Congregation, please remain standing for the reading of God's Holy Word, which will come to us today from Matthew 24. So we are continuing through Jesus' fifth and final discourse in the Gospel of Matthew. And the topic of the discourse really is about the end of all things. He's preparing his disciples for what's to come after his resurrection, his ascension, after he sends them out into the world. This is what you are going to expect. And today we do have a bit of a challenging passage, a controversial passage. I will do my best, and may God be given the glory. So let's read, starting at verse 15. Matthew 24, 15. We're going to verse 26. This is God's holy word. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. Let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes, but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time. No, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. If anyone says to you, look here, here is the Christ, or there, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you, look, he is in the desert, do not go out, or look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. As far as the reading of God's holy word, all of God's people said, amen. Please be seated. I'm sorry, we're gonna pray. Sorry. Father, we thank you for this time we can share together. We ask that you would bless the reading of your word. and that you will be with your servant as he seeks to proclaim it faithfully. We pray all this in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. Congregation, as I just noted earlier, Jesus is preparing his disciples and his church on what to expect as the end of time draws near. The disciples are gonna encounter false prophets, they're gonna encounter false messiahs that will deceive many from the true Christ and the true gospel. Now, our approach to Matthew 24 is that many of these things refer to events that the disciples will witness in their lifetime, but it's not only that, that Jesus in a sense prophesies what will take place in the year 70 AD when the temple gets destroyed. But the way Jesus proclaims this message is that it's a template for what is to come until the end of all things take place, until the final judgment takes place. So yes, this has relevance to the first century of the disciples, but it's to show and to point to us to what to experience, what the church is going to continue to experience until the final judgment. And so in the beginning of his message, Jesus has been answering two questions. Right, when is the temple going to be destroyed and what will be the sign of your coming or the end of the age? And verses four all the way to verse 26 is Jesus essentially answering the first question. When is the temple going to be destroyed? How do we know when this temple is going to be destroyed? Because remember, the disciples think in their mind, as they ask those questions, that once the temple of God is destroyed, that's it. The end is here. But Jesus is teaching them through this discourse that yes, the temple will be destroyed, but that's not gonna be the end. There's gonna be a delay until the final judgment comes. So that's the perspective that we are coming from, that I'm coming from. as we continue on. But in particular for today's passage, verses 15 to 26, Jesus is specifically talking about the days when the temple will be destroyed. Okay? So verses 4 to 14 is all about the events that will take place before the temple, And then verses, on our passage today, it's about what will take place in the days when the temple is destroyed. And again, this is a template for what's to come for us as the church until Christ returns. All right, let's begin. Oh, I'm sorry, and the message, so that the theme really of our message today and Jesus' message is to endure as the time draws, the end draws near. Endure, stay faithful, and don't be deceived. Endure, stay faithful, and do not be deceived. So let's begin in verse 15. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, okay, so this phrase is a direct reference to the book of Daniel. All right, so let's break that phrase up apart real quick to understand what that phrase even means. So abomination means to be cursed or to be unclean. And we're not talking about unclean as in, you know, when mud gets on your shoes, or barbecue sauce gets, you know, on your shirt or something. We're talking about ceremonially unclean. Unclean in God's eyes, in God's presence. And so the Old Testament priests, they would not dare walk inside the tabernacle or the temple unless they were ceremonially clean. Because to approach God before cleansing yourself with water or presenting with a sacrifice, that would mean you are coming to God in your sin, in your uncleanliness. And if you're unclean and walk into God's presence, you're really profaning God, you're mocking God. God, you are not really holy. You are unworthy of all obedience. And so that's abomination. Desolation is the result of the abomination. So desolation means it creates desertion, it creates abandonment. So if we put it all together, the phrase abomination of desolation is referring to the defiling of the holy place. and thus the result will be desertion and abandonment. So this is really talking about the temple, that there is going to be an individual or an event that will take place that will defile and make the temple unclean and cause it to be deserted. Now the question, abomination, desolation, often brings up the topic, the phrase often brings up the topic of the Antichrist. Which then brings up this question. Is the abomination of desolation referring to a person in history, or is it referring to an event in history? And I think I already showed my cards, but I believe it's both. It can refer to both an individual in history, but also an event. And I'm going to show you why. So Jesus says to the disciples, when you see, when you see. So this is something the disciples will witness in their generation. So they will see the temple profaned and become desolate. But Jesus uses the phrase abomination of desolation because they need to know how to be prepared for this. And how are they gonna be prepared for this? Well, you need to understand Daniel. Because Daniel is going to tell you the pattern of what is to come in your day and really what is to come in the future until the end of all things come and Christ return. So if you understand Daniel, you're going to understand the