This Generation Shall Not Pass! - Pastor Bryan Ross

good morning thanks richard appreciate the opportunity to come and uh preach and just mike like this it's good it's good to be with all of you this morning if you would get out your bibles and open up to matthew chapter 24 matthew chapter 24. a couple things as you find that passage and we get situated here to get started um the saints from grace life bible church in grand rapids michigan send their greetings and it's always a good thing to be here and and to preach and to fellowship with the saints unfortunately this year my wife and i are going to have to leave when we're done here uh we're trying to sell our house in michigan and move closer to our assembly building and uh there's some things going on that i've got to address with respect to trying to move and so forth so we're going to have to uh depart when we're done here but we we wish we could stay longer and enjoy your company a couple things just uh from the ministry there in grand rapids uh there are two new booklets that i've put together since last year when i was here one is the apocrypha in the king james bible it deals with why the apocrypha was included and some things about the history of the apocrypha i know some people have always seem to have questions about that why the king james translators included it we try to address that issue and then another one is uh did paul know the mystery when he wrote romans and that's a technical investigation into some things about some teachings of bollinger and so forth also i'd just like to mention a few other things quickly october 18th through the 20th at grace life bible church in michigan we're going to be having a bible conference on the gospels project we're going to look at all the different gospels gospel the kingdom gospel of god gospel of christ uncircumcision circumcision and so forth and try to define what those were who was preaching them and so on and uh brother dave reed's gonna come up for that also the grace history project the church history lessons those are online if you're interested in those i did interview pastor jordan for four hours uh last month he came up to our house and i got a recording of that and i'm processing that and so i'm going to include within that that class and that course of study the history of of us and uh how gray school of bible came to be and how the grace life doctrines were were um realized and came to be believed and lastly very quickly uh there's a gentleman right here jerry halston he's from from the area hoffman states he was my uh sunday school teacher when i was a child at uh stream in streamwood at grace bible church in streamwood illinois he has taken a sort of uh upon himself to do some things with jc o'hare and he has over here on the table by where my books are at some some material some literature that he wants you to look at peruse and there's some things they can take there as well if you're interested in that all right matthew 24 matthew 24 verse 34. let me just read the verse and i'll tell you what the topic is here right now matthew chapter 24 verse 34 verily i say unto you this generation shall not pass to all these things be fulfilled the only father we thank you for your word for the saints that have gathered here this morning to hear your word preached we pray that there be understanding and edification that would result from our time together we ask us in christ's name amen the subject that i've been given with respect to matthew 24 34 is the following address the preterist claim that all prophecy was fulfilled in the first century and that we are the israel of god okay and i'll explain what all that means as we go through here but i just want you to look at the verse verse 34 verily i say unto you this generation no notice what it says shall not what pass what's the next word till all these things be fulfilled now if you just read that is it saying and suggesting that the people the audience to whom christ is speaking that they are not going to die and pass away until the things that he's been speaking to them about in the passage come come to pass and are fulfilled okay well what is he talking about here what are some of these things that the the things that are mentioned in verse 34 when he says till all these things be fulfilled there's a context here that he's discussing if you would go back to up in the passage go to verse 4 quick verse 4 and jesus answered it said unto them take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying i am christ and shall deceive many and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of war see that uh but see that thou be not troubled for all these things notice must come to pass but the end is not yet for nations shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilence and earthquakes in diverse places and all notice what he says all these things are the beginning of what now you look at that you say that's some bad stuff pestilence earthquake sorrow famine all these things war going on and christ says hey when you see these things you need to understand this is just the what this is just the beginning and he dropped down to verse 15 and he says when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken by the prophet daniel stand in the holy place who so readeth let him understand well what does the book of daniel chapter 9 tell you about when the abomination of desolation occurs it says that it occurs in the midst of what in the weak so understand what christ is doing in verses 4 through 8 he's telling them what the beginning of sorrows are going to be and then in verse 15 he goes to the middle of the tribulation and he says hey when you see the abomination of desolation that's going to be a signal or a marker assigned to you that you guys need to get out