The Great Tribulation & End of the Age

hey everybody I'm pastor Jeff Durbin with apologia Church I want to thank you all so much for watching the content right here on apologia Studios channel well you're about to watch is a sermon a message from apologia church's worship service and again I want to thank you all so much for watching for liking for commenting for sharing the sermon itself we truly believe that it's important for the Christian Church to have an engagement in the public square with the Word of God so we thank you so much for partnering with us to send this out across the world I just wanted to say something before you actually watch this and that is that I'm not your pastor though I'd love to be I am NOT your pastor and it's very important as you're watching this you know that it's God's design for individual Christians to be part of a local Christian Church under the care of qualified faithful biblical elders and so as much as we love all of you watching these sermons and we're thankful to God that God uses them to bless you to encourage you I do want to encourage you as a minister of the gospel to get plugged into a local body of believers particularly I think important a reformed church would be it would be best but we want to encourage you to get plugged into a solid biblical church where you can fellowship where you can worship where you can serve where you can be connected that is vitally important and actually a biblical command and so as much as again as we love for your participation your partnership and we are so thankful to God that he's using these in your lives we want to encourage you to get plugged into a local church you can though actually partner with apologia church as we proclaim the gospel and provide a defense of the biblical gospel all around the world you can do that by going to apologia studios.com you can partner with us by becoming all access when you do you help to make all of this possible and you get all of our TV shows our after shows and apologia academy all of that and you're a part of all that God is doing with us in the world to proclaim Herald the gospel of the kingdom you can partner with us and I want to say one last word about that do make sure that none of your giving and partnership towards apology a chirp Church interferes with your giving your worship your tithes your offerings to a local body of believers in your area so thank you again so much for watching these and sharing them god bless you your Bibles to the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 23 near the end and right near where 24s beginning that'll get you in the right spot Matthew chapter 23 right near the end of course focusing today on Matthew 24 verses one through three but I'm actually gonna start today the reading in verse 29 of chapter 23 so Matthew 23 verse 29 here now the words of the living and the true God woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous saying if we had lived in the days of our fathers we would not have taken part with them and shedding the blood of the prophets thus you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets fill up then the measure of your father's you serpents you brood of vipers how are you to escape being sentenced to hell therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes some of whom you will kill and crucify and some you a flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of zechariah the son of berechiah whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar truly I say to you all these things will come upon this generation o Jerusalem Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you would not see your house is left to you desolate for I tell you that you will not see me again and so you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple but he answered them you see all these things do you not truly I say to you there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down as 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 thus far as the reading of God's Holy Word let's pray together as his people Lord we come into your presence with humility with fear all before you God lord thank you for the gift of your word thank you for this incredible incredible prophecy we pray God that you would teach by your spirit today that you would get me out of the way let me decrease Christ's increase let everyone here leave remembering you what you've said guard me from error Lord as I Shepherd your people I pray that God you'd bless us as we unpack this as we read this amazing words spoken by you God I I pray you help us to understand it and more importantly as we understand it Lord that we would grow in our love and our obedience towards you and that Lord you would cause this study to get us on our feet to proclaim the good news of the kingdom in Jesus name Amen so amazing text before us this is called the all of that discourse what's it called because the Lord Jesus God in the flesh leaves the temple leaves the city there where he was the denunciation on the religious leadership in Jerusalem he makes his way east on the Mount of Olives to give this discourse on the Mount of Olives key thing to remember there this is a section that people often talk about when they talk about the Great Tribulation so people love this tax because we talk about end times and eschatology and stars falling from the heavens we talk about blood moons and all those things that sell tickets out at eschatology profit conferences worldwide this text sells books baby if you go into a Christian bookstore other Christian bookstores anymore are there such things okay I guess so so stay away from them mostly because they're dangerous generally but if you go into Christian bookstores they always have the eschatology section in this new stuff all the time new stuff new books on blood moons and is this the time and you're living in the last days and we don't have a couple years left and 88 reasons why Jesus is returning in 1988 followed by 89 reasons why he's returning an ad that 1989 right it's always something new this is an important section of Scripture in terms of the symphony of Scripture but in terms of popularity this is big time this is where people love to set this is where controversy begins this is where cults are born cults are born in this text a manipulation of these texts this these are texts right before us that atheists and agnostics and skeptics and critics of the Bible will use against you I assure you they will use these texts against you to say that Jesus Christ is not the Messiah that he had false prophecies this is also a section of scripture where Orthodox biblical Christ loving believers have had disagreement for many many years as a matter of fact dr. John MacArthur a man whom I have lots of respect and love for he has a different perspective on this text than we do and he had a different perspective on this text and his good friend dr. RC sprawled now just to show you in terms of how they should handle these conflicts and disagreements as brothers and sisters in the Lord you have to believers who love the Lord who preached the biblical gospel who served the true and living God who had significant disagreements in this section the Olivet discourse the area of the Great Tribulation and yet you still saw dr. John MacArthur at dr. Sproles funeral and still praising him for his work his life they served