abomination of desolation when he comes or when it arrives. Now, when we think of Daniel, we think of the lion's den. That's really the famous story. But if you actually read the book of Daniel, there's two halves of it. The first half is all about Daniel's life. The second half is all about the visions. Christians are intimidated by the visions of Daniel. There's all these strange things happening. There's these strange four beasts fighting each other. There's this battle between a ram and a goat. There's this vision of these four kingdoms fighting each other. But there is a pattern. There is a consistent pattern after all those visions. And the theme is that there's this power struggle. But the pattern from those visions is this, that the fourth beast is different than all the other beasts. The goat stands out from the ram. The fourth kingdom is, or the northern kingdom, is different than all the other kingdoms. So as Daniel is describing all these nations that are rising to power as they're struggling with each other, but there is one particular enemy that's going to rise, that's going to exalt itself before God, and it's going to persecute the church. And if you really want an overarching theme of the entire book of Daniel, it's this, that kingdoms rise, kingdoms fall, except one. Except one. The only kingdom that will be left standing at the end of history is the kingdom that belongs to the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. But before Christ's kingdom gains this final victory, there's going to be these power struggles. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. But again, there's this one particular enemy that God's people should expect, and that's the abomination of desolation. And you're going to see that phrase a few times in Daniel, and at least referred to even more times, but one of those times is Daniel 11.31. Daniel 11.31, that verse is talking about the northern kingdom, right? It's one of those visions again. The four kingdoms, but the fourth and northern kingdom is different. It's gonna rise to power. And it says, they defile the sanctuary fortress, then they shall take away the daily sacrifices. So the worship of God's people will cease. and then place there the abomination of desolation. And so the passage goes on to say that this enemy is going to attack God's people. He's going to blaspheme God's name. And there's going to be this period of apostasy where these pretend believers will run away from the faith. Then the king will exalt himself. So that now it's an individualized in that passage. The king will exalt himself above every God and shall speak blasphemies against the true God. So was this fulfilled in Daniel? Was Daniel's prophecy fulfilled at any point in history? And we say, yes, it has been fulfilled. Hundreds of years later, after Daniel saw this vision, there will be this wicked ruler named Antiochus Epiphanes. And Antiochus Epiphanes in around 167 B.C. is going to take charge over Jerusalem. Because remember, at this time in God's people's history, this is the second temple that has been built. The first temple was destroyed hundreds of years before. This is the second temple. And then here comes in 167 B.C. this guy named Antiochus, and he's going to siege Jerusalem. Now he doesn't destroy the temple, but he sieges it and takes over it. And when he takes over it, he stops God's people from worshiping. He actually places an altar to worship their pagan gods in the temple. And then, and even sacrificing pigs. Because Antiochus knew for the Jewish people, for God's people at that time, that pigs were unclean animals. And so he forced them, or he caused pigs to be sacrificed in God's temple. So that was the abomination of desolation. He profaned God's holy place. If you read on in history, the Jews didn't stand for that. They rose behind this man, this warrior named Judas Maccabees, and then they gathered enough refugees and took back the temple and rededicated it. So at this point, that second temple is still standing. And so when Daniel uses that phrase, abomination of desolation, he's referring to what took place with Antiochus. But that isn't it. There's more to come. This is just a prototype of what's to come later on. And Jesus says, remember that history? Which they knew like the back of their hand. Every Jew in the first century with Jesus knew exactly what took place with Antiochus. And Jesus essentially is saying to the disciples, remember that? Well, this is gonna be fulfilled in your generation. Be ready. And what took place in Daniel was meant to prepare for you, was meant to prepare you for what's to come. And sure enough, Jesus' prophecy here in Matthew 24 was fulfilled when the disciples saw the abomination of desolation. And that would take place in the year 70 AD. But what were they looking for, right? What is the abomination that they are going to see? Is it an individual or is it an event? And this is where our principle, interpreting scripture with scripture really helps us out. Because if you look at Luke's gospel, if you look at Luke's gospel, in this version he says, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. So when they see armies surrounding Jerusalem, they will know they have seen the abomination of desolation. Once that happens, this is what you should expect. This is what you should expect. And that's when he goes into verses 16 to 20. Verses 16 and 20 describes the dreadful conditions that the people living through 70 AD will experience. But even as horrific as 70 AD was, when the Romans came charging in and the bloodbath continued through all those months, This is just a pattern of what's to come until the end arrives. In other words, what took place in 70 AD was meant to prepare you, church, for what's to come as you await for the Lord's return. And I think it's important to mention that verses 16 to 20 are not intended to describe the exact details of what would take place. Jesus is using apocalyptic judgment language that describes those who are under God's judgment. All right, verses 16 to 18 says, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. Let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. And what's the emphasis here? Flee, to run. When you see the abomination of desolation, run. Don't look back. Don't go back to your house. Don't do anything other than run for your life. And this really reminds me of what God told Abraham and