okay and so he starts with the beginning of sorrows and then he comes through and he talks to him about the middle and what's going to happen in the the midst of the week or in the middle of the tribulation by talking to them about the abomination of desolation and that being fulfilled when they see that occur according to daniel 9 27 and then if you drop down to verse we obviously don't have time to teach all this in great detail we'll never get to um the points we want to make look at verse 29 immediately win after what the tribulation of those days sell shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken and there shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth more notice and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and what now understand the olivet discourse here in matthew chapter 24 jesus asks he's answering a question that they have in fact if you go back to verse 3 it says and he sat upon the mount of olives the disciples came unto him privately saying tell us when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of what so he he tells them the beginning of sorrows he says look here's what's going to happen first this is going to be a signal these are the beginning of sorrows but when you see these things happen you need to understand that they must come to pass but the end is what it's not yet then he goes in verse 15 and following and he talks about the abomination of desolation which we know from daniel 9 27 happens in the middle of the week and then at the end of the passage in verses 29 and following he describes the second coming of the lord back to earth in in power there verse 31 and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other and then you get to verse 34 our text verse and he says verily i say unto you this generation shall not pass till all these things be what well what things is he talking about he's talking about the beginning of sorrows he's talking about the abomination of desolation he's talking about the second coming of the lord back to earth and he says listen you guys aren't going to die this generation is not going to pass until all these things are what fulfill so now i have a couple questions were they fulfilled why not now i know you're going to john well you're going to go right to the answer that we're going to get to in the end i don't want you to do that yet i just want you to think through this with me okay why not okay is does jesus meet how many things jesus knows what he's talking about if you think he knows what he's talking about and you can read there that he says listen you guys this generation that he's been addressing now for almost three years he's saying to them you're not going to die you're not going to pass until these things are what fulfill now do you do you see the problem there if you don't rightly divide the word of truth and you can look and know that those things haven't come to pass yet then does it look very much like jesus doesn't know what he's talking about okay and if jesus doesn't know what he's talking about then a critic of the word of god a critic of the scripture that doesn't want to believe it's the word of god will come here and say see the bible's not inspired because jesus said these things would come to pass before this generation dies but the generation died and the things didn't yet what come to pass therefore the bible is unreliable it's untrustworthy it's not inspired and you shouldn't believe it and you see i hope from that sort of framing of the the discussion why we got to have a good answer for what's going on here okay now one of the answers that has been offered in church history is to teach that everything in this passage is already fulfilled okay that the beginning of sorrows the abomination of desolation the return of the lord back to earth bodily the second coming that all the things jesus is talking about in the passage have already been fulfilled and that they were fulfilled in 70 a.d with the destruction of jerusalem at the hand of the romans okay this belief folks is called preterism okay it's called preterism and it's a belief it's a doctrine that is out there that says that everything that is going on here that is being discussed in matthew 24 has already been fulfilled and that it was fulfilled in 78 deal with the destruction of the temple and i want to say to you when you read the preterist literature one of the things that comes up over and over and over again is that the preterists believe that this interpretation is a defense of the inspiration of the bible because it explains what the verse is saying and so they're holding one of the reasons why preterism is attractive to some people who don't understand about right division is because they view it as a way of maintaining the integrity of the bible in this case the generation not passing to all these things be fulfilled and the way they answer that is to say well they were all fulfilled when in 70 a.d before the generation he's speaking to did what died and passed away okay so to talk about the preterist claims i want to look at three points this morning the first i want to talk a little bit more about what is preterism the second i want to talk to you about excuse me when and why preterism was taught in church history and then we want to look at the scriptural answer to preterism as the third point so let's look at the first point what is preterism the title preterism folks is derived from the latin word preter which means past okay so preterism is the belief that everything in the bible has had a past what fulfillment it's already occurred it's already taking place there is nothing left that is unfulfilled at least in in in strict preterism it claims preterism claims that all bible prophecies including the events described by jesus in the olivet