the Lord side-by-side together for many years so in terms of how I should handle this we need to keep the main things the main things who is God what is the gospel there are areas within the Christian faith where we can have disagreement with one another it doesn't make you not a Christian because you get something like this wrong but however that doesn't mean that this section of Scripture is not vitally important to get rights we're holding their words of the Living God and we have a section of Scripture that actually is a big part of the symphony of all of Scripture and a section of Scripture where the Lord Jesus gives definitive prophecy specific prophecy of things that we're going to occur we need to make sure that we are handling the Word of God correctly so my challenge has been since the beginning of this study my challenge has been this be willing to challenge your own traditions now amazingly as you see some of these sermons go up online and you hear me saying challenge your traditions be willing to look at your traditions you see people saying and I if I'm lying I'm dying I saw it a bunch of times pastor Jeff I don't have any traditions and the person who says that is the one who was plagued with the most of them because if you believe you don't have any traditions that means that you're not willing to examine them and you are in a dangerous place as a Christian if you're not willing to test what you've been taught by the words of God you should not believe what I bring to you about the Olivet discourse because you love me and respect me as your pastor and as your brother you need to believe what comes from this text what is consistent what with what is consistent with God's revelation that's what you need to believe tests all things hold fast to that which is true tests even teachings that you learn from Bible teachers that are godly men test things that you learn from your most cherished Bible teachers ask the question is this consistent with this text in front of me is it consistent with all of God's revelation we say last point here as reformed Christians Sola scriptura the Scriptures alone are the only infallible rule of faith and practice right brothers and sisters that's a tradition Sola scriptura is a tradition it just so happens to be a biblical tradition and so it's very good you ought to believe it amen that's based on the Bible but Sola scriptura says that the Scriptures alone are the only infallible rule the sole and fallible rule of faith and practice that's what the Bible teaches that's what Jesus believe that's what the Apostles taught that's why we believe it but can we say as reformed Christians Sola scriptura if we are not willing to test our traditions even our most cherished devoted traditions why do I believe Sola scriptura because the Bible teaches it clearly plainly throughout the entire Bible why am i a Calvinist because Jesus was a Calvinist John 6 John 10 because Paul was a Calvinist Ephesians 1 we can keep going right oh that's gonna get some likes I can guarantee you on that one okay why do we believe these traditions why are we five-point Calvinists because we follow a man named John Calvin I have purposely not spend time reading John Calvin purposely why I'm sure it's a good idea to read him I heard he had some great stuff to say but I haven't read him because when I say I'm a Calvinist it's got nothing to do with a dude named John Calvin nothing on the Calvinist because Christians got together and fought against heretical teaching with the Bible and responded to a protest with five points to their five points and our five points were from the Bible ours are better and so that's why I'm a five-point Calvinist not because of a tradition not because of a man I follow the Bible I follow Jesus I want to make sure that my traditions line up with God's Word traditions can be a good thing if they are biblical but you need to make sure that they are a biblical amen what is the consequence of having a bad eschatology pastor James says theology matters that's a good hashtag use it it's true theology matters I think secondarily I think it's very important eschatology matters eschatology matters it'll impact you it'll impact your daily life it'll impact your view of the future it'll impact your ability to defend Christ his ministry and the biblical gospel eschatology matters it will impact you people use eschatology to abuse people all the time to take money from people to draw people into their Colts this past week as Pastor James announced this a holy land tour I saw somebody actually say this in terms of eschatology mattering they said I don't plan to be here in 2019 because hashtag rapture so no thanks here's a person saying I'm not making any plans for 2020 sorry 2020 no plans for 2020 why because I'm being raptured out of here baby there's no reason to make plans for a Holy Land tour in 2020 I recorded her name so that at 2020 in September I can go how we doing it matters it matters a great deal listen if you're not making plans for 2020 for personal things you're not making plan for things in terms of the long-term vision of the future and the kingdom that Jesus and the Apostles had how are you thinking about the future and your role in God's kingdom and all your giftings here's the thing if you think that you're being snatched out of here any moment to leave behind your shoes undies and pants you're not making long-term plans for the gospel of the kingdom it impacts us dramatically and if you want to understand how that looks look through history in terms of Christians say like the Puritans who held to our eschatology our view of the future and their perspective when they went into a nation was bring the gospel bring the lordship of Jesus Christ into every area of life every nook and cranny the lordship of Jesus Christ everywhere there's nowhere in the world that Jesus doesn't look at and say that's mine it's an appearance and swim but the gospel in terms of we need to bring the good news of Jesus Christ bring salvation win this entire nation to Jesus Christ and have the lordship of Jesus Christ acknowledged from bottom all the weights at the top that's why they would name Jesus Christ in their treaties and in their covenants and in their law and even the Puritans that went to the it's a Hawaii to win kawatte the Hawaiian Islands to Christ in 20 years the Hawaiian Islands to Christ to the degree that in the Hawaiian Constitution 20 years later they actually say no law of the Hawaiian Kingdom can be in variance with the laws of Jehovah gods they had a long term vision of the future a biblical view of the kingdom of God and a biblical view of the lordship of Jesus Christ eschatology matters if you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord he is reigning now and he is going to win the nations with his gospel draw them up to the mountain of God and put every enemy under his feet you will live and act and breathe and work like that's true people look at a church like ours we're not special we're not mighty we are not powerful trust me but we have a mighty God and we have a perspective of the future and what God is doing in the world that impacts what we do people look at apology at church and we are not special at all and they say how well you guys are doing so many things what is how do you how's this happening we're not special it's what we believe about the