent, that’s true. But primarily it’s for those of us, the body members living during the time of his secret presence and the time of the harvesting of his faithful out from the nominal church.

He had stated in Matthew 13 Parables of the wheat and the tare, that the harvest was the end of the age, indicating a great separating work. He assures us that upon his return he would provide spiritual food meat in due season through his chosen and faithful wife, servant, brother Russell, to provide what is called the carcass of for us to feed upon as a means to strengthen his servants as they would be separating from the various denominations which had become Babylonian. That is confusing because they had replaced scripture truth with man made errors over the many centuries and to meet like the early church in the ecclesia arrangement, the Lord’s provided those truths. Now secondarily, he gave it in part to provide prophetic information that would be most helpful in our very near future. Sorry, I said that wrong.

The secondary sense. He provides prophetic information that would be most helpful in the disciples very near future after his death and resurrection as well as the not too far off destruction of the literal temple that he was just telling them about so that they would know that he was not going to be establishing his kingdom in their lifetime. Rather, he gave various prophetic expressions that were given to demonstrate there were going to be very dramatic world events first, and he forewarned them that there would be numerous deceptions, both individuals, as well as false Christian systems which they weren’t named. But that’s what was meant the Antichrist.

And that the Gospel would have to be preached around the world, not just in Israel in his day, as it is in verses 4 through 14 Now, Jesus symbolically describes the events of the long Gospel age. Now lastly, his disciples asked in verse three about when the age, I.e. the gospel age would end. They might have been thinking about the promise of sitting with Jesus on 12 Thrones and judging Israel and the great regeneration. Undoubtedly his answers were rather startling.

But as he said to them, behold, I’ve told you before, that is before it happens, so as to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Thank you, brother.

Brother Jim, did you have anything to add to that? Perhaps only in verse 14 about this gospel being preached in all the world. How can it be that as the church is approaching completion, its message goes out wider? One of the benefits, the language that the Bible has been translated into. There may be 7,000 languages in the world.

Okay, so a good portion of them only have anywhere from 100 to a thousand speakers. But the major languages, the Bible has been translated now into over 1500 languages. That’s part of it. The other is that as brethren have become fewer, the truth went out through photodrama, then through radio, then through television, and now Internet can indeed reach the entire world.

Yeah, good, thank you. Okay, and I’m just going to add in a little bit there, one of the things that I think Jesus was preparing the whole Gospel age church to, to not just get excited about wars or rumors of wars, not to, not to fall prey to just certain events, you know, just not, not to think that every event is the end of the age, but to, to really understand what it means that coming of that, and I think that’s where he really gives this warning. Because as we have known all through the Gospel age, and even at the end of the age, there’s always a preacher out there trying to convince people the, the end is this way or that way or this way.

And unfortunately it seems like every time you look at those preachers, they’re in it for their own, their own benefits, let’s put it that way, and I think Jesus was saying, be careful of that. But one of the things that stuck out to Me is in verse 13 and it says, but the one who endures to the end, this person will be saved, and I think Jesus is making a really interesting statement there of how important endurance is, you know, because we need to endure. That is such a big part of being a Christian.

The whole aspect about being a Christian is enduring, staying faithful, always seeing, putting Jesus first, you know, that that whole aspect of faith becomes so important to us that we can endure whether there’s temptation, whether there’s persecution, whether there’s false messages, all these things only comes. We can only overcome them if we stay faithful to our Lord, and that’s, I think, why he emphasized this whole aspect of enduring. Because in that way you will be saved, the only way to be saved if we remain true in Jesus. So I think there any.

Just follow up question points there before we move on to the next question.

Okay.

Why emphasize looking for the signs of his paracea? The sign or signs, I guess sign. That’s after. Listen to brother. Should have been signed there.

Why? Why do we emphasize looking for the sign of his paracel? Why is that so important in Jesus’s mind that he emphasized that? I mean, he could have emphasized so many things. He could have said, well, it’ll be this date or it’ll be this exact thing that will happen.

But he kind of made it so it’s not easy to understand unless you’re paying attention. So, Brother Jim, we’ll start with you on that one. Okay. I think the greatest significance is not so much the precise date. Was it 1874?

