In the series and we're gonna be in Matthew chapter 24 Matthew chapter 24 I'll pray for us and then we'll read the text and we'll get started and Our gracious Heavenly Father, we are in need of your help this morning. There are difficult things to look at, so I pray that you would give us your guidance. These are your words. You are the author, so please enlighten our minds, instruct our hearts, and give right application. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. As we come to Matthew 24, this is. Jesus own teaching on eschatology. It's the it's commonly called the Olivet discourse because he he taught this on the Mount of Olives Let me go ahead and read the text and the whole Olivet discourse actually goes throughout Matthew 24 into 25 chapter 25 And there's parallel text in Luke chapter 21 and Mark 21, but our concern this morning will really be with verses 4 through 14. But let me read beginning with verse 1. 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, 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 end of the age? And Jesus answered them, See that no one leads you astray, for many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed. For this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death. And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come. Jesus has just told his disciples that this Grand structure that is the the temple is going to be completely destroyed and interestingly the disciples don't ask him how that's going to happen. There's no indication that there's any danger to the temple. They don't want to know how that's possible. They don't want to know how he knows that's possible. They know better than to ask something like that. But they want to know when. When will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age. But Christ gives an answer that I don't think that they were particularly expecting. The way that he begins his answer to the question is not by giving them a clear outline of events in such a way that they can pinpoint the time of the end of the age. He's not seeking to satisfy their curiosity. but He's giving them exhortations and warnings. He's setting them to action, is what He's doing. He's putting them on guard. The signs of the times is what He's telling them about. He's warning them about what we call the signs of the times. And the signs of the times are those things which must take place before Christ comes again. Before Christ's second coming. That's what we see throughout verses 4 through 14. What we have is basically an outline of the history between Christ's first coming and Christ's second coming. The events described here, wars, and tribulation, and apostasy, they're not things that only took place in the past, and not things that we only expect to happen in the future, but they're things that mark the whole age between the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ. And the reason I say that is because the way it ends, in verse 14. This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and and what and then the end will come the only natural way to read that is The end that he's referring to is the same end that they were asking about it's the end of the age Now when the Bible talks about ages It talks about two ages. There's this age There's the age to come This age ends when Christ comes a second time. When he comes to judge the living and the dead. When he comes to make all things new. So everything that precedes that text, verse 14, is happening in this age. These are the things which we must expect during our time. Over the course of these verses, Jesus is describing certain events which must take place before he comes at the end of the age. These are the things which we must expect to happen. Now, if these signs are true not only of the past, not only of the future, but they're true of the whole age that we're living in, the whole time between His first and second coming, then that actually implies certain things. There are some general implications that I think we can draw from that. And this is just, before getting into the particularities of the text, just by way of introduction, They're not time signs. And what I mean by that is you can't use these signs that Jesus is telling us about to determine the date of Christ's return. They don't tell us when Christ is coming. They only tell us that Christ is coming. They tell us he is certainly coming back, but they don't tell us with any certainty when he is coming back. He actually says later in the text, while he does tell them with certainty when the temple will be destroyed, it will be destroyed within a generation, 40 years. And that's exactly what happened. It was destroyed in 70 A.D. at the siege of Jerusalem. He tells them that with certainty. But of that day and hour, no one knows. And so we know for sure that when he's talking about these signs of the times, they are not speaking of the end. They are not telling us with any certainty. how we can determine the return of Christ. According to verse 14, these events that are spoken of here will not end until the world ends, until Christ returns. They are ongoing, they're continuous, and so they're useless for setting dates, although people certainly try. Every generation has wars and rumors of wars. Every generation has to contend with false prophets, false teaching. Depending on the time and the location you're living in, the presence of these signs may be clearer, they may become more intense at some times than at others, but they are ever-present realities of our age. A Christian living in Afghanistan is going to experience more intense and more clear presence of the reality of persecution than a Christian living in Alabama. But the presence of persecution is still a reality. Likewise, these signs are generally unremarkable. They're not unusual or strange. And that is a mistake we make when we think about the signs of the times as a