future we build in such a way that it matches what we believe about what Jesus is doing in the world if you believe that any moment you're escaping and this world goes to hell in a handbasket that's a good thing because I'm getting out of here you'll live like that you'll evangelize like that you'll work like that eschatology matters it matters a great deal so as we enter this text with that foundation brothers and sisters remember where we've been go back and review the sermons if you need to I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it today except to say this this is God's Word they on estas breathed out by God there is a master storyteller behind this entire thing all these books all these letters written over all these hundreds of years by all of these authors has one ultimate storyteller behind us this is divine writing this is inspired literature this is God's story it's his story and so when we think about this we have to think about it in terms of God is the one holding this story together that's why we can look in the Old Testament and see at the time when things were spoken by inspired prophets that they didn't even understand what they were saying we can look back and go look what he was saying the whole time he was holding the whole story together whether with its if it's with Noah's story whether it's with the specific prophecies about Messiah whether it's about Passover and lambs with no spot and blemish don't break their bones blood over the doorpost day of atonement High Priest temple veil all that stuff ago Jesus was there the whole time he's the storyteller we need to consider the entire story of Scripture what did God say he was going to do with his covenant people if you want to say pastor Jeff give me the bullet point right now give me the highlight let me say this I believe that the proper way to approach the Olivet discourse is to approach it listen closely cover mentally this is about covenants these are God's covenant people and God promised the covenant people that there would be a new covenant and he also promised the Covenant people blessings and what cursings blessings and curses if they disobeyed his covenants that he would come and he would judge them for their disobedience and that there was a new covenant coming Jesus enters into this story now Matthew very Jewish gospel using very Jewish language saturated with the Old Testament Matthew is saturated with the Old Testaments how much connection to the Old Testament do we have well Matthew chapter 1 you open it up what are you getting here are the genealogies Abraham David move it all the way down Jesus has the royal right to the throne matthew is immediately quoting Old Testament text to show you this Messiah is not a novelty this is God's story playing out in the flesh among us in the dirt in the air we breathe he is walking among us Jesus came in fulfillment of all that the story teller said was going to happen all along that's Matthew story but as Matthew opens up he starts giving you all these images of Jesus and Israel fleeing into Egypt and oh that's really about Jesus and then John the Baptist enters and lo and behold lo and behold John the Baptist is speaking the Old Testament story all along do you ever notice that John the Baptist Matthew brings the story in Matthew chapter 3 the first words out of John the Baptist mouth are repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand - the fingertip reach it's right here guys and then immediately the forerunner of Messiah is doing hmm exactly what the storyteller had said long before he arrives Malachi chapters 3 & 4 tells the specific prophecy that first before Messiah came there would be a forerunner and then Yahweh himself would come to his temple and there would be salvation and purification but there would also be judgments upon the covenant breakers so John the Baptist Jesus salvation and judgment sound like a familiar story sounds like Matthew 24 sounds like the New Testament record but what's interesting at John the Baptist comes in and he immediately goes to these covenant people and he says what who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come repent and he says his winnowing Fork is in his hand he's not going to get it you don't even have that kind of time he's not going to pick it up it's in his hands he says the ax is laid at the root of the trees it's already swung and the judgment has arrived and so he says repent to who the Covenant people and as you move through matthew matthew gives you all these moments where jesus gives you explicit time indications about what was about to occur in their generation one of dr. our sea scrolls favorite texts when he goes through the same study that i'm doing now which actually is free online if you guys want to go look at it RC sprawl last days according to jesus Ligonier has the entire series up for free highly recommended but one of the things dr. scroll really liked was matthew chapter 10 we did this before go read it later Oh Matthew chapter 10 Jesus tells his disciples and their day that they weren't going to finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes how's that for timing indicator you're not gonna finish this whole thing before I come come for what judgments Matthew 16 again another time indication go read that later we spent time on it so I'm not gonna do it today in terms of timing indication you're not all gonna die before you see this so you're not all gonna die before this occurs and then Jesus now comes into Jerusalem we have the triumphal entry Jesus now comes to the temple second cleansing he cleanses the temple as was promised he curses the fig tree which is a symbol of Israel know fruits gonna come from you again he comes in now to have interaction with all the religious leadership and all that religious leadership you have these amazing little stories Jesus gives to them these parables that tells them they're about to be judged what's the owner of the vineyard gonna do when he finds out these people have killed his son he'll destroy those miserable wretches and give outs that that's that vineyard to other people who will give him the fruits of it and he says ah yeah that's you that's what's gonna happen to you and then the next parable a wedding feast and God sends his armies to destroy their city that was them in the Matthew 23 Jesus says all the blood of the righteous is going to be upon this generation brothers and sisters what generation 2019 right no who's he talking to this is so critical brothers and sisters please come with me now I know that it's warm in this room okay let's make it a church we're all doing this okay whatever you got to do and if you do that too it'll help me because it's hot up here okay don't get somewhe in my way or just start blowing at me whatever you have to do okay this is Arizona though so you decided to move here just consider in Matthew chapter 23 and 24 who is Jesus talking to guys listen what's the context all the blood of the righteous upon you your house is left to you desolate Jerusalem Jerusalem you and then as you read through Matthew 24 who's he talking to a 19th century prophet named Joseph Smith no he's talking to his generation we talked last week about the very words that he's using here are used throughout the Gospels and they refer to that current generation when Jesus says truly I say to you in verse 36 of 