October 1st or 2nd or 3rd, but the things which he is doing now, it’s a case where I shouldn’t expect to be here and see our Lord face to face.

Now, if I am doing something on the computer here and my wife has gone out and I hear some rattling in the kitchen, well, that’s a sign that she’s back again. She has returned. Now, if I see her walking through the door face to face, I don’t need a sign, do I?

But the sign is because we cannot see physically with our eye our Lord, but we can observe the things which he is doing, and I think the most obvious thing back in the 1870s was the return of the Jews, as all had already begun in 1878, and then if we look to see, what is it that caused this to become possible where it wasn’t before, not for decades before? And the answer is again that the Ottoman Empire had its problems. There was the worldwide long depression.

It made the Ottomans hungry for money and the fall planting of 1874 resulted in a desperately poor harvest in the spring of 1875, and so what happened? The Ottomans came to the farmers in the Balkan peninsula and said, give us our money, our dimitude, and they said, we’ve got nothing to pay with. So they came, they took their food, they took their furniture, they took their clothing, they took everything.

And it led to the Christian revolt of June, July of 1875, and as a result of all of that going on, of course there were some wars going on, and as a result, the Ottomans had to declare bankruptcy in October of 1875, and that’s where the first Jewish Prime Minister of England, also the last Jewish Prime Minister of England, came in, and he tells the pasha, look, you guys are broke, you need money, I can find you some buyers for this no good land in Palestine.

Well, they were not willing to give them their first choice, so they suggested, how about you take this land over here, which became Petitikva, because they knew it was infested with malaria, mosquitoes, and so sure enough, the first new Jewish community in 1878 had to be abandoned a couple of years until they brought in the chemicals and drained the swamp, and now it’s the fifth largest city in all of Israel, almost number four. So we look for the sign that is a sign that has been a sign actually to the whole world and most of them can’t see it, but to us it is an important sign because if the Lord has returned, then we are called to come out of Babylon. We’ve been not partakers of our sins.

If the Lord is not returned, we are not called to come out of Babylon yet.

Thank you for that, Brother Jim. Brother Rick, did you want to add in some more? Yeah.

We emphasize different perspectives of the sign. To my mind, the sign in heaven is in the nominal Christian heavens, and it’s not mysterious. It’s not hard to understand that it has to do with our Lord’s return and the judgment of the nominal systems to begin the harvest work. In fact, I would suggest that the majority of Matthew 24 is all about separating and harvesting before the world just about destroys itself.

And that the cooperative signs, to my mind, Israel is a cooperative sign. It doesn’t explain Jesus return. You have to have someone explain to you that Israel’s return is a sign of the Lord’s presence. Now I’ll turn to Luke 21 as another area to look at in Luke 21, picking up in verse 25, and there shall be signs. Now here’s signs, plural in the sun, the moon and in the stars and upon the earth, distress of nations with perplexity.

The sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your deliverance draweth nigh, and he spoke to them a parable. Behold the fig tree and all the trees when they now shoot forth, you see and know that your own selves at summer is now nigh at hand.

And it continues. So there are signs in the world of all this trouble that has been taking place since our Lord returned. Because it’s the great time of trouble, it’s the time of the end, and these things all take place because there’s an increase of knowledge all across the board, not just spiritual knowledge, even though that’s primary for the church. Knowledge all across the board.

The industrial revolution, the electronic revolution, now the cyber revolution, it’s creating havoc and people are afraid. They don’t have the answers. Everything they trusted into the old nominal heavens are being shaken. The word of God, the Old and New Testament, it’s losing its light to them. We do see Israel restored, we see other nations come into existence, the United nations, for example.

But the end result is somehow we had to get all the information necessary on what the divine plan of the ages is in order to know what we should be doing, and one of the main things was to be separate from the nominal systems by understanding God’s true character.

Thank you, and just going to add in there kind of dovetailing into what we just said. The scripture in Peter, it says, judgment begins at the house of the Lord, and I think, I think that really ties in nicely to the scripture into Matthew, where you see, you know, Jesus talks about his parace in verse 27. You have the.

As Brother Rick mentioned, the eagles should be gathered there. You understand that. Those who understand that see that. But to the rest of those around, it’s like the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give light and the stars will fall away. That’s how the world is seeing it.

