TOMORROW NIGHT – 1 Samuel 17Gleanings From A Giant Killing

NEXT MONDAY NIGHT – Michael and Pam Rozell

Matthew 24Signs of His Coming

Part 2 – The Beginning of the End

REVIEW

Last week we came to one of the most RADICAL passages in the entire Bible.

It is known as the Olivet Discourse.

This discourse (Matthew 24-25) is the second longest by Jesus (next to the Sermon on the Mount ---- Matthew 5-7)

This discourse has it’s beginning as Jesus and the disciples are leaving the Temple Mount.

It begins in VERSE 1 with an OBSERVATION made by the disciples

Followed by a mind-blowing PREDICTION made by Jesus in VERSE 2.

By VERSE 3 they have crossed the Kidron Valley and made their way on to the side of the Mount of Olives

In the course of their walk that Prediction would birth a three-fold question.

In response to their question Jesus is going to forth the flow of events in human history leading up to His Second Coming to the earth at the end of the Great Tribulation.

We laid the important ground work for our study of the passage.

1.) These are NOT the signs of His coming FOR the Church ---- A.K.A. “The Rapture”

The Rapture = Jesus coming FOR His Church ----

The Second Coming = Jesus coming WITH His Church to the earth

2.) Jesus is setting forth the SIGNS that will mark His return AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION to set up His rule upon the earth for 1,000 years ----

3.) These chapters are PROPHETIC in nature.

1◙ Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

1.) This prophecy was NOT fulfilled immediately (38 years / 70 A.D.)---- but it was fulfilled LITERALLY.

There was nothing symbolic about

1.63 million Jews killed / 90,000 Jews carried away as slaves

The stones of this magnificent structure being thrown down --- crushing the pavement in the Tyropean Valley bellow real temple

IMPLICATION / APPLICATION: The literal fulfillment of this prophecy establishes the tone for the rest of the prophecies in the chapter.

We should expect a literal fulfillment for these as well.

3As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”

KEY INSIGHT: Mark 13:3 tells us that it was two sets of brothers that asked the question

Peter and Andrew - James and John

KEY OBSERVATION: It’s important to see that this is a three-fold question.  

1.) “Tell us, when will these things be” i.e – the destruction of the Temple

2.) “what will be the sign of your coming

3.) “what will be the sign of the close of the age?”

NO DOUBT – As Jesus spoke of the unthinkable destruction of the Temple the disciples couldn’t help but think back upon

the destruction of Solomon’s temple, in 586 BC,

after which the surviving Jews were carried away into captivity in Babylon for 70 years of

They would have been wondering WHAT is going to happen following the destruction of THIS Temple.

If THIS temple is going to be thrown down and destroyed, then that surely must mean the end of the age 

Because as they looked at the magnificence of Herod’s temple they thought that surely the Messiah must be coming.

These guys thought that Jesus was going to overthrow Rome.  

Remember the disciples on the Road to Emmaus ---- We HAD hoped that He was the Messiah?

NOTE WELL: Matthew’s gospel does not answer the first question, which relates to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

It is Luke’s account that addresses that question.

Matthew and Mark answer the second and third questions

Which refer to

Christ’s coming

And the end of the age as one and the same event.

Matthew’s account was written to the Jew

It is the Gospel of the Kingdom!

THAT is why he records that portion of Christ’s answer that relates to His future kingdom and how it will be brought in ---- Because that is one of the major purposes of the gospel.

KEY OBSERVATION: There are THREE things that Jesus singles out as the SIGNS OF HIS COMING

1.) Religious deception  2.) Geo-political upheaval ---- wars and rumors of wars.  3.) Natural disasters.

 Go home and listen to the news tonight.

Religious deception is everywhere.  

Political upheaval on a GLOBAL scale ---- “ya think?”

Natural disasters are shocking.

4And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.

QUOTE: Spurgeon - “Almost every page of history is blotted w/the names of such deceivers.”

In the N.T. -

Theudas the Egyptian (Acts5:36)

Judas of Galilee (Acts 5:37);

Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9 claimed to be someone great)

Writing in the First Century John the Apostle said –

1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

After the time of John’s letter there have been many who have claimed the Place, Office, or Name of Christ!

Mohammed is one of them!

His false religion has cause a bit of trouble on planet earth --- ya’ think!