23 all these things will come upon this generation two things ready the word all and generation which things well some things in Matthew 23 and 24 what's Jesus say all what these things will come upon who this generation which generation his generation as you look through Matthew 24 just quickly you can run your finger through this text and you'll notice the disciples asked Jesus the question about wow the temple all the blood upon this generation he's leaving the temple now resting on the Mount of Olives so they say well Jesus tell us when these things will be and what will be the sign of your coming in the close of the age these are questions related to the denunciation he just gave to the leadership in Jerusalem so their questions aren't questions about the end of the cosmos world the physical world he just told them their temples going to be destroyed he just told those covenant people your house is left to you desolate so their questions are about that's no conversation here about the end of the physical cosmos it's about Jewish temple covenant people as you look through here Jesus tells them what they will see and you'll notice a couple of things just quickly go to verse 15 to 24 in terms of who is being spoken to 24:15 so when you see who's he talking to you who's he talking to you he's talking to those four first century disciples so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the Holy Place let the reader understand that let those who were in Judea flee to the mountains where where Oh let those in Phoenix Arizona flee to the mountains no thanks right let those who are in Sedona flee to the mountains they can stay there okay no let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains what is this very localized Judea Watch get this watch you can escape this tribulation by getting out of Judea let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains so in terms of judgment this is a local judgment upon a covenant people now go back here to Matthew chapter 23 now I want you to see here Jesus as he promises them judgment all the blood of the righteous upon them in verse 35 he says all these things verse 36 are going to be upon this generation Jerusalem Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets stones those who are sent to her Jesus says there your house is left to you desolate very specific very specific people watch what happens Jesus now after this denunciation after the promise of judgment upon that generation after all the parables about judgment on these covenant people he then departs to the east hold this together with me which direction say it again very important detail and watch this we almost don't even know why but it's very important if we know our Bibles this is a symphony with one master storyteller this literally happened but here is Yahweh God and human flesh now coming to the Covenant people and he's confronting them and he's promising judgment the forerunner has already come judgment has now arrived here's the axe late at the root of the trees now God after cleansing the temple departs from the temple to the east and he's on the Mount of Olives why is that an important biblical detail come with me because this is awesome and if you missed it last week I need you to get it because it is so powerful in terms of these little tiny details that God carries together through his story Jesus denunciation depart to the east mount of olives the all of that discourse why is it interesting well we know our Bibles and we are Jews who have these things in front of us and know our history we know that in Ezekiel this took place this took place in Ezekiel 1122 I want you to see it so finger in Mathew and I'll move back to Ezekiel Old Testament Ezekiel Ezekiel chapter 11 verse 22 this is the scene in Ezekiel where Yahweh's glory departs from the temple before its destruction and rests where I want you to see it Ezekiel 1122 then cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them and the glory of the God of Israel was over them and the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city which mountain is that Mount of Olives so here now we've already had a temple judgment where the glory of Yahweh leaves the temple before its judgments and the glory of Yahweh God rests there on the Mount of Olives here as Jesus now at that temple in the flesh confronting his covenant people promising them desolation then judge many promises to them and then he departs from the temple to the east and here is Jesus now God incarnate now on the Mount of Olives before the second temples destruction the glory of it is in the first one it's the glory of God resting the Mount of Olives and now it's God and the flesh standing on the Mount of Olives promising the second temples destruction it's a powerful moments where it can consider now this is coven ensel consider now that there's a master storyteller behind this consider now that this has already been played in history consider now this has already been predicted to happen and consider now that jesus promises local judgment upon that generation and he says all these things will be upon this generation brothers and sisters is time to let traditions go if they do not actually stay consistent with what the text itself actually says now brothers and sisters to whet your appetite for a second because they know there's questions running and I want to ask you for your patience as we go through these texts I know there's a million questions well pastor Jeff if this is true if Matthew 24 here if this all occurred in the first century and I'm open to believing that then I have questions about what does it mean to be caught up in the air' together with the Lord what about the heavenly City in the New Jerusalem and what about the of Babylon and what about the Beast of Revelation and Christ George Bush right I was years ago on Mill Avenue doing evangelism right around at the time of 9/11 and I talked with a group of guys and they were adamant they were adamant and they were trying to use the Bible to prove it that George Bush was the Antichrist right and then what happened next President Obama was the Antichrist and now you better believe it Donald Trump is the Antichrist you know it right every time it's the new leader he's the Antichrist who's the antichrist where is the end of Christ you're the intr Christ you're the Antichrist right who's the Antichrist I want to tell you this we're gonna answer all those questions but to whet your appetite in terms of answering some quick questions about how does this all tie together and work I'm gonna whet your appetite with this just to get you ready for this in Matthew 24 39 29 24 29 it's a famous scene famous text it says immediately after the tribulation of those days the Sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its lights and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken someone sees that and they say all right pastor Jeff how does that occur in the first century the stars falling from heaven the Sun the moon not giving its lights how does that happen the Sun being darkened you're saying that occurred in the first century no I'm saying Jesus said that it would occur in the first century you want proof of that keep your finger on 29 and just move down a few verses to verse 34 what does Jesus say truly I say to you who's he talking to those disciples this generation which