And it’s just interesting lately just noticing in society that we live in how this judgment has been continuing on. We’re living in a point now where if you are a Christian or of a Christian nation, you are considered the worst kind of people, no matter what you’ve done. Christianity is being judged severely by nations out there that are probably worse or maybe as worse or worse. But the Christian ideal is under such being hit so hard, being maligned and everything about it some was good because a lot of Christians did a lot of bad things. But the whole concept of Christianity is now considered a terrible thing.

And you can see how this is fitting into this scripture here. I mean this is really as this comes about and we see the downfall of Christianity. I mean if you look at Christian nations, those are the nations where people had most rights, most freedoms, most that, and as this continues on and these nations, this idea is being run down as bad. We’re going to see that it’s only going to lead to more and more trouble in this world because what replaces it is ideals and idealisms that have no God behind them at all.

And I think this adds into this darkness that is coming, that is going to is building this time of trouble, as was mentioned, that there is not going to be no day like it, and because there is no saving grace here in this world, and I just wanted to make one other point here just about the word parresia. One of the interesting things about that when Jesus spoke about this, it was a common concept in the day the emperors, the Caesars, when they would go to a city, they called it their parousia. When they arrived at the city, it would be the parresia of Nero, the parresia of whichever emperor.

So it’s talking about not their coming to the city, but once they arrived, and it’s. If you check it out, you can find information. It’s not the easiest to find. There’s little bits here and there.

But it definitely talked about it was about the time when they were there and they came to usually see how their money had been spent and what the people were doing and how they were being favorable to the emperor empire. So just a little bit of background on the word parresia. Any further comment for the Ricker brother Jim? Well, I might just add it’s interesting how someone has said that Christianity has been so bad at ruling the nations that the only thing that makes it look any good at all is everything else.

Now we hear about the idea we should have is that the poor should be funded by taking from the rich, and when you try it or when they try it, what happens is the rich are brought down to your level you and the rich are brought down to the level of those below you. What happens to all the money that’s taken away? Well, that’s the reward for those who redistribute the wealth.

Yeah. Mankind is always the selfishness always rules in in any government on this earth, and we we, we see. That’s the reason this whole time of trouble is coming. The third question here, I’d like to look at Matthew 24, when as brother Rick mentioned, continues the whole prophecy and and sermon continues all the way into the first verse of Matthew 26.

And following the prophecy, Jesus gives four parables. The wise and faithful servant versus the wicked servant, wicked and slothful servant, the wise and foolish virgins, the talents, parable of talents and the parable of sheep and goats. How do these four parables help us interpret and add light to the prophecy that Jesus gave there?

And I guess I’m going to be the one that starts this one. I forgot for a moment there that I was doing that.

So I think one of the. One of the way or several ways in there is that parts of the prophecy, I think are shown in these parables talking about the prophecy, how we deal with one another when we look at these and try to understand it as we’re looking for it. Jesus first warning is the faithful and wise servant versus the wicked and slothful, and I know we have among biosoons a certain interpretation, but I’d like to add a secondary one in there that is, how do we deal with those who are different? Do we as individuals, are we faithful servants, helping one another, lifting them up, providing truth to them?

Or are we wicked and slothful servants, beating up those who have a difference of opinion or they don’t understand or we might think they’re wrong? You know, which way are we looking at these things? And I think that was a very important one, how Jesus started that off so that we remember, we’re all trying to figure this out in our studies and in our relationship with the Lord. So, you know, be careful how we live, and then it continues on to the wise and foolish virgins.

And maybe I’ll save that point to when you get to a little bit further on in there. But I think that also ties into the whole idea of watchfulness. The only way we’re going to know if the Lord is present or not is, are we watchful? Are we asleep? Are we watchful?

And then, you know, the talents shows us the importance of being ready for when the Lord does return. Have we done everything that we can? Are we faithful to the message that was given? And are we being trustworthy with what he has given us? You know, are we preaching the gospel, are we serving our brethren and so forth.