general topic. We think, well, these are things that are going to stand out to us, and they're going to... They're gonna be particularly catastrophic or miraculous. And yet, when we read this, they seem like things that happen all the time. Earthquakes. Famines. They're always with us. We can't point to a particular earthquake and say that's the one that Jesus was referring to. He must be coming. Soon. Tomorrow. No, they mark the whole period that we're living in. And so, it can't be used to determine His coming with any certainty. And neither are these signs, only events which appear just preceding His coming. They're not something that we're waiting for. in the future There may come a climax of these events. They may become more intense as time goes on But they are something that we experience now. There's something that the that people the church has experienced in the past They are continuous. They don't change in their quality. The church has always experienced tribulation. The quality of that tribulation does not change as time goes on, although it may change in how widespread it is, in the degree of tribulation, in the clarity of the tribulation. In America, as I said, we don't experience a great deal of persecution. Well, I expect that to change. I mean we have seen even over the past few years that change As the church grows persecution grows because there's more of a church to persecute right But It is not as if we're waiting for persecution to begin just preceding the coming of Christ. So for all these reasons, the signs of the times are not useful for predicting the date of the return of Christ. A second just general implication we can draw from this is Christ's first coming did not remove difficulty from the world. That might seem very basic, but this is a hang-up for people. You talk to people outside of the church, you talk to people on the street and evangelism, they feel like this is a gotcha of some kind. We've been in the world, the church has been in the world preaching the gospel for some 2,000 years, and yet there's still war. People are starving from famine. We have not brought peace to society. Why not? Our message has failed, obviously, right? They feel like this is some kind of proof that the message means nothing, right? And we preach a God who is all-powerful, who is love, and yet does not stop earthquakes and catastrophic events of that kind. Is that a contradiction? They would say either that God does not exist or he is not who we say he is Yet Christ is saying in this text That difficulty is not removed from the world. That is not what he is saying here. In fact, he says the opposite He says difficulty is what we are to expect in the world. We are to expect it not just in a particular time but Unto the end of the age The gospel will be preached. It will be successful. The church will grow. And in fact, in response to the growth of the gospel, there will be opposition to the gospel. Opposition to the church will create tribulation for the church. Opposition to the coming of Christ will create false Christs and opposition to the message of Christ, spiritual opposition, false prophets, persecution of the church, apostasy within the church. These things exist, these difficulties, these distresses exist Because of the preaching of the gospel, because of the coming of Christ, they're warring against Christ. Difficulties and distresses that are natural, the earthquakes and famines, they exist because of the fall of man. They will continue much as they are now, and in fact, will make it worse. All of these things if anything would would get worse These are just general observations But let's look at look at the text just particularly it seems to me at the key to to understanding the text is actually found in its application. Christ's intention is not to send us away speculating about the future. His intention is to set us to watching and praying. So, my basic outline for this would be to look at verses four and five and to see in this a warning. Verses six through eight, an encouragement. Nine through 13, an exhortation. And in verse 14, a promise. So let's look first at a warning about deception. Jesus is soon to be crucified as difficulties and distresses continue, as we have said, they will continue and in some cases even increase. There would be a tendency in some to perhaps doubt Christ or to wonder, wonder if he was the true Christ, to want to follow after others who promised a better kingship, a better message. There would be a tendency to look in some, in some to look for hope in someone other than the true Christ. So there's first this warning that his followers not be deceived by false Christs. Others did come after Christ. They came and after his death, claiming to be the Messiah, they promised to deliver them from Roman bondage. and in an attempt to gain a following and create rebellion against the Roman Empire, they claimed that they were Christ. It might be an understandable temptation. Christ was, after all, supposed to defeat His enemies. Psalm 2 says He will break them. with a rod of iron, he would dash them in pieces. Psalm 110 says, he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. And yet, with Jesus, what we see is not an end of his enemies, it's not an end of opposition to Christ, but it's actually an increase of opposition. Christ is a king, but he's not the kind of king that his disciples or the Pharisees, anyone was actually looking for when they looked at the scriptures. He was kind of a puzzle. His kingdom, he said, was not of this world. The day of his wrath has not yet come. His kingdom has been inaugurated But it has not yet been consummated. We are living in a period of already and not yet. The disciples' hope was certainly that Jesus was going to come into his kingdom. That's what the question at the beginning was. what will be the time of your coming? That was part of their question. Well, they weren't thinking of the second coming. He hadn't died and been risen. They weren't thinking of him coming back from heaven. They were thinking of him coming into his kingdom and sitting on the throne. When will you, the son of David, ascend to be the king of Israel? So the danger of being deceived by those who would seem to fulfill such a promise was very real. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the term for false Christ is Antichrist. Maybe we're more familiar with this and this is one who assumes the guise of Christ stands in the place of Christ and opposes Christ The Bible says that Antichrist is not recognized by his political power, or even a particularly diabolical, evil nature, but is recognized actually by a denial of who Christ is. In 2 John 1-7 it says, for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who can do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. One of the biggest issues that they were dealing with in the first century were not those who denied the deity, Jesus but those who denied the humanity of Jesus they did not believe that God would take upon himself a true human nature and those who denied this were Had the spirit of Antichrist John says that there were many deceivers already in the world. He says elsewhere there were many antichrists that had already come. And this is not a phenomenon of the first century. We know people, we meet people who deny the true nature of who Christ is, who deny the truth of Christ, or who even seek to stand in Christ's place, who claim His authority. There's a man in the Philippines living today. He lives in a huge mansion. He's very wealthy because he has a large following. He claims to be Christ. People are deceived. These last days are truly marked by false Christs. But what does Jesus tell us to do about it? He does not tell us to figure out who or what the final Antichrist is. And that's what we tend to do, we start speculating. What he tells us is, see that no one leads you astray. We're not to take this information. and become junior prophets, and try to figure out the mysteries of the end times, what we're to do is to hold fast to the true Christ. Walk in the Spirit, and see that we're deceived by no one. Rather than becoming distracted with speculation, remember that false Christs are to be expected throughout the whole of this age. Whether this one that we're dealing with is an Antichrist or the Antichrist that would be the climax at the end, it makes no real difference to you or I. Our orders are the same. Do not be led astray. Hold to Christ, His words. And if we do that, we won't be deceived. We won't be deceived by any counterfeit. The coming of the kingdom of God does not bring an immediate end to opposition, but it creates opposition. Because Christ has come, false Christs come also. It is in response to the coming of Christ, it's in response to the work of Christ, that there are false Christs. It's because there is a Christ that there are anti-Christs. It's in response to Christ's existence and work already begun that this spiritual conflict occurs. The fact that men imitate and mock and stand to oppose Jesus is just an evidence that it's a clear sign that he has already come and begun his work in the past. It's a reminder to us. It is also an opposition, this spiritual opposition, when we see it, we should be reminded that He is coming to bring an end to His enemies. Those Psalms that we talked about before, they're true. He will come and He will, there is a day of wrath coming, He will come and dash His enemies. He will rule he does rule with a rod of iron and we will see that already not yet We will see the the the full consummation of his kingdom It will become a present reality In fullness This opposition must fail Christ must return and destroy every enemy and The signs of opposition that we see not only in false Christ, but tribulation and false teaching, it's the gasping of a dying enemy. It is evidence that Christ has already struck the fatal blow. Well, secondly, notice an encouragement amid alarming events. Jesus speaks of wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, what we might call national conflicts and natural disasters. This is the normal pattern of the world. It's to be expected through the end of the age. Nations are always at war, they will always be at war. When they're not at war, they'll be talking about war, preparing for war. Famines will cause hunger. Earthquakes will devastate homes and lives. And these are the things that we're often tempted to point to and say, well, this is the end. This is the end of the world. And yet, we're told not to be alarmed by such events. How can that be? And that's very difficult when we're in that situation. Well, the first thing is that this is part of the providence of God. Jesus said, for this must take place. We have a tendency to use the term providence correctly, but to use it selectively. As I said, it's very difficult when you're in the situation, when you're seeing nations preparing for war, as we are now, we are in every generation, to just say, well, it'll work out. It's God's providence. But that is the reality. We use the term selectively. And we use it in this way. I didn't get in that car accident, it was God's providence. Or that tornado missed my house, it was God's providence. We rarely say that tornado tore through my neighborhood, it was God's providence. But if we believe that the sovereignty of God being worked out in all things is God's providence, then the tornado hitting your house is God's providence. And there's comfort in that. The providence of God being the administration of his sovereignty in all things means that we can look at wars, or nations preparing for war, and we know that it's God moving history to its appointed end. It's God working all things to its designated end. These things are not out of control. Your life's not out of control. Russia's