generation that generation will not pass until what all what things these things is the Sun being darkened and the moon not giving its light the Stars falling from heaven part of these things yes you can say it yes and you'll learn to say with confidence yes it is and so we say okay then how do we view that well I would say this we start viewing it like people who read the Old Testament we start viewing it like Jews who received the inspired revelation of God we start doing it like people who have read the book of Isaiah we start reading it and viewing it like people who have read Isaiah chapter 13 where Yahweh used that exact language do you know what worked better here in this text is if that section there was in quotations because Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 13 only in Isaiah 13 when God used that dramatic prophetic hyperbole which he often used often very often he was using it about a pagan nation Babylon and this was God using dramatic prophetic hyperbole against Babylon about turning their lights out destroying their worlds and the amazing thing is when God made that promise to turn their lights out he did now Jesus takes what is a prophecy about a pagan nation and word about a pagan nation in its destruction he takes it watch.watch the power of it he takes what was something said about a pagan nation and he says it about these people where God's covenant people where the Jews where God's covenant people were in a relationship with him and you're also breaking covenant with them and you're persecuting his Messiah and now Jesus uses language about a pagan nation and he turns it on the Covenant people do you see the power behind that another example here you say stars of heaven what as all this mean well I would say there's more language here that's interesting like for example to whet your appetite we talked about last week Matthew 24 verse 36 we talked about two men in a field one was taken one is left two women at the mill one is taken one is left and the story of Noah is brought in we talked about how we have literally read this text backwards in terms of who is taken away in Noah's day the ones who were swept away were not the righteous the wicked were swept away and the righteous remains so if we take the story of Noah and we think about two men in a field one is taken and one is left well in Noah's day the wicked was taken the righteous was left we've read that text as a secret rapture text that says that the righteous will be taken away and the wicked will be left if we know our Bibles in the story of Noah we would never read it like that amen so there's another wedding your appetite let the text speak but also we have questions about what about this this thing about Jesus and the clouds of heaven what about this thing of Jesus and the clouds of heaven and angels and gathering God's elect well I would say there's another example of where that should be in quotations anyone want to guess where there's a story in scripture about a son of man and the clouds of heaven where's it at Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 through 14 and in Daniel 7 13 through 14 it says the Son of Man comes where up to the Ancient of Days and is presented before him and to him the Son of man is given a kingdom Dominion that all the peoples nations and men of every language might serve who him his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed here's Jesus promising judgment upon the covenant breakers and then reaffirming his kingdom his rule his reign quoting Daniel 7 and the son of man on the clouds of heaven being given what the world every tribe people tongue nation language the promise in Daniel 7 was that all the nations were going to be brought to God through this Messianic King and here's Jesus saying to the covenant breakers your house is left to you desolate this is the close of the age which age the Old Covenant and reaffirming that he is the son of man who will send out his messengers to gather his elect from all over the world Daniel 7 is being quoted there by the Lord Jesus is that powerful stuff that's all the Old Testament in the mouth of the Lord Jesus but here's what else is interesting another wets your appetite moment as we go through this text I love this one and I've been so excited to share this with you so Matthew chapter 24 people are like well what's the abomination of desolation how does that fit first century what does that look like what's it mean well brothers and sisters this is where we have to test all things let the Bible speak let the Bible define let the Bible interpret let's go to Matthew chapter 24 verse 15 Jesus says so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the Holy Place let the reader understand then let those who were in Judea flee to the mountains let the one who's on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house and let the one who's in the field not turn back to take his cloak and alas for the women who are not pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath all right what's that mean what's the abomination of desolation Daniel what does all that mean well brothers and sisters we have an amazing inspired interpretation of the abomination of desolation and for that one finger at Matthew and turn over to Luke 21 what ever does that mean Luke 21 Luke 21 this is part of the synoptic Gospels Matthew Mark and Luke you can see them together this is Luke's wording of the Olivet discourse and when Luke gets to this space about the abomination of desolation here's what Luke says through divine inspiration Luke 21 verse 20 he doesn't use such Jewish specific language he says this but when you see here it is Jerusalem surrounded by armies again what surrounded by armies Jerusalem very local when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies then know that it's desolation has come near then let those who were in we're Judea when you see Jerusalem surrounded flee here he says this flee to the mountains let those who were inside the city departs and let not those who are out in the country enter it for these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written and Jesus of course says here alas women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days for there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people which people Jerusalem the Jews of his day the covenant breakers of his day now how do you hold this together well I think it's powerful the Lord Jesus is telling them your house is left to you desolate all these things upon this generation here's what you're to look for here's what's gonna cur when's it going to happen before you all pass away and he says this when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies he says flee don't go back to get your coats don't waste time get out of the city when you see it surrounded flee do you want to know amazing fact of history who were the ones to escape the judgments on Jerusalem who do you think they were the Christians and why because they were told through a prophecy of the Lord Jesus that when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies it was time to flee now what's amazing is in history you have examples of Christians who were using Matthew chapter 24 as an apologetic against the Jews who rejected Jesus as Messiah consider that for a sec if that word throws you they were defending the face and they were defending