Today there is an amazing proliferation of FALSE messiah’s

Check out the line-up of speakers on Oprah and Friends on XM Radio

She has the largest church in the world!

But though these are increasing in the number and their influence in the world --- they PALE in comparison to THE ANTI- CHRIST!

READ 2 Thes. 2:1-12 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word,

or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction 4who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed,

whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

NOTE IT WELL GUYS!

Wars and rumors of war,

nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom,

famines, earthquakes, pestilence

He tells us that these are the beginning of the birth pains. 

Many of you men have been with your wife during labor.  You cheered her on, SILENTLY rejoicing that you are a man! Your wife came to that point in labor known as transition - and she is now certain that her condition is real, not imaginary! As those contractions became more INTENSE and more FREQUENT ---- they indicated that birth was near.

THAT is the picture here. 

CRUCIAL: Not a single one of these signs by themselves are indicative of His Coming!

From the beginning of time there has always been wars, there’s always been pestilence; there’s always been famine.

Jesus is saying that when all of these things are

increasing at the same time

in frequency and intensity

THAT is a clear sign that this baby is coming.  

THAT --- -according to Jesus ---- is what matters.  

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:  THIS IS NOT local military conflict

This is global conflict! 

IN this discourse we find TWO THINGS that set us apart from any generation that has ever lived. 

1.) These prophecies anticipate the re-birth of the nation of Israel.

 Matthew 24:15-16 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel,

standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

 That presumes a rebuilt Temple.

 A rebuilt Temple presumes Jews living in Judea once again.

THAT required a miracle ---- one which I believe is superseded in scope and greatness only by the virgin birth and the resurrection

Because in 70AD the Jews were scattered among the nations.

No other people group driven from it’s land has ever maintained it’s unique cultural and ethnic identity.

They have always been assimilated into other cultures --- losing every ethnic identity.

But NOT the Jews. Though dispersed among the nations of the world they preserved their language and their religion.

And in May 14, 1948 they RETURNED to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

 

The existence of the State of Israel sets our generation apart from every other generation of Christians before us in regards to these signs!

It is God’s time piece telling the world that we have come into the very last days before the return of Christ!

 2.) The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction 

Matthew 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 

Unless Jesus comes back during the Battle of Armageddon, no human or animal would survive!

 Never before has mankind been close to being able to annihilate ourselves.

 Not in the crusades

Not in the Civil War

Not in WW 1

And not even in WW II. (It wasn’t until the end of the war that we saw Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)

 

In WW II

32 MILLION were killed in battle.

25 MILLION civilians were killed in bombing raids.

25 MILLION died in concentration camps.  

That = 82 MILLION dead and 29 MILLION left maimed and wounded.

 INSIGHT: The estimated cost to the allies was $225,000 per kill.

 Man has found much less expensive ways to do that.

 

One Trident submarine has 40 times the detonating power of every weapon detonated by every side in WW II.

INCREASING INTENSITY –

Today there are 10 nations besides the US and Russia that have nuclear weapons.

World military spending grew 45 percent in the past decade 

INCREASING INTENSITY - Add to that the military and political tension around the world

BBC - There are over 70 active conflicts in the world today.

And especially the Middle East - you have SERIOUS BIRTH PAINS!

 QUOTE: Dr. Norman Myers - lecture panel member for the Center for Environmental Studies

“No generation in the past has ever faced prospect of mass extinction in its life time.”

In other words no other generation ever lived where we could kill everyone on the planet.

 

You couldn’t do that with swords and bows and arrows --- muzzle loaded guns ---- cannons

 So as we look around there are very intelligent people ---- military people ---- strategists ---- people in the intelligence community ---- that realize the trouble we’re in.

NOTE THIS - Today as we look at the world - as crazy as it is - it is a restrained version.

But there is coming a time when the restraining work of the Holy Spirit is removed all hell will break loose.  

And the Anti-Christ will come forth and that will be ultimate spiritual deception.  

There have been wars and rumors of war ---- but all of that has been restrained.  But when we get to verse 15 there will be no more restraint then

KEY APPLICATION: This is NOT a good scene, UNLESS

You see them just as Jesus saw them

As the SIGNS OF HIS RETURN!

KEY QUESTION: How are you looking at do you view the world today?  