discourse here and by john in the book of revelation have all already been fulfilled okay now as with all sort of unsound views or heresies or what have you there are always different degrees of which people are willing to go to if you study preterism there are two essentially two types of preterism the first one is called moderate preterism all right let me tell you what that is moderate preterism holds that the resurrection and the second coming are future okay so they say that the resurrection the second coming our future but that all of the other prophecies made in matthew 24 and 25 and in revelation chapter 6 through 18 so again that's matthew 24 and 25 and revelation 6 through 18 that all of those prophecies have been fulfilled in the first century by 70 a.d and there's only two things that remain yet unfulfilled which would be as i said the um uh what did i say the resurrection the first resurrection and the second coming now i'm going to tell you right now if you're a preterist that's not going to work because all of those events are also included in matthew 24 as said that they're gonna come to be fulfilled before the generation one passes so that's we're not gonna deal with moderate predators here we're gonna deal with the second type and that is extreme or full preterism what this position maintains is that all new testament predictions are passed including those about the first resurrection and the second coming and again likewise they all occurred during the first century so an extreme or full preterist is going to say that every single bible prophecy in the scriptures have already been fulfilled they have already come to pass by the time that the romans destroyed the city of jerusalem in 70 a.d okay now theologically speaking preterism stands in direct contrast with what is called futurism okay now if preterism is is if predator means pass and preterism is the belief that all prophecy had its fulfillment in the past what would futurism be futurism would be that by and large everything in matthew 24 and 25 awaits a yet future what fulfillment okay that the events recorded there have not yet come to pass and so there's a tension within theology between the preterists that want to say that it was all fulfilled in 70 a.d and the futurists that will say no these things have not yet come to pass and they await a yet future fulfillment futurists now so we as great uh midax polling dispensationalists and so forth what's taught to you in great school of bible is not preterism it's what it's futurism now i don't i'm not going to get into all the different types of futurists because there are different people out there and and what they say and so forth that's not what we're going to do this morning but you need to understand that we generally we but we are as mid-ax pauline dispensationalists listening to what brother bruce was talking about last night we are futurists we believe that everything from here the seventh week of daniel on has not yet what has not yet occurred okay and will not occur and not only will not occur cannot occur until god's purpose with the church the body of christ here is complete and the church has taken out of the way rapture and so forth like we were looking at last night now the preterists have a few other proof texts that they want to use get two passages get matthew 10 in one hand and matthew 16 and the other matthew 10 and matthew 16. now i'll tell you right now that the infra my source on preterism is the international preterist association so there is an international preterist association matthew 10 look at verse 23 matthew 10 verse 23. but when they persecute you in this city flee ye into another for verily i say unto you you shall not have gone over all the cities of israel till what the son of man become so you see the tension again in that verse acts chapter one verse eight he talks about be he he sends them out and he tells him to you know to go to jerusalem and judea and then where in the uttermost parts of the earth jesus tells him here in matthew 10 after he commissions the twelve apostles and sends them out he goes you guys aren't you're not gonna have been able to cover all the cities here in jerusalem until what well what's it say until the son of man be what therefore in order for the bible to retain its integrity the preterists will argue that had do these things have already had to have been won fulfilled and come to pass or else the bible is untrustworthy and unreliable and so on the other verse that they like is coming to matthew 16 and look at verse 27. i should have told you to mark these matthew 16 look at verse 27 for the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works verse 28 verily i say unto you there shall not there shall be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the son of man coming in what his kingdom so i hope that you see the similarities between these these three passages okay they're all saying that there's going to be folks that are alive in that generation of israel that are not going to die that are not going to pass away until they see christ come and establish and set up the kingdom now as my time is fleeing from me i'm not going to waste any more time telling you what the predators believe i think you get it at this point i want to move on into my second point which is when and why was preterism taught in church history you have to understand folks that during the protestant revolution or the protestant reformation the protestants had a belief that was very common that the pope was the antichrist okay that the pope that the papacy that the office of the papacy was the fulfillment of the passages in the book of revelation about the beast and that that that that was the um the fulfillment of those things was i'm sorry that the pope or and or the