the message of Jesus watch by using Matthew 24 as something that had happened already so rather than taking the text like Matthew 24 mark 13 Luke 21 and saying at his future they were applying Matthew 24 as something that already occurred and they were using it to defend Christ as Messiah against people who rejected Jesus as Messiah now Eusebius was an early Christian and encourage you to read his stuff specifically he has a church history book it's book 3 chapter 5 book 3 chapter 5 listen to what Eusebius writes as history of the church he says this but the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation vouchsafed but to approved men there before the war to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella and when those that believed in Christ had come there from Jerusalem then as if the Royal City of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and His apostles and totally destroyed that generation of umpires here's what happens you know where Jesus says something he says you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars now watch this if I said that to you today as a guys I'm gonna prove to you all that I'm a prophet I'm from I'm from God sent from God I've got a prophecy and you say alright what's the prophecy and I give you a prophecy and you say what are the signs before that occurs and I say in 2019 all right ready there's going to be wars and rumors of wars you'd be like that is not at all impressive because that is happening all the time that's not an impressive prophecy today in 2019 you know when it is an oppressive prophecy when Jesus gave it and he says you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars you know why because this was Tom this is during a time in history known as the Pax Romana it was called the Peace of Rome and Rome was enforcing peace you were not allowed to fight or to be at odds and to battle against each other it's called the Pax Romana and so Jesus says on the Mount of Olives you're gonna hear of wars and rumors of wars people were like but what this is the Pax Romana what do you mean wars and rumors of wars Jesus this is the Pax Romana it's the peace of room so Jesus is predicting the Pax Romana is going to break and he says to his people in that very same text Wars rumors of wars famous Peck famine pestilence persecution he says all that and he says when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies then flee don't go back and get your coats pray that it's not on the Sabbath or in the winter and what's amazing is this when the war broke out between the Romans and the Jews as time went on the city was surrounded by the Roman armies and the Christians in Jerusalem this is a matter of record when they saw Jerusalem is surrounded by these Roman armies they knew it was time to go the Roman armies then backed away from the city and do you know who escaped the city the Christians fled to a town called Pella and the Roman armies sacked that city and then was the war between the Romans and the Jews were they were decimated and the Jewish temple was destroyed and they set fire to it now imagine this people describe that second temple they described it as a magnificent feat they said that in the distance when the Sun was shining on that second temple in the distance it looked like a star was on the earth glowing in the distance like the Sun was literally set on the earth and it was shining it was spectacular it was glorious it was to the Jews their glory this is our thing this is the temple that God gave to us this is where we go for mercy and for forgiveness this will rehab a priest who represents us we've got a veil of course but we have access to God in a way because this beautiful temple in the presence of God and sacrifice and atonement and all of this glorious temple this is where we go for mercy and for forgiveness and it's right here on this earth and now the Roman armies come against the Jews as Jesus predicted they slaughter the Jews so that blood was flowing like rivers through the streets Josephus records that as the gold and silver and everything was melting from the temple being set fire to he said that you could see it pouring like water like rivers flowing down he said but the blood was flowing deeper than the metal and everything melted and as this all melted down here is now this temple left to them desolate and we know as a matter of historical record in 70 AD after the destruction of the Jews after they scattered them after the famines that were so bad that people were recorded as to eating their own infants famine and after all the earthquakes where all the earthquakes one of the most massive earthquakes in history that temple was destroyed and the Roman armies literally took the temple of parts stone off of stone and there wasn't left as Jesus said one stone standing upon another jesus said to his Jenner raishin all these things are gonna be upon this generation and brother decisions we're gonna unpack this a lot more and really go into this question that they asked they said the sign of your coming what does that mean the coming of Christ the Greek word behind that as Parsi a-- it's actually a very technical term from the east the report refers to the royal appearing of a king or a dignitary it describes a coming with a consequential presence not coming to go away but coming with a royal appearing to be presence we're gonna talk about that word but Jesus noticed and we're gonna spend here for it spend some time here for just a moment Jesus is asked the question about the clothes of the age how many of you guys have a KJV in front of you right now King James Version okay King James Version great Bible to have it's amazing a little bit of Old English in some areas we love the King James Version but I think there's some better English translations today but it's a fantastic translation God has used with his people for a long time but in the King James Version it's an English translation and older English translation the word being translated there in the Greek and the King James is ion not cosmos and the King James Version has thrown some people who don't go into what is that word in the King James Version it says and the end of the world and people have interpreted that to mean well Jesus's ass is being asked here about the end of the physical cosmos the world the physical world but the word there in the Greek is not cosmos referring to the physical world it is ion Jesus has asked about the end of the age and brothers and sisters let me just give you a little bit of a taste as we unpack this a lot more later remember this in the Old Testament there is the Old Covenant and then there is the promise of the what new covenants what do we know about Jeremiah 31 God says he will give them a new covenant and he will do what with his law he will write it where within them no longer on stone tablets outside the people of God now the new covenant God says he's gonna write it inside his people they're going to be empowered by his Spirit to obey God to pursue God from the insides not stone tablets external bringing pressure on top of them now God dwells in his people and he's empowering them by his Spirit to obey his law he'll forgive their sins he'll remember them no more and now we've got God riding now inside of us his law a new covenant better than the old we know Ezekiel 36 we love what his reform folks it's a