And so I think it puts us in the right frame of mind to understand these prophecies and to understand, and I do think that each one of these parables also has a prophetic point to them that also could be added in, that shows us the stages of the first revealment at the beginning of the harvest, then the wise and foolish, those who can first see it, then the faithful are proven worthy, and then when those are worthy, they come back with Jesus to judge the world of mankind. So I think we got two different aspects of ways that they can be showing beautiful lessons in these parables. Brother Rick or Brother Jim, do you have any further comment on that? Oh, Jimmy, go first.

Okay. I could just mention in verse 50, where it’s talking about the evil servant, that there’s a little bit of a mistranslation when it says the Lord of that servant shall come, that the literal is. It’s a future perfect. So literally it is, the Lord of that servant shall have come in a day when he expecteth not. So in other words, it’s showing us that the evil slave is beyond the point of our Lord’s return.

And it’s a continuing thing. It’s not a short. Not, not anything short at all.

So in other words, we have a period of time after the Lord’s return that’s being referred to, and I think what we’ve seen in the history is the faithful servant over a long period of time and then the wicked and sluggish servant over a longer period of time afterwards.

Brother Rick, did you.

So, Brother Ben, I, I trust you’re not frozen there. Yeah. Am I coming through okay? Your audio is good. Okay.

Maybe my camera. Something locked up. I’ll try to reboot the camera here. So. But if you have a comment, go ahead.

So I, I wasn’t sure I understood exactly. Brother Ben, when you gave us this. Were we to comment on each of these four parables in our comment or were you wanting to take them one at a time? I know Brother Jim just commented on the first one, but you kind of commented on. On all of them.

I don’t want to. It’s up to you. We’re not. It’s just a general discussion, just to give some highlights because we’re not good. We won’t have time to completely go through all of them.

So in full detail. So, you know, just maybe pick out a few points that you think are good lessons from that. Okay. So I, I kind of took into four, so I’LL but I’ll try to be quick in this first set. The wise and faithful servant versus the one that becomes evil.

In my mind, when I looked at some of the Greek references, Wilson’s Diaglod, as well as Henry Alford and his work, they both worded that it’s if that servant would become wicked, not that it’s another servant. So in my mind, there’s not a wicked servant. It was a warning to the one who was faithful to stay faithful and not give way to pride or any of the other problems that come up. It is enticing to interpret it to what happened after Brother Russell went beyond the veil. The current condition of the governing body is pretty horrific, but I. I don’t think that’s what was intended here.

I believe it was a warning on the wise and foolish virgins. Matthew 25:1 13. Now, one of the things is the parable demonstrates that the Lord works with his future bride before he works with any other. In other words, the rest of the world of mankind, and that there had been a previous disappointment amongst the virgin the spirit begotten, that the Lord didn’t return at the time they were expecting and familiar with that the William Miller movement, as well as Brother Wolf is brought out in Europe.

But nonetheless, Jesus had said no one would know his return until afterwards, and that actually is how it actually worked out. Now, with that being said in the parable, we learn personal responsibility. The personal responsibility is to gather more of that Holy Spirit, the oil that enlightens us, like the oil and the lamps. But we also learned we can’t give Holy Spirit to other people.

We can demonstrate how we attained it so that they could do likewise. But it’s a powerful parable because it shows there’s a secondary class of virgins, a foolish class, and even though they weren’t known to be the bride, the door was shut. The Lord still graciously works with them because they they were virgins through the time of trouble. Now, in the parables, Matthew 25, 14, 30 of the talents again.

Now this parable ratchets further along in time. We don’t have the previous disappointment brought out. We have our Lord returning as a king with the kingdom. He’s going to deal with his servants, and as it were, there’s the reward for those who’ve been faithful throughout that gospel age, waiting for his return.

So it’s like we’ve been saying, when he returns, he gathers the wheat into the gardener. There’s this great work of separation taking place, and so here Again, we are to be faithful with what talents we have, and I’m just going to say a couple of talents that we might not normally think of, and one is to make ourselves available for service.

Being available, you know, it’s a matter of choices of life. You usually have to turn down one thing to be available for another. So being available to be in the Lord’s service means you’re probably turning down worldly opportunities. Also to be a self starter, not to just wait for someone to call us up or email us and say, will you do this or do that? But to try to find ways, even if they’re small, to be active.