not out of control. These signs are not new, and God's providential use of these things are not new. He has always made use of national conflict and natural disasters to promote his purposes. And one way that he does it is by dealing with sinful nations. He judges nations by the use of these events, One example is Isaiah 19, verses one and two. It says, behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt. And the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight each against another. and they will fight each against another, and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. This language is very similar to the language that Jesus was using, kingdom against kingdom. This is the doing of God. He brought the Egyptians to fight the Egyptians. as a way to judge their idolatry. And so we're seeing in this God's direct involvement in history. But we shouldn't be alarmed by national conflict. We shouldn't be alarmed by natural disasters. We see it all over the scriptures. It's in the Old Testament. We're not to be alarmed by this because the purpose of God is not thwarted in it. It's the way that God is working out His purpose. He's not surprised. He who declares the end from the beginning, as Isaiah said, is accomplishing all His purpose. But secondly, these events are not signs of the imminent end. They direct us toward the end. They remind us that the end is coming, but they are not indicators that the end is already here. This could be said of everything that Jesus is talking about throughout these verses, but he specifically says it here in verse six. But the end is not yet. All these are but the beginning of birth pains. They do not indicate the immediate coming of Christ. It's common, however, to hear that. Well, you know, the Bible's being fulfilled, there's war over this country, and, you know, that means Christ's coming back soon. Well, Christ may be coming back soon. But this isn't an indicator of that. The end is not yet. Wars mean Christ isn't coming back soon, right? This is what we're to expect in the time between his first and second coming. So if they don't indicate that Christ is coming, if they don't indicate that the end is soon, what do they tell us? Well, like with all the signs, They're not meant to tell us when He's coming. They're meant to tell us that He is certainly coming. They're not time signs to give us an indication of when His return might take place. There are always wars, there's always famines, there's always earthquakes. But when we see these things take place, we're reminded of two things, really. We're reminded that the curse of sin still exists in the world, and we're reminded that because of that curse, Christ must return and judge. They remind us that this age is and will always be an evil age. Paul calls it this present evil age in Galatians. It's Galatians 1.4. These are signs, they're evidences of the fall of man. It's the heart of man in sin that creates wars, not politics. So what did James say? You desire and you do not have, so you murder. We mess that up. We start thinking if we can get the right politicians in place, if we can educate people enough, even in the church we think this. If we can help people learn from history, then we can stop all of this. But it's not a lack of education. It's not bad politics that causes this constant cycle of war. It's sin. It's bad hearts. And that points us to the second coming. We see creation groaning and we are reminded that Christ is coming to redeem his creation. We see sin in the world and we see foretaste of judgment on the nations. And they're reminders to us that there is a final day of judgment still to come. So those judgments where God is pitting nation against nation, or He's bringing earthquakes in order to judge a nation, that's only a foretaste of a final divine judgment that's to come at the end. It's God's wrath being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. So when we hear of these distressing events, if we should even experience such things, we ought to be alert and view these as signs of the sure coming of our Lord. Not because they're indicators of the time of his coming, but because creation is still groaning in the pains of childbirth longing for the revealing of the sons of God. Because nations have not yet beaten their swords into plowshares, they've not yet ceased to war against one another as the prophets promised they would. The point is, what these signs indicate to us is that there are promises that haven't been fulfilled yet. Far from being alarmed, we should remain alert, serve our Lord while it is day, because, as the signs are indicating, Christ has not yet come, which means that He is still coming. There is judgment still coming. Every time God judges a nation, it's a warning that there is a greater judgment coming. and our redemption is drawing near. Third, notice an exhortation to perseverance. In verse 9 he says, So he gives us an exhortation to perseverance amid tribulation. This tribulation is not any distress, but it is a suffering that we undergo because of our commitment to Christ. It is being hated for His name's sake. There are some, I think, who would say that they would go boldly to death for Christ. There's a romanticism in that. We read about the martyrs being burned, singing hymns, you know, and it seems romantic, it seems like something that we would be willing to do, and yet, they're completely unwilling to be hated for Christ's name. To be hated is not romantic. I think we've seen that in just the past few years. People who talked a good talk, but could not be scorned for Christ's name's sake. Could not take the shame. That's what being hated is. It's not having the door of your home kicked in and a gun put to your head and saying, deny Christ or die. It's losing your job. It's standing on a street corner and passing out tracks and being called a racist for it. It's unfair. It's shameful. It's losing a friend because you're willing to speak the truth. Being called out in your classroom. Mocked. Ridiculed. But this is to be expected until the end of the age. And there are times when even this is less intense than at others, but the world is never indifferent to the claims of Christ. There is no neutrality. 