promise of God and the new covenant he says this I'll sprinkle clean water on you so that you'll be clean I'll cleanse you of all your idols praise God praise God and then he says this I'll put my spirit within you and I'll cause you to observe my statutes so we go now from an Old Covenant to a new covenant the promise of God is that he's going to bring judgment upon the covenant breakers and he's gonna bring salvation Malachi chapter 3 chapter 4 describes that Isaiah 65 describes that he says to his covenant people listen he says you're gonna be hungry they're gonna eat you're gonna be thirsty they're gonna drink I will give my people God says in Isaiah 65 a new name God has promised this all along and now Jesus comes in and he's bringing it watch they hear their Savior saying that the temple is going to be destroyed not one stone upon another and they're going to be judged all the blood upon them and that piques their curiosity city 100 these things gonna be what's the sign of your coming in the end of the age Jesus if this temple is gonna be destroyed this temple God gave that to us he made a covenant with us that's where we go when we want mercy and forgiveness this is where we do sacrifice this is where we have a priest who represents us this is a physical manifestation on earth of this covenant we have with God and his presence with us and our approaching God you're saying this is gonna be destroyed it's all gone what does the end of the Old Covenant age bring with it everything the new cut New Testament documents tell us watch in the Old Covenant when you wanted mercy and forgiveness guess what you had to do you go to that temple their sacrifice that happens there you go to a physical temple for mercy and sacrifice when you need a mediator where do you go you go to Jerusalem that's where my priest is he goes to represent me before God yom kippur een he goes there on the day of atonement he offers a bull for himself and then he's got the goats and he's got the one scapegoat and one has to die he lays his hands on one they drag it away from the people of God you've got all these dress rehearsals happening all these things happening over and over and over and there's always a reminder of our sin every year it's a reminder you're not okay and when you need mercy and forgiveness you go to that temple and Jesus says it's gone how's that better well how about this in the New Covenant when we need mercy and forgiveness we don't go to a physical temple we go to Jesus who is the temple something greater than the temple is here Jesus says and Jesus says this about himself you destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it again Christians don't go to Jerusalem to a physical for mercy and forgiveness when we want mercy and forgiveness we go to Christ I don't have an annual reminder of my sins because I have a high priest who lives forever for me that has made a once for all sacrifice for me you see in a new covenant I go from having stone tablets on the outside of the people of God to now God riding it inside of me I go from a physical temple with the presence of God there - now Jesus drawing me into himself and God now residing in me I go from always a reminder of my sins - now the Bible saying there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus I now have a temple now that's in Heaven's forever I'm part of a city now that can never be destroyed I'm part of the Bride of Christ which the writer of Revelation says is the New Jerusalem that was coming out of heaven from God to hit the earth the harlot was judged the old Jerusalem to make way for the new Jerusalem the Bride of Christ now we have a heavenly City now we have a priest who never dies always lives to make intercession no more reminder of our sins no more condemnation once for all sacrifice you see the disciples knew if you're saying that temples destroyed you're saying the New Covenant is here the Old Covenant age is over well then one of these things going to be what's a sign of your coming in the end of the age and Jesus says to wrap it all up all these things before this generation all passes away and brothers and sisters my contention is this Jesus kept his word it happens and I say to that praise God you see this text should not be a text that is used to abuse Christians in terms of saying Jesus is a false prophet this should be the text that were standing on to prove to the world that he is the Messiah because it all occurred on time and as plans and here's I think the response watch Jesus says to covenant people in the first century it's gonna happen to you it's gonna happen to you all these things this generation not one stone left upon another won't finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes before you all die this is taking place Jesus says your house is left to you desolate and they said hmm maybe whatever I don't have to respond it's amazing - cos watch Jesus was even raised from the dead and can you believe this can you it's almost like it doesn't even belong in the text because it's nuts it's crazy it says that some saw Jesus alive from the dead and it says and some doubted what what so I guess we can't use the Resurrection as the ultimate proof of Jesus as Messiah cause it says some people saw him alive from the dead and it says and some doubted are you nuts he's alive at least you got you gotta love Thomas's response right he's like an honest I put my finger and Jesus like go ahead he says hakuro smo ha ha ha ha Thais mo my Lord and my god that's his response but amazingly watch people could hear Jesus make predictions about the future they all occur people can see his miracles and his signs and not respond they see his physical resurrection and not respond and the amazing thing is listen what happened in the first century with the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews around the world was one of the most graphic destructions of a people imaginable imaginable the stories recorded by Josephus about what happened in Jerusalem are distr to read they said no not gonna happen and Jesus brought that judgment as he promised they didn't believe it could happen to them either and we live like that final word here we all live like that right you hear warnings from God repent believe the gospel and you go oh I'll get to it I'll think about it later or you hear the call to come and believe in Christ for eternal life and salvation and you think I have time to think on that or as a Christian you see as a child of God calls of God to come to him to put your sin to death to flee sexual immorality and to turn away from all your idols and come and be obedient to Jesus Christ and you think to yourself I've got time I've got time I've got time you think that you have time and so did they they thought they had special pull with God Jesus says you're gonna be judged they're like we can't we're God's covenant people I'm God's people I'm part of his people that's my temple God gave that to me as a gift and the amazing thing is is they didn't know the hour of their visitation they didn't know the ax was laid at the root of the trees or believed that it was and so my question to you today as you hear this message is this have you responded to the gospel the good news of what God has done becoming a man taking on human flesh living a righteous and blameless and perfect life dying for the sins of his people