And lastly on these, to be flexible, willing to be able to receive instructions and to cooperate with others. Kind of like Priscilla and Aquila with the Apostle Paul, and then lastly the parable of Matthew 25:31 46, the sheep and the goats. We do agree that’s a peaceable kingdom or mediatorial phase kingdom. But we do learn something.

For us now, we learned that there are sins of omission that would damage our Christian character. It’s not just committing sins, it’s actually the sin of omitting to do the things that the Lord would expect us to do, and that is this parable emphasizes that lesson for even us now. Thank you Brother Rick for that, and yeah, you know, when you’re talking about all these things, these are the things that are going to keep us from failing.

They’re going to keep us enduring because we’re serving the Lord. Brother Jim, did you have a last comment there before we move on? I could mention that regarding the Matthew 24:45 to 51 that Peter broadcast to Israel and a bit beyond, and so did each of the messengers thereafter. In fact, even when we get to Joseph Wolf, he brought it to four continents.

But Brother Russell’s message eventually went to all of the continents and to New Zealand, other islands here and there. I think he’s the only one of the seven messengers that actually broadcast to the whole world.

One last thing on Matthew 25:31 to 46 and that is there. Note that it says in his glory. It’s not including the part of the harvest period, but during this harvest period, our Lord is not glorified in the eyes of the world. But after Armageddon, when the resurrection is extended to each nation and beyond until it reaches the whole world, that will be the time when he is in his glory. Thank you for that.

We’ll move on to the next point here for sake of time. Unfortunately, we’re running out. Brother Rick, how do we understand verse 36? No one knows that day nor hour, not even the messengers of heaven, except my Father only. Yes.

So the Heavenly Father, who had laid out the entire plan of the ages and beyond before he ever began to create. I like to say that he spent eternity past planning for eternity future, and he kept this information from our Lord while our Lord was still in the flesh. There wasn’t anything he needed to know. So Jesus honestly said it then because he didn’t know while he was in the flesh, the angels didn’t need to know because there was nothing for them to do until the appropriate time.

But now, when we look at Matthew 24:42, watch therefore, for you know not what hour your master doth arrive, but know this, that if the good man of the house, which is a picture of Satan, had known in what watch the thief representing Jesus secret presence would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Well, right, here’s the answer to me on why no one knew until after the Lord Jesus returned. Because Satan in some manner would have tried to interfere with events. Maybe a pseudo return of Jesus with a literal vision or something else taking place was hard to say. But.

All I’ll say, the last thing I’ll say on that is that in a funny sort of way, this is kind of a funny sort of way. Jesus did not want to be able to give his disciples a date for his return. He wanted them to have a sense of urgency, even though he had to let them know, I’m not setting up the kingdom right now. He wanted there to be a sense of urgency amongst his body members throughout the age, so he wouldn’t give them a date. So the Heavenly Father didn’t give Jesus a date while Jesus was still in the flesh, so he could honestly not give his disciples a date.

And he wasn’t withholding anything from them. So he plainly said, I don’t know, and neither of the angels, only my Father in heaven. Thank you. Thank you for that and Brother Jim.

Okay, and it’s I think quite true that nobody knew precisely ahead of time. Now, there was enough in the 1260 years between the beginning of papal rule and its termination in the French Revolution to attract a brethren’s interest in our Lord’s return. But nobody got it quite right, at least until perhaps one brother Jonas Wendell, thought It would be 1873. Then when it didn’t seem to happen, 1874.

But it wasn’t. A certain, not certain knowledge it got confirmed afterwards. Now, it doesn’t mean that because nobody knows it ahead of time, then nobody knows it afterwards. If we don’t know it after his return, it’s because we haven’t been watching.

Thank you for that, Brother Jim, and I’d just like to add one other thing that kind of, I think, adds into One of the interesting things is if you go back to the Jewish wedding ceremony when the bridegroom would go with his family to meet the bride and they would choose to be married, when they left to go back home, the bridegroom was there, went back home to prepare a place, a house to add on a room for there, and in Jewish tradition, it was decided that nobody would know when the marriage would take place until the father decided that the room was built, and when the room was to his satisfaction, then he would say, it’s time to go, and that’s why the bridegroom and the family were to be in expectation at all times.