SO WHEN YOU TAKE

the re-birth of the nation of Israel

ADD to that wars and rumors of war, famines, pestilence and earthquakes

each of these things INCREASING in FREQUENCY and INTENSITY

THOSE things in unison constitutes the sign that the return of Jesus is at hand. 

9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake

INSIGHT: And surely all of these men listening to Jesus were martyred, with the exception of John the beloved.  

6 million in the first 3 centuries of the Church

In Foxes book of Martyrs, he lists the death, and the manner of death, of all of the disciples

It’s a book that will really give you an appreciation of the heritage that we have.

And the price that was paid to bring the Gospel to us

10And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

Those who once were true to each other will betray each other.  

This suggests that marriages, homes, and nations will be torn asunder over the issue of Christ.

11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

The Antichrist - that final world dictator who will lead the nations astray - will begin his career as a peacemaker, signing a covenant with Israel to protect her from her enemies (Dan. 9:27).  

AMAZINGLY Israel will welcome this man as their great benefactor (John 5:43).

 

John 5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him..

12And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.  lawlessness will be increased - There are countless nights when you watch the news and it goes from the account of one shooting to the next shooting to the next.  

Steve Mays, pastor of CC South Bay had a son-in-law who had gotten away from the Lord.

 Gotten involved with the wrong people.

He eventually recommitted himself to the Lord.

But not long after that some guys picked him up gagged him and shot him fourteen times. They found his body up in the mountains.

 One of Steve’s assistant pastors was doing a ride along in LA with the police.

 Somebody walked up to the window shot the policeman through the window and killed him.

 The assistant pastor got out and started to run ---- the man shot him twice. He had a vest on so he kept going.

 

They chased him down and caught him and grabbed him by the neck. Pulled down his vest and fired three times down inside the vest and killed him.

Lawlessness will be increased - This fits in with what Jesus will say in v. 37 –

37As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Genesis 6:5; 11 5The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually….. 11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

 

BECAUSE lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

The world will become cold ---- cynical ---- selfish

Incapable of trusting others or caring for others.

As a dad ---- this stuff is shakes me  

I pray everyday that He will come because I don’t see a future here.

 Things are not going to get better.

 Washington is not going to improve things.

NOTE WELL: Jesus, Paul, Peter - the entire New Testament - says things will grow worse and worse until He comes.

 LISTEN - I am not a pessimist.

 I’m an optimist.

 If it was not for Jesus Christ I would not have an optimistic bone in my body.

 Can you imagine being unbeliever and watching the news?

Can you imagine what it would be like to live today without the Bible?

 

Thank God for Jesus Christ that He was gracious to save a wretch like me.  Now when I see this stuff I see a kingdom coming.

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

ENDURE = to bear up under

Jesus wants us to know that as we see these things transpiring with increasing intensity and frequency that it’s not going to be easy

It’s going to be hard.

You’re going to be lights in a dark world ---- but the world doesn’t want the light.

You’re going to be salt to preserve the world from rotting ---- but they don’t want that preservation.

From the Book of Acts forward the Christian life has NEVER been an easy life.

It demands persistence and perseverance to keep loving Christ Supremely!

Following Jesus DEMANDS that we keep on

Trusting and Obeying Jesus

Following and Honoring Jesus

Serving Jesus

Though Jesus is primarily looking at persecution of the Jews under the anti Christ, we are not excluded.  

I have to tell you that as I see these things going on I find in my own heart growing cold towards this world.

I need to remember that God so loved the world.  

God does not hate the homosexual.  

It’s easy for my soul to get vexed as Lot’s was.

And sometimes I can just have the attitude, “Just get me out of here.”

 

Well there’s one thing that we need to hold on to - and that’s people.

 Everything else is going to burn.

 People are eternal.

 I NEED for the Lord to constantly check my heart.

And if we ever feel faint, then “Be Faint, yet pursuing!”

Psalm 63:8 KJV  My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

One great old saint said - “It is better to limp IN the way, than to run with swiftness out of it!”

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

So this is the flow of history leading up to the last 3 ½ years before the return of Christ.

Somewhere in the TIME prior to verse 15 the anti-Christ will have been on the scene for 3 ½ years

According to Revelation 6 and Daniel 9 he will have come on the scene as a man of peace.

Israel will embrace him

He will broker a seven year treaty involving the nation of Israel

But in the middle of that seven years he will break that covenant in the most shocking of ways.

NEXT WEEK!

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