1 Peter 4, 12 says, I think a lot of us made a mistake with this. You know, we read texts like I did. I read texts like this and I suppose didn't take it at face value, you know. Because when that mocking comes and that tribulation comes, I'm surprised. Why? We're warned. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you, our Lord said. Peter says, do not be surprised if something strange were happening to you. You know, we might be surprised if human nature were drawn to God. If man just by nature found something appealing in the things of God, but he does not. He does not seek God. No one seeks after God. Or if he were just indifferent to God, and it was just live and let live. You do your thing, I'll do my thing. But that's not the way it is. The nature of man is one that opposes the things of God. He wars against the claims of Christ. And so we're told by Christ, and we're told by Peter, to expect to be hated for Christ's name's sake. Not because you are special or important or irritating in some particular way, but because Christ bothers them. But, many will fall away. There is a sad reality that some, when falling under the pressure of persecution, not a few, but many will turn from their previous professions of faith. When difficulties come, the faith of some will be proven. It will be shown to be genuine and God-given, and the faith of others will be shown to have been false. They will fall away, Christ said. In this age, there will be apostasy. We are to expect apostasy. Those who started well, who seem genuine, will turn away from Christ. Those who will not withstand the suffering of tribulation will leave their profession of faith for the perceived safety of looking like the world. But our command is to stand in the evil day, whether that tribulation is light or it becomes very great tribulation. He also tells us to persevere amid false teaching. Verse 11, he says, and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. The true prophet is one through whom the Spirit of God speaks. At the end of 2 Peter, chapter one, verse 21, we're told that the Holy Spirit moved men to write the scriptures. No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Then he contrasts that truth prophecy with what we find in the written word, which is I'm sorry, but the true prophecy is what we find in the written word. He contrasts that true prophecy, written by men moved by the Holy Spirit, with false prophecy. So that's the next verse. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. So when a man stands up and he says, I've got a new teaching for you, this is something Jesus didn't say, this is something I came up with, we know that's wrong. We can recognize that as error. And people have done that in the past. But what Peter is warning us about is people who don't simply teach things that are wrong, that aren't mistaken, in need of correction, They're teaching things that are heresies which bring destruction. They are destructive heresies. And they are, I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. So they're not a little off, they're destructive heresies. And they're not someone who's standing up and coming up with something brand new. They've snuck into the church. They've snuck into the church and they're deceiving because they look and sound like real teachers. They aren't outside in some place where we can go, oh, don't go to that place. They teach bad things there. They have the same confession of faith that we have. They deny the master who bought them. This person would stand up and say, well, Christ bought me with his blood. So Christ says false prophets will mark our time. They will arise and deceive. They will lead many astray. And one way that they deceive is by looking and sounding very much like true prophets. They deceive by sneaking into the church under the guise of Christianity unnoticed. and spread their false doctrines, misleading people from the truth. And they entice, drawing people away from the truth, showing them that they might not have to suffer so much if they'll just hold to a little less strict doctrine. Or that they can maybe enjoy more of the sinful pleasures of the world. We need to be firmly grounded in the truth. There's nothing so harmful as something is almost true. It sounds right, but it's not quite right. And the best way to recognize error is not by studying error, but by a deep and intimate knowledge of what is true. And last, he tells us to persevere amid an increase of lawlessness. Verse 12, he says, and because lawlessness will be increased, love of many will grow cold. We must persevere amid an increase of lawlessness, which means simply an abounding of transgression of God's law. 1 John 3, 4 says, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. I don't really have to go on and explain what that means, an increase of lawlessness. I think it's fairly obvious. We live in a nation which is abounding in this, transgressing God's law. You can't even go out and point to obvious creation. I mean, we used to be called radicals for pointing to the Bible and saying, this is true. And now when we point to creation and say, this is true, we're called crazy. So, sin abounds, lawlessness abounds, we live in a very wicked culture. But, I think the most poignant thing here is, what does it mean that the love of many will grow cold? One of the great dangers of apostasy in this case is caused by our becoming accustomed to the lawlessness of our surroundings. A lawlessness which draws our affections away from our first love and to the world. It's a desensitizing to the things of God. You