office of the papacy were the beasts and the antichrist now if you're familiar with church history you know that the catholics responded to the reformers through what is called the counter reformation okay and one of the main elements of the counter-reformation is the establishment of a group known as the jesuits i mean you've heard of the jesuits the jesuits of the society of jesus and what the jesuit monks tried to do is they tried to come up with ways to escape this teaching that the pope was the antichrist well think about it what's one way to escape that teaching to say that it was all what it's already been happened it's already fulfilled and so one of the major movements of the jesuits preterism folks in its modern form was first articulated by a guy named el caser who lived between 1554 and 1613 who was a jesuit monk and he articulates it as an answer to the protestant teaching that the pope or the papacy was the beast or the antichrist and so the catholics are trying to escape here the cat the the reformed the teaching of the reformers that the pope or the papacy is the fulfillment of that and one of the ways they're doing that is to say well everything was already fulfilled when 70 id now i should tell you and i'm we don't have time to get into it brother tom's study last night on the rapture was very good another alleged they also will allege some people as an attack on the pre-tribulation rapture that the rapture doctrine was first articulated by jesuit monks okay and the reason they're doing that is to ridicule that protestant doctrine and trying to attach a catholic origin to it and thereby trying to discredit the teaching of the rapture okay everybody with that now if you want to know more about that in the church history project there are about six lessons where i go all through the history of rapture doctrine teaching and what is going on but we don't have time to get into that so preterists though will attempt to cry foul and say well we have there are people in church history before the time of the jesuits that believe these things you can find folks there are two sixth century commentaries on the book of revelation where there are different little pieces of what the predators believe but by and large in its modern manifestation it does originate with this jesuit monk alcazar who first articulated the idea as part of the the catholic counter-reformation so as we saw earlier preterism moving on to my third point where i want to spend the most of my time preterism is essentially based upon how one understands these three verses in matthew okay matthew 10 he tells the apostles you won't have gone over all the cities of jerusalem or i'm sorry of of israel till you see the son of man juan come matthew 16 he says that there are members of that generation that shall not pass until they see christ coming in his kingdom matthew 24 after the description of the beginning of sorrows the abomination of desolation and the return of the lord he says this generation shall not pass until you see all these things be fulfilled so i want to talk about this what is the answer to this how should we understand this and to do that i want you to go um get two passages get matthew three and get mark one matthew chapter three and mark one matthew chapter three and mark one get matthew let's look at matthew quick first and don't don't leave something in this because we will flip back and look at something in chapter four here in a minute so chapter 16 we read the verse he says there are people standing here that will not die or shall not taste death until they see christ or the son of man coming in his what in his kingdom okay what is john teaching matthew three verse two verse one in those days came john the baptist preaching in the wilderness of judea and saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is what now beginning with the testimony of john the baptist in the life of the nation of israel you begin to have the announcement here that the kingdom of heaven is what at hand and there's an entire generation now in israel that is going to hear this message preached they're going to hear it preach first by john the baptist second by the lord himself go to chapter four you'll see jesus preaches the exact same thing matthew chapter 4 verse 17 from that time jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is what well who preached that before him john that exact thing if you go to verse 23 it defines that as the gospel of the kingdom and jesus went all about galilee teaching and preaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of what the kingdom so go to mark chapter one so there's going to be an entire generation in israel now beginning with the ministry of john the baptist extended through the ministry of the lord jesus christ and ultimately through the 12 apostles that he's going to commission in matthew 10. he tells them to do the same thing that is hearing a message and the message that they are hearing is that the kingdom of heaven is what now what does it mean when it says it's at hand it means it's near right my notes are at hand i reach out and i pick them up they're at hand they're near okay mark chapter 1 look at verse 14. mark chapter 1 verse 14. look at what it says now after that john was put into prison jesus came into galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of god what are the first two words of verse 15 and saying so verse 14 tells you that he's preaching the gospel the kingdom of god verse 15 tells you what he's saying while he's preaching that and what is he saying he says and saying watch there's three things here the time number one is what fulfilled number two and the kingdom of god is what at hand three repency and do what now why is the kingdom of god at hand or near in that in those verses