Lot before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Or the angels told them, escape for your life. Do not look behind you. Escape to the mountains. lest he be destroyed. And then verse 19, Jesus brings up that event, that Jesus brings up that even the most vulnerable will have to endure the greatest covenant curses. Now this event of the destruction of the temple will make it abundantly clear that the unbelieving Jews who rejected the Messiah and God's commandments will face judgment. Jesus has been building up to this. You have chased after other gods for all these generations. You have profaned God in his name. You have now rejected the Messiah himself. And now you're going to face covenant curses, the judgment of God. or even the pregnant and nursing mothers will not be spared from experiencing this horrible event. Jesus continues in verse 20, and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Jesus doesn't say this because he's just guessing what may or may not happen in 70 AD. He is saying that you will be swept away if you are not prepared. Fleeing from your enemies in the winter would be very challenging. Not only because of the difficulty of walking in the snow and going through the elements, but also because of the cold. Fleeing during the Sabbath would also be difficult because you would not have access to horses or donkeys for travel. Everything would be closed. Not to mention that you're not supposed to travel far during the Sabbath. And Jesus continues in verse 21, for then there will be great tribulation, or great suffering, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. Now this language Jesus is using has been used throughout the Old Testament. And it's used in the context of great judgment, when great judgment takes place. Exodus 11. Exodus 11.6, the event of the Exodus, before the last plague took place, when God sent his angel, the destroyer, to take the life of the firstborn of the Egyptians, all those really who weren't covered by the blood of the Lamb, And 11.6 says, then there shall be a cry, a great cry, throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. And Joel chapter 2 says the same thing. Joel has this plague of the locusts swarming over God's people as a moment of judgment towards them. And he describes it in this same way. that the like of whom has never been, nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations. So it's clear that Jesus is using the same language of judgment. It's hyperbolic, but it doesn't take away the fact that, it doesn't take away how awful that day will be when it arrives. And AD 70 was certainly a day of judgment, but it still points to the final judgment. When Jesus continues in verse 22, and unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days are shortened. No flesh will be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. I think this is a reference to the book of Daniel, the very end of Daniel, chapter 12, verses 11 to 13. I'm not going to get into the numbers right now, all those numbers that Daniel points out, but the method, because those numbers at the end of Daniel are symbolic. They have, I believe they have to be taken as symbolic. And the message really at the end of Daniel is this, that there will be an increase in continual persecution that will come from the abomination of desolation, but it will not be so overbearing that even God's elect will lose their salvation. And again, the message that Daniel proclaims is the same message that Jesus is proclaiming here. Endure, don't be deceived, Endure, don't be deceived. And Daniel adds at the very end of Daniel, the last verse actually, it says, endure, don't be deceived, because rest is coming. Because rest is coming. And so going back to our passage, Jesus is bringing words of comfort to his church, to his disciples, that even in the worst days that the church will experience, God's faithfulness will preserve his elect. God's faithfulness will preserve his elect. When Jesus says elect here, it's not referring to just the elect of the temple's destruction in 70 A.D. No, this is all of God's elect. All of God's elect will be preserved. So then we will, so then will we, as the church, see the abomination of desolation. And will we endure intense and greater persecution as we draw nearer to the coming of Christ? And my answer, that I believe is biblical, is yes. The New Testament is very clear about two things concerning the Antichrist. One, the spirit of the Antichrist is already at work in every generation. And two, there will be a final manifestation of an Antichrist. Whether that's an individual, whether that's an event or force, that much I'm not sure on. I'm not clear on that myself, so I'm not going to pretend like I am. But, when you turn to 2 Thessalonians 2, The Apostle Paul uses the same language of Daniel. When Daniel describes the abomination of desolation, Paul uses that same language to describe the man of lawlessness. The man of lawlessness. Again, he will rise to power, he will exalt himself, and he will attempt to deceive the church with his signs and wonders. And his power will come from the devil. When he is revealed, there will be this great apostasy, Paul says. People who claim to be Christian will be exposed. A great falling away will take place. And according to Paul, we haven't seen the man of lawlessness yet because he is being restrained. Restrained by what? That's a tough one. I've heard many explanations. But the best one I can give you is that God has not decided it's time yet. Ultimately, God is the one who is restraining the man of lawlessness. Whether He used means to restrain, I don't know what that means is, but ultimately it is God who is restraining the man of lawlessness because it is not time. Paul's message to us is not to wait and see. His message is to be vigilant because the man of lawlessness is already at work. That's the same thing what John says, the spirit of the Antichrist. There have been many Antichrists. And so whether we will see the man of lawlessness or the abomination of desolation in our lifetime, No matter what, we are still fighting against the spirit of the Antichrist. We are still fighting against the works of the man of lawlessness. And the reason why is because Satan is behind all of this opposition. This is not to intimidate us, although it may cause us to be fearful, maybe, Because this is beyond us. How can we face such a foe? How can we endure such great calamities and times of distress? But we're not fighting him on our own, are we? Who is for us? Who is with us? The promise that the Bible tells us, as the New Testament church, is that nothing that we endure as a church will endure, that we will endure in our life, will be able to separate us from the love of God. Nothing. Not tribulation, not distress, not persecution, famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. And what does Paul say? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Therefore, endure, remain faithful, do not be deceived. Because even when the devil gives his best shot, Paul says the Lord will consume him with the breath of his mouth when he returns. It may be too much for us, but it's nothing to Christ. And so Jesus finishes this discourse, this portion of the discourse in verses 23 to 26, that if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ. And so he gives a lot of the similar things he said at the beginning. And so the message really is this, that Jesus is saying to the 12 disciples, they need to watch out for false messiahs and prophets before the destruction and after the destruction of the temple. And Jesus challenges the assumption of the disciples who thought, once the temple's destroyed, that's it. The end is here. No, the temple will be destroyed. It will be horrifying, but the end is still to come. Look to Daniel to understand how the end will unfold. And here are the things you must look for. But again, the calling is to endure, remain faithful, and do not be deceived. I'm a Christian. Just because Jesus says the elect will not be deceived in this passage does not mean we need to not stay on guard. We always need to stay on guard. How will we not be deceived? Think of bank tellers. They're in charge of a lot of things, but they're One of their jobs is to prevent counterfeit from spreading, counterfeit money. How do they know the difference between the genuine dollar bill or fake? Well, sure, nowadays there's machines and there's things on the bill itself that we look for, so we look for markers. If you look at the $100 bill, there's a blue ribbon security strip, and there's the watermark, and there's all these types of things to make sure that when the person receives it, when the bank teller receives it, they know this is a genuine article. But they know what a counterfeit is based upon their intimate knowledge of the genuine article. They know every single marker, every single thing that they are to look for. Because if they were to thumb through hundreds of bills with their fingers, and there was only one counterfeit, they are trained to know exactly, oh yeah, that's a counterfeit. And part of it is the feel of the paper, part of it is all these different knowledge, but they know what the genuine article looks like. And so I ask this to you, brothers and sisters, how well do you know the genuine word of God? Because that is your only tactic to not be deceived. Because the lies of the devil will come from all sides. Not just the world, not just those who, the Church of Satan, not just the obvious symbols of opposition, but it will come from all sides, even from well-respected Christian leaders. How do you know? The only way to know the difference between the lie and the truth is if you know the genuine Word of God. What do you put in your mind? What do you put in your heart every day? What do you spend your most time on? Most of your time on? Because every day you're feeding yourself knowledge. You're feeding yourself something. And if you sparingly only feed yourself the Word of God, then eventually lies are going to creep in. It may be subtle, especially, you know, social media is a very easy way. We get all kinds of messages bombarding us as we thumb through all these different reels and different, you know, advertisements, all these different videos. We're constantly being bombarded with all kinds of things, and we have to sift through, and some things may be obvious. Oh, that's a lie, that's a lie. But there's some things that may subtly creep in. How do you know? Unless you know the genuine article, the genuine Word of God. So that's my word to you from this portion of Scripture. Look out for false Christs, for false prophets, Do not be deceived. In conclusion, brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter how awful those days were when the temple was destroyed, where people were running for their lives, and where even pregnant women and nursing mothers suffered under these apocalyptic conditions, it does not compare to the covenant curses that the Lord Jesus Christ experienced on your behalf. On the cross of Calvary, Christ carried the weight of your abominable sins. He was punished as if he lived our lives. He endured the wrath of his own people who hated him for no reason and called him a blasphemer. But more so, Christ endured the full wrath of his Heavenly Father. All of God's perfect hatred towards the sins we commit, even on a Sunday morning, was poured out on His only begotten Son. And there was nowhere to run for the Lord Jesus Christ. There was no holding back from the Father. Everything we deserved, Christ endured in our place. But the Lord Jesus Christ was not only the recipient of the curse we deserve, He was the only one who achieved a life of righteousness in our place. A life that we have never lived a single moment of our lives. And yet when we place our faith in Him, when we flee to Christ for refuge from the judgment that is to come, not only does He cleanse us from all unrighteousness, He grants us His own righteousness. He grants us His own safety. And so, congregation, flee to Christ. He is your only refuge. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, these words that Jesus speak to us can be very gloomy, can be very sobering. Father, all of it is to reveal where our heart is with you. Where do we find our peace truly? Father, when all of our securities are taken away, When all of our earthly hopes are dashed to pieces, where is our refuge? Who will we run to? By grace, you will strengthen and preserve your people to run to Christ always. Whether it's in greater times of tribulation, or whether it's in our Our daily tribulations. Our daily sufferings. The calling is the same. But we have to flee and find refuge in Christ alone. Help us, Lord, to do that every day. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.