taking the wrath of a holy God and rising again from the dead have you considered the good news and the call of Jesus to turn from your sin to the Living God to put your faith in him for salvation and for forgiveness for the gift of eternal life have you considered it and will you turn from where you sit you see we need to consider the holiness of God we don't believe it anymore in our country we used to be a nation that was so influenced by the gospel the pure gospel that it was in the atmosphere God is holy and I'm not I deserve hell I deserve his wrath his punishment I'm not good in his eyes he's a holy God to be feared we don't talk about a god like this that says I will delight in your destruction do you know that he says that to his covenant people he promises them read them Deuteronomy 27 and 28 read what he says he says when I bring these curses upon you I will delight in it when God comes and acts as judge and brings justice he like any good judge is satisfied in the justice being dealt and we don't think about God is a holy God any more in our nation we don't think about a Jesus who says to them these are the days of vengeance all the Bloods gonna be upon you you are going to be destroyed before this generation all passes away we don't like a Jesus like that we have a hippie surfer Jesus who wants to be your friends we have a Jesus we want to be our friends not of Jesus to be feared and I want to say even if it's an evangelical church that's a false Jesus if he's not to be feared he's not the biblical Jesus because this Jesus comes and he destroys a people and so the question is where do you stand with him this is not to cause fear and to simply scare you with judgment so you run to Jesus it's to tell you the truth he's a holy God we are not holy and you need to be reconciled to God today is the day of salvation they thought they had time they didn't believe it either the question is will you respond to the call of the gospel repent and to believe the good news will you come to Jesus if you don't know him today I want to plead with you turn to Christ and live receive the gift of eternal life be saved and if you are in Christ if you are in Christ you belong to him and you're never gonna be lost how's that Amen is that the most beautiful thing ever this judgment this wrath is not for you it never will be why because he took it on the tree there is now no condemnation you are not seen by your father as guilty stop for a second stop let it hang there for a second you are not seen as guilty not condemned your father doesn't see you as broken and with blemish and corrupt he sees the righteousness of his son that's why you stand and you don't fall and that's forever he'll never lose you that never forsake you you're in his hands double grip and you'll never be lost eternal life means forever and you have that because of what he's accomplished you belong to him he resides within you he will finish what he started which means you're a child in his house right now and he's the father you're not an enemy outside the house you're not a stranger outside the house and you have a father who has you in his home and he disciplines you like a father disciplines his child he sanctifies you he grows you so the question is are you responding to your father's hand of discipline you see the God that he is he keeps his word he doesn't lie and he's always on time and so the question is as a child of God are you responding to his fatherly correction and sanctification that's my call to brothers and sisters in the room right now are you responding to your father's call to repent to hand things over to him he says this watch I'll cleanse them of all their idols I'll cleanse them of all their idols so what idols is he cleansing you of where's your ID where's your false worship where is it where's your false worship because he's cleansing you my pastor Jeff I don't I feel so convicted in so challenged praise God for that praise God for that people like I I don't know if I'm saved I don't know if I want to be elect pastor Jeff I don't know if I'm elected I I just want God I love I love God I'm so sick of my sin and I'm just worried and I wanted the elect I'm like you sound like the elect because that's how they think why because God's there and I would say this if you hate your sin and long for him and his holiness then you need to praise God for the fact that you're not condemned in Jesus and praise God for that hatred of sin and the call is this if your father is correcting you he's correcting you as a loving father so brothers and sisters what are you gonna hand over to him from where you sit what are you struggling with this week wives mothers what is God calling you to give up what is he calling you to turn over what is he calling you to repent of what have you been struggling with for 10 years of your marriage with your husband or with your kids it's always been a perpetual cycle what do you need to hand over what do you need to give up fathers what do you need to turn over to him what has God been challenging you on all these years as a father as a husband what has he been calling you to repent of now is the day today's the day to turn from that sin children same call to children in the room right now what has God calling you to hand over to him to be obedient to him in single people what is God calling you to what is God calling to you you to in terms of faithfulness and obedience as a single person as a single Christian I'm gonna say I think that it's a single Christian if you love the Lord and you're pursuing marriage one day I think the thing you need to focus on before the Idol of marriage because believe me you'll realize that it's an idol it's not your salvation I think one of the things you need to focus on as a single person is giving up marriage as an idol and realize that God may be preparing your heart first and foremost to be satisfied in him first before another person maybe he won't give you that person he has repaired for you until you were first settled and satisfied with him where's your idol what's he cleansing you of respond he's a God that keeps his word and he shows up on time Matthew 24 proves it let's pray father I pray you bless the word that went out today for the glory of your son please bless us Lord I don't know the details that you know about what we're all being called to individually and corporately I just pray Lord in this moment by your spirit you would give us understanding or I pray you would move and your people even now to draw us out of any disobedience and into obedience and worship I pray Lord for anyone in this room that doesn't know you that you have grant eyes to see to the blind hearts that are soft understanding to our minds and pray God that you would be glorified in a worship we are about to engage in in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Apologia Studios

Views: 54,456

Rating: 4.7690721 out of 5

Keywords: jeff durbin, apologia studios, apologia church, end times, end of the world, great tribulation, rapture, left behind, signs of the rapture, left behind movie, rapture movie, are we living in the end, john hagee, john hagee blood moons, blood moons, preterist, preterism, kenneth gentry, kenneth gentry debate, john macarthur rapture, is jesus coming soon

Id: 8PephsKFuQc

Length: 73min 53sec (4433 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 09 2019