because the time is what fulfilled so there's something going on here prophetically that is governing time okay so we've reached a point beginning with the ministry of john the baptist in the prophetic time calendar of god that the time had arrived the time was right the time had been fulfilled for the kingdom to be announced as what as at hand and john the baptist goes out there and he starts doing that jesus goes out and does the same thing and the 12 apostles go out and are going to preach that same gospel the gospel of the kingdom so the announcement here that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of god is at hand is being governed folks by daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks in daniel 9. according to daniel's prophecy the time truly was at hand the 69th week was winding down and israel think about this israel was within about a 10-year window here if the if the prophetic program is not interrupted you know that the tribulation is how long seven years jesus christ's earthly ministry is how long three years so they are within literally a time roughly a ten year time frame give or take before everything that was said back here should have been what fulfilled so when he's saying the time is fulfilled he has in mind here the prophecy that's made by daniel back there in the old testament in daniel chapter 9. so think about the come back with me to matthew 2 think about the wise men just for a moment where are the wise men from from the east where was israel in captivity in babylon which is east or west of jerusalem it's east okay in case you didn't know you should look at the map on that matthew matthew 2 look at verse 1 now when jesus was born in bethlehem of judea in the days of herod the king behold there came wise men from what the east to where so they're from the east and they come where west to jerusalem verse 2 saying where is he that is born one i have a question how did they know that how did these wise men from the east these these probably pagan gentiles how did they know to go to jerusalem and seek the king of the jews at that exact in that exact window of time that they should be looking for him that was born king of the jews well they had back in babylon they had copies of what they had copies of the old testament they had copies of the book of daniel and they could read and understand from daniel's prophecy that the time was fulfilled so when they look in the sky and they see that star they know from the word of god that that means something and that if they want to find the king of the jews they need to go where to jerusalem and try to find them and it makes sense to go to the capital city looking for him that is born king of the jews what the wise men don't know though is that the scripture also said that he was going to be born where in bethlehem you can read the rest of that yourself but the point i want you to see here is did they know that there was a time frame in which he should be born and they went seeking him come to uh rodney talked about this a little bit yesterday go over to go over to luke 19. the prophecy of the 70 weeks rodney said he couldn't even talk about the whole verse because he didn't have time and i i agree with him but the prophecy of the 70 weeks it's it's explicitly says that they're determined upon my people and upon thy holy what city and so when jesus rides into jerusalem here at what we call the triumphal entry or palm sunday any and the city of jerusalem by and large does not recognize that the king has just entered the city when they should have known that that it was going to happen at that exact point in time because daniel's prophecy told them that's what they should be looking for jesus verse 41 and when he was come near he beheld the city and what wept over it saying if thou has known even thou at least in this thy what day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thy eyes for the day shall come upon thee that thy enemy shall cast a trench about thee and compass the round and keep the inn on every side and shall lay thee even with the ground and thy children within thee and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon the other why because thou knewest not what the time of what so when john the baptist jesus christ and the twelve apostles are now preaching the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of the kingdom is three things number one the time is what fulfilled number two because the time is fulfilled the kingdom of heaven is what at hand the response to that thirdly is supposed to be repentant to what believe the gospel all of these things are that are going on are being governed by a prophetic time frame and time schedule that god laid out in the book of daniel so and this is being announced to a generation in israel that is within 10 years give or take of seeing all these things be what fulfilled so literally when he says to them this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled he literally means that everybody that is listening to this preaching according to the prophetic program should not of and would not have died if prophecy would have gone on uninterrupted hopefully you're with me on that quickly go to back to matthew 3. one thing i think we i don't know if this will help or not but it helped me one thing we you know we think about the the kingdom at hand and and all that great stuff for israel right but if the kingdom's at hand something else is at hand too okay because there's something that has to happen prophetically before the kingdom can walk you can come in matthew 3 look at verse 7. but when he saw many of the pharisees and sadducees come to his baptism he said unto them oh generation of vipers who hath warned you to flee what so the wrath to come is also if the kingdom's at hand and