So I think in a lot of ways this is not necessarily talking about that nobody knows. It’s rather talking about this is the kind of attitude you should have as one, as a bridegroom waiting to be married, that you are in expectation of the bridegroom coming back at any time. You should be watchful, ready and expecting that, and I think that helps when we understand in Jesus’s discussions, many times in the Gospels, he uses these marriage idioms in there, and in this case, it really helps to understand the purpose of this, that it is more about watching than saying, I don’t know when it’s going to happen.

And I think that helps us a lot along that line.

Any. Any other final comment on this?

Okay. If not, we’ll go into the last question. We have a little bit of time yet left for that, and the final question that we’re going to discuss here is in verse 34.

Truly, I say to you, this generation may not pass away until all these things may come to pass, and what does. What generation is? What is Jesus saying at the meaning with this scripture? Brother Jim, if you want to start off the discussion here, sure.

Many Christians have found difficulty with the scripture. Our friends in various denominations have struggled with it, and Bible students, too, have struggled with it. Our JW friends, they have had kind of an upset over it maybe about 20 years ago or so. Well, what does it mean? This generation shall not pass away?

What generation are we talking about? Is the basic question, and some have thought, well, a man’s day shall be threescore and 10 and so forth, and so if you go from 1874 to 1944, well, that didn’t bring it to pass. Or some have said 1914 to 1984.

That didn’t bring it to pass. So what is the this generation? I think there is an interesting clue in the end of Psalms 22, Psalms 22:30 I think may solve our problem. I’ll read it.

A seed shall serve him that shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. Well, all consecrated Christians are son of one Father, the Heavenly Father, and therefore they can be reckoned as one generation. So perhaps our passage is telling us, verily, I say unto you, this generation of the church shall not pass away until all these things be accomplishing.

Thank you there, Brother Jim.

Brother Rick, did you have a thought on it?

Well, that’s interesting. That’s a long generation, a couple thousand years. But okay, honestly, I am not convicted because I’ve heard a lot of different expressions and it almost seems like it becomes a perennial question someone comes up with something new. I know we’ve watched many things happen, but I will offer two thoughts. One is that in the fourth volume on pages 602 through 604, 602 through 604, Brother Russell talks about the generate.

He offers a thought, possibly 120 years like the life of Moses, and he suggests it may represent that from the first or the earliest literal sign of the falling of the stars, 1780, down to the time when all the remainder of these signs would be evident, including the nation of Israel being in their land, would be 120 years. So the generation was stating that this generation 120 years that witnessed the earliest sign falling of the star, 1780, down to the nation of Israel being back in their homeland. Well, that was, we think started in 1878. But 120 plus 1780 gets you to 1900 A.D. so all the signs were evidenced by a generation, if you will.

So there’s one now I like to think the summer does represent the peaceable kingdom. I do like that. But this is something that I’m not even saying that I’m. Oh, I’m not convinced of it, but I will suggest it. In Matthew 24 we’re told in verse.

20, pray that your flight be not in the winter. Now it says on the Sabbath day, but I’m focusing in the winter. The winter in the Scriptures follows a summer. The summer represents the harvest.

Jeremiah 8 has informed us a great company attitude. The harvest is past, the summer is over, and we are not saved. Yes, the great company, the foolish virgins will have to go through the great tribulation. That’s the winter time of trouble. So it almost suggests because Matthew 24 says, Pray that your flight be not in the winter, that in fact the summer here is referring to the harvest.

And that is a desirable thing that the generation that saw these signs would find themselves in the harvest at the end of the age upon his return in 1874, and that he returns as a king and he begins his kingdom processes. First in resurrecting the sleeping saints, next in reestablishing Israel in their homeland, next ending of the Gentile times that he would begin his reign in the days of these kings, the Gentile kings back in Daniel 2. You all know that. So it shows the process of the kingdom, but it’s not the peaceable kingdom.

Thank you, Brother Rick. Well, you know Ben, when they all think alike, it’s probably because only one of them is doing the thinking.

Yeah, it’s an interesting question of what this generation was or is because I mean obviously at the early church when Jerusalem was destroyed, they recognized that that in some way tied into the destruction of the temple. But here I think this is talking end of the age now the. The full application of it.