know, when you're living in a society which is steeped in sin, you don't have to do anything in order to be drawn into apostasy. You just have to let the world around you work on you. Let it work on your senses. So we need to guard ourselves carefully about how we are affected by our surroundings. Consider carefully the things which entertain us, and consider if we are being moved by that. Are you like Lot and Sodom, becoming comfortable with the world around you? We are much too affected by our culture. The problem is too common, but the solution is in the text. The one who perseveres to the end will, I'm sorry, the one who endures to the end will be saved. That's verse 13. And we may confidently endure all of these difficulties only because we have a God who is able and willing to keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless before him. That's what he promised. You are free to persevere. and to pursue holiness because you are being kept by God. Otherwise, your striving is folly and it is legalism. Quickly, the last heading would be a promise of the progress of God's purpose. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. What Jesus says here is somewhat different than his previous comments about the world continuing much as it had. With earthquakes and false Christs. There had been no preaching of the gospel to the nations. The nations being the Gentile world. Now while it was different from these other things, because while there had always been earthquakes before, there hadn't always been false Christs, but while there had been, some of these things had been experienced before, what Christ is saying here is not radical, and it is not new. It's not a new idea. First there was an old covenant promise God made a covenant with Abraham promising to bless all the families of the earth through him Galatians 3 8 puts it this way and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed. This was a promise of the coming of Christ, who would bless not simply the descendants of Abraham, but all those who have the faith of Abraham. Rather than blessing coming by birth, it would come by faith, and be extended beyond the borders of Israel. And this idea resurfaces throughout the prophets and the Psalms. And so we are faced with the reality that the gospel was always intended not just for the people of Israel, not just for the descendants of Abraham by birth, but for the Gentile nations. In Psalm 67, we think of it as a missionary prayer of sorts. But this was written Psalm 67 was written and sung under the Old Covenant when when the gospel wasn't being preached To Gentiles when salvation hadn't come to the nations, but it it begins this way may God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us Sela and that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you. It was the hope of the people of God that salvation would extend over all the earth, that the law would extend to all people, that God would be worshiped by all nations. And so when Christ said this gospel, will be proclaimed to all nations. He was declaring that this old promise of God, this end times hope, will be realized. So, while it was something that hadn't happened yet, it was not a new idea. Secondly, this... I'll address the fulfillment of the promise in these last days. When should we expect such an outpouring of this grace of God on our world? Things look dark. We see that tribulation is increasing and apostasy is widespread. The weeds are growing, unbelief is growing, lawlessness is increasing. So when when might we expect the fulfillment of this old covenant promise to bless the nations? One more text In Matthew 28 18 Jesus is speaking to his disciples after the resurrection He says, and it says, and Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." That's a familiar text to most of us. We would take that to be a personal commission to go out and proclaim the gospel in the time that we have in the world. We take it that way because that's what it meant exactly to, in its original context, to the disciples. You go preach my gospel Where? To the nations. This was a fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham. It's really significant that here you have the son of David, the offspring of Abraham, standing here and he's telling his followers, now go, fulfill this promise. Preach to the Gentiles proclaim salvation to all people and for how long are we to do this? In this, is this authority something that only existed at that time? Is it something that was only for the disciples? Well, he says, to the end of the age. So, I mean, this is something that goes exactly what it says in verse 14. This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to all nations, and then the end will come, right? So, it's now. It's something that we experience now. We are living in the last days. And just as tribulation increases, just as earthquakes and famines are something that exists now, the preaching of the gospel is something that we are experiencing now. We're here in Alabama, in the United States, a place that 300 years ago, there was no gospel. Most of us, all of us, I don't know, we're descendants of pagan Europeans. There was no gospel. We're not having the study this morning in Jerusalem. The gospel has spread throughout the nations. And this is a clear evidence of the victory of Christ in the world. Yes, there is growth in the unbelieving world. The weeds grow, but the wheat grows as well. It's a clear sign of the fulfillment of this promise, and that we are in the last days. The church has grown, it continues to grow, and the widespread opposition actually evidences that. So, I hope that's an encouragement, and let's go ahead, let's close in prayer. Our Father, please help us to take these things, to go, to walk in obedience, to trust you more, and I pray that you would make right application of these things to our hearts. We ask in Christ's name, amen.