the wrath has to happen before the kingdom then what's also at hand the wrath so when you read matthew 24 and he's talking about the beginning of sorrows and the abomination of desolation and then at the end he talks about the second coming of christ and he says all these things must come to pass this generation shall not pass sorry until all these things be what fulfilled he's talking about the wrath and what you talking about the wrath of the seventh week in the tribulation period as well as the return of christ bodily back to earth and he's literally telling them that they're not they're not going to taste death they're not going to die until they see these things what come to pass come back with me to matthew 24. matthew chapter 24 again where we started so it says again in verse 34. hang on a second verse 34 verily i send you this generation shall not pass till all these things be what fulfilled so the predators will say they'll say all this already happened when 70 a.d so that that verse can mean what it says and that generation not have passed before everything he's talking about has been what fulfilled okay but the generation cr christ was but here's the thing did the kingdom come did that generation die so should we not trust the word of god then so the question then is obviously what why if he says you're not going to taste death you're not going to die till these things come to pass and not only do they die and taste death but it doesn't happen the way he said it was going to happen what's how do how do we answer this problem here okay and my dad has said it he said it all the time i was growing up and i i repeat it because i think it's wisdom he says how you answer the question of what happened to the kingdom determines everything about your theology how you answer the question about what happened to the kingdom determines everything about your theology is it said to be at hand as we'll see in a minute is it actually offered in here in the early acts period but it never what it never comes so the answer to tell help explain the answer i want to talk to you for just a few minutes about grammar in every language folks verbs possess moods okay the english language possesses four verb moods indicative imperative subjunctive and infinitive now i'm not going to give you a whole english lesson here and tell you i'll leave it to you to look at what indicative imperative and infinitive means the one i want to talk to you about is subjunctive okay in english the subjunctive mood expresses doubt or something contrary to fact now in modern english we don't use a subject the subjunctive mood that much because we just don't talk like this anymore so let me give you an example of what i'm talking about think about this sentence what if i say the following if i should see him i will tell him does that mean i'm automatically going to tell him no it means if i see him i want tell him but if i don't see him i'm not going to what i'm not going to tell him okay that's an example of the sub what's called the subjunctive verb mood in english well if you start looking at the greek language in uh that the new testament was originally written in also the greek language also possesses four different verb moods they are indicative optive imperative and subjunctive and the subjunctive mood in greek functions the same way that it does in english okay this the subjunctive mood is the mood of probability or desirability the action described may or may not occur depending on the circumstances okay so in english again if i say if i should see him i will tell him my telling him is conditioned upon the circumstance of me actually what seeing him okay well in the greek there's a similar verb mood as that that we need to make sure that we look at come with me back or you should be there look at matthew 24 34 verily i say unto you this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled you see there the verb that is translated in english shall not pass you see that in the in your english bible that is coming from a greek verb that is in the subjunctive mood which means that that statement happening the way it's said has a condition attached to it you guys following that come with me back to come with me back if you would to matthew 16. come back to matthew 16. matthew 16 verse 28. matthew 16 verse 28 he says verily i say unto you there shall there be some standing here notice which shall not taste of death you see the f you see the verb there shall not taste in english you see that that's a translation again of a greek verb that is in the subjunctive mood so them not tasting of death till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom there's a condition that is attached to that okay now you sort of i don't want to you don't misunderstand me it's there in english but if you if you look in the greek you you can understand just a little bit more about what's going on here he's saying that basically what he's saying if everything goes the way it's supposed to according to prophecy this will happen but if it doesn't what it's not going to happen the same is true if you go to uh don't don't turn there just make a note of it in my also the other their other verse the other preterist proof text matthew 10 23 the greek verb that's translated shall not have gone over in reference to all the cities of israel is also in the subjunctive move so what this means folks is that the fulfillment of these statements is potential depending on a certain set of circumstances okay and i will ask you this question what is the fulfillment of all these statements in matthew 10 in matthew 16 in matthew 24 what is the circumstances that these things are contingent upon contingent upon whether or not israel receives her what her king whether or not she will repent and receive her what