Yeah, I never thought of what Brother Jim had said before. That’s an interesting one to tie that in. I’ve heard also I thought was interesting. Like I say, I. I’m not 100 sure on this either. So I’ve heard brethren talk about that it’s the.

That the harvest age church is that generation that will take place that period of time.

But in some regards I think it does in some way tie into the nation of Israel. Because if you’re talking the fig tree and we know that the fig tree is the nation of Israel in. In prophecy. So some kind of event happens that. That will set that up to become the.

The point at which this generation will be before the. The this before.

Before they’re completely. Well, I, I guess a great time of trouble fully encompass. I have a thought but I think it’s too. Too hard and long to explain. So we don’t.

We’re basically almost out of time. But it’s. It’s interesting to think about maybe just real quickly in Daniel it talks about the 1260, the 1219, 13, 35 years, and we usually apply it to. In the.

The church in a certain way as we already know. But there is a secondary thought that comes out that in. In application to the nation of Israel starting in 688 when the Dome of the Rock, the mosque was built on the temple. If you take 12, 60 years from there, it takes you to 1948. Third, 1290 takes you to 1978, which was when Israel signed peace with Egypt.

And then 1335 takes you to 2023 and we have the war started in, in Gaza from that event. I think something’s going to participate go out from that that we don’t know yet. It’s in that and I’m thinking possibly we could say that from that event of that date a generation be by the end. But that’s pure speculation. So I’ll say that I probably shouldn’t have said it because it might throw more problems, but it’s something.

It’s just, you know, like you say, trying to figure out what this generation is. I think, I think, you know, the whole point of it is, is to be watchful and ready because we don’t know the time when it’s going to come. So that, I think that’s the key here is if we keep, as one brother once said, if we keep finding D, the Lord’s going to keep pushing it past that so that we stop picking dates, so that we actually are just watching for him, his events and being ready, not picking dates and being consecrated to that, and maybe we’ll just end it with that. Did anybody, Brother Rick or Brother Jim have a final comment here before we hand it back over?

Ben, he reminded me of a time when Sister comes to Brother Art Newell and says, Sister so and so says she knows the date when the church will be complete. What do you say? He thought a moment. He says, I think she’s kind of like a high school girl. She’d never be happy unless she had a date to hang on to.

Yeah, yeah, we like those dates, don’t we? We’ll turn it over back to Brother Michael there.

Yes, indeed. Thanks, Robert. I was just saying thank you, Robert, for facilitating this panel discussion and Jim and Broderick for your contribution and for your insights. Definitely. It’s.

It’s interesting to see the diversity of opinion here in spite of, you know, us looking at this, and I think this is the beauty of the truth, you know, this is the beauty of the truth that in all of this the Lord is still speaking to us. We are still paying attention, we are still watching. I think that’s where we really want to be, which was why, you know, we decided to have this as a topic of discussion. One of the key theme that we’ve had in our class in the Toronto area Bible Bible student class is the notion of watching and praying.

You know, so the question is, what are you watching for? Because that determines what we pray for, and once we see what we’re praying for, then what do we watch for, you know, so it’s, it’s a cyclical conversation that just basically brings us here to, you know, considering our Lord’s, you know, prophecy about his, his return. So thank you all for, for this. With time to close this section off, we’ll ask BRO to please pray for us.

Thank you.

Our dear most gracious heavenly Father, we give you so much praise. We’re so thankful for who you are, your plan of salvation and all that you have planned for us who believe in you now and eventually for all mankind, that your will will be done throughout this whole earth, and we are so thankful that we know the goodness of who you are. We thank you for this discussion we had and hopefully in the things that we said, we have helped enlighten, answer questions, be of benefit and a praise and a glory to your name and please forgive anything that we may have said that is out of harmony. But help us keep striving, keep searching, keep watching so that we are always true to you and to your word.

We ask a special blessing on all your children throughout the world, wherever they are, in whatever circumstance they’re going through, through tough for good. Be with them all, and we pray for your kingdom which will bless all mankind. We ask this in just loving. Amen.

Click Here for the PDF transcript.