her kingdom if israel will not and refuses to acknowledge who the lord is the fact that he's the king of israel that he's the messiah and in the early acts period that they killed him and they need to repent from that then they will not see these things what come to pass and that is the that is the very important issue here about the subjunctive mood it is a these statements are true but they are conditioned upon something let me show you some more things come to math come to acts 3 come over to acts chapter 3. come over to acts chapter 3 and look with me starting at verse 12. acts chapter 3 verse 12. and when peter saw it he answered he answered unto the people you men of israel why marvel first of all who's he talking to in that verse israel why marvel yet this or why look he's so earnestly on us as though by our own power holiness we had made uh we had made this man to walk the god of abraham and of isaac and of jacob the god of our fathers have glorified his son whom he delivered up and denied him in the presence of pilate when he was determined to let him go what's israel's response to the king give us barabbas we don't want him we want barabbas they're rejecting the lord jesus christ while he's alive and on earth there in his earthly ministry and now here's peter in acts 3 after the lord has rose again from the dead and ascended up into heaven in acts chapter one he's saying to them listen you guys you guys killed and and pilate was ready to let him go and you killed him verse 14. but ye denied the holy one and the just and desired and desire and murder be to be granted unto you verse 15 and killed who the prince of life whom god hath raised up from the dead whereof we are all witnesses verse 16 and his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong whom he see and know yea faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness and presence of you all and now brethren i want that through ignorance he was he did it as did your rulers so is aaron is there a problem here what's israel's problem here's the king the kingdom's at hand but they said what we don't want him and so the kingdom isn't going to come until israel receives who the king and he's they've killed them now verse 18. but those things which god has showed by the mouth of all his holy prophets that christ should suffer he hath what now what peter tells you is that that had to what that had to happen but now watch verse 19 repent you therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from what what is peter telling israel to do repent change their mind about who christ what is okay look at that verse again repent you therefore be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall what you see the verb translated shall come guess what mood that verb is in that's in the subjunctive mood so think about that verse repent you therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out what's the next word when the times of refreshing shall come from what so the times of refreshing coming in that verse are contingent upon israel doing what repenting if israel does not repent will the times of refreshing come no look at the next verse verse 20 and he shall send jesus christ which before was preached unto you you see the verb there he shall send guess what guess what mood that is in it's subjunctive mood and he shall send jesus christ which before was preached unto you so folks the times of refreshing coming and the lord jesus christ being sent back to the nation of israel are all are contingent upon that nation doing what repenting and that is there in the passages if the nation does not repent the times of refreshing will not come and jesus christ will not be what sins what's the answer to the preterist in matthew 24 this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled the issue folks is that there's a condition there and the condition upon that actually occurring the way it says is dealing with the heart of that nation and if that nation does not accept and acknowledge who christ was there is not going to be the kingdom will not be sent verse 20 and he shall send jesus christ which before was preached and you now notice whom the heaven what the heavens what must receive you remember don't turn there but you remember in luke chapter 9 19 that jesus tells a parable and he talks about a he talks about somebody that a king that went into a far country to receive what a kingdom in acts chapter 1 the lord jesus christ ascends up into heaven he goes into that far country to receive a kingdom so that when he comes back he can bring that what that with him but him coming back in these passages is contingent upon the nation of israel doing what repenting the return of christ folks to execute the rest of the prophetic program was contingent upon the heart attitude of the nation toward the king if israel would not repent christ would not return with the kingdom and if christ did not return with the kingdom the generation that christ was addressing in matthew 24 34 would certainly have passed and did they and did that kingdom come no why not what is the answer to preterism the answer to preterism is the fact that israel did not repent and when israel did not repent what did god do with that nation he set him aside and when he set him aside and he suspended prophecy that meant that all that group that was never intended to have taste death is now going to die because they did not repent and they rejected who they rejected the king come back with me to acts go to acts seven get acts seven in in uh one hand as my time's winding down in romans 11 and the other acts 7 and romans chapter 11. acts chapter seven go to um you're familiar with this stephen is indicting the nation of israel here verse 51 you stiff-necked and uncircumcised and heart nears you do always resist who remember what did jesus say to me goes i won't always be with you but when i'm gone i'll send you a what a comforter he sends the holy spirit upon him in acts chapter two in fulfillment of the prophecy made by joel back there in joel chapter 2 and under the influence of the holy spirit they go out there in the early acts period and they reoffer the kingdom of that nation and the reception of it the times of refreshing coming the lord jesus christ who's been received up into heaven to receive a kingdom and bring it back to him and establish it the execution of all of those things is dependent on whether or not that nation will do what repent and when they don't repent when they when they take stephen here being filled with the holy spirit and they rush upon him and they kill him and they stone him and they say we don't want the witness of god the holy spirit either we rejected god the father in the old testament we rejected god the son and the gospels and here in the early acts period we're rejecting the holy spirit there's nobody left in the godhead for us to reject god's only option then is to take that nation of his own forming and render them in unbelief and set them aside and when that nation is rendered in unbelief and set aside that generation doesn't see that because it now awaits a future fulfillment because god inserted a great parenthesis into the sentence of prophecy and temporarily suspended his prophetic dealing with israel okay that's the answer so you come to romans 11. too many verses to read all of them romans 11 go first to verse 32. for god hath concluded them all in one in unbelief that he might have mercy upon who god takes that nation they don't want god the father the testimony god the father through the prophets in the old testament they don't want god the son bodily while he's in earth they reject god the holy spirit there's nothing left but for that nation to be rendered in what unbelief and when that nation is rendered and unbelief and that nation is set aside and they fall and god interrupts prophecy and inserts the church age which which it's not an afterthought it's been in his mind all the way before the foundation of the world right we learned about that last night you're in you're in romans 11 go to verse verse 11. i say then have they stumbled that they should fall god forbid but rather through their what isn't that a weird verse it's kind of a weird verse just have they stumbled that they should what what's the answer god forbid or what no but then he says but rather through their what so you ever you ever walk into a room and trip and stumble and then later on you what they stumble i believe where at the cross they fall in my opinion in acts chapter 7 when they reject the witness of god the holy spirit through the preaching of stephen and they rush upon him there with one accord and they stone him with stones verse 11 but rather through their fall salvation has come unto who the gentiles for to provoke them that's israel to jealousy now if the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the gentiles how much more their fullness for i speak unto you gentiles in as much as i'm the apostle the gentiles i magnify my office for if by any means i may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh and my save some of them verse 15 for if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from what the dead is god done with israel no has he temporarily set his real side yes the answer to predatorism folks is not for you to go and say everything was fulfilled by 70 a.d because that's the only way we can maintain the integrity of the bible and have jesus seemingly knowing what he's talking about no jesus does know what he's talking about and he knows and understands that the reception of the kingdom and the fulfillment of that generation not dying is contingent upon that generation's attitude toward him and when they reject him and say we don't want him god has no other choice but to set his real aside that's why preterism's wrong preterism like every other heresy is not in line with the rightly divided word of god from the pauline perspective the answer to preterist claims that all prophecy was fulfilled in 70 a.d and that we are now spiritual israel experiencing god's spiritual kingdom is the word of god rightly divided from the mid-axe polling perspective that's the answer somebody's going to come along and try to trip you up on that one last point now we'll i'm actually on schedule to quit early which is a rarity at a grace conference but i have one minute left so i think i could probably find something to fill that time but i'll be gracious with you all because you've been gracious with me in closing a word of prayer the only father we thank you once again for your word we're grateful for the saints that have gathered here this morning to hear your word preached and we pray that there'd be edification and growth from this conference from the entire week and from the individual studies that the men have brought we ask these things in christ's name amen

Channel: Understanding Grace - Grace Impact Ministries(GSB)

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Keywords: Grace School of the Bible, PO Box 97, Bloomingdale IL, 888-535-2300, Richard Jordan, God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, The Apostle Paul, Ron Knight, Grace, Spiritual Gifts, Shorewood Bible Church, Rightly Dividing, King James Bible, Hell, Death, Satan, Lucifer. Adversary, Tim Tebow, Christian, Forgiveness, Peyton Manning, cross, Martin Luther King Jr., intouch.org, insight.org, rickwarren.org, gty.org, wf.org, billhybels.org, focusonthefamily.com, cbn.com/700club, billygraham.org, equip.org

Id: ZlWu0s3XbI4

Length: 52min 18sec (3138 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 06 2013