Thank you for joining with us this evening. For those who are watching online, we want to begin a series on the Olivet Discourse tonight. Tonight is very much about laying a foundation. We want to get into the meat in the weeks to come, but tonight we have to do a little bit of groundwork, so I trust you'll bear with me. We're not going to get into the Great Tribulation period tonight. We're not going to get into the wars and the rumors of wars, the false Christs that are going to come, the Antichrists that will appear. We'll meet all of these things in a day yet to come. But we have to set the foundation this evening and show you what we believe the Word of God teaches and why we believe that Matthew chapter 24 and 25 are very much still in the future, still to be fulfilled. Someone prayed at our midweek prayer meeting throughout the week about all the chess pieces that are falling into place. And when you look at Israel, and when you look at Russia, and when you look at China, when you look at the European Union, and there's so many other things. When you look at the immorality that's around today, it's no longer called immorality, it's called normality. When you see the things that are happening in the world, all the pieces are falling into place. Soon, God will make his move, and Jesus Christ will come again. I wonder, are you ready? Are you ready if Jesus was to come tonight? Let's come to Matthew chapter 23. We'll break into the chapter, down the chapter at verse number 34. Wherefore, behold, I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city. But upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Baracchus, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, you shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus went out into chapter 24, departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. Jesus said unto them, see ye not all these things? Verily I say unto thee, there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us, when shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end? of the world or the age. We'll end at verse number three, and we're looking to the Lord to bless the reading of his own precious, infallible, unearned, and inspired word. On the 5th of November, 1991, at the age of 68, Robert Maxwell was presumed to have fallen overboard from his luxury yacht called the Lady Gislin. We know a lot more about the family in this day and age than perhaps people knew then. It was presumed to have been an accident. His body was taken to Israel because he was a Jew, and it was buried on the Mount of Olives. That's the place where so many want to be buried. Indeed, there are some 150,000 graves in the Mount of Olives. They face the Eastern Gate in Jerusalem. It is believed that the Lord Jesus Christ will come through the Eastern Gate. And those who are buried on the Mount of Olives want to be the first to see the Savior, the Messiah, when he comes. It's a favorite burial site for the Jews. This mountain, the Mount of Olives, has been associated with Christ in a number of ways. We find him in supplication in Matthew 26, verse 30. Do you remember? He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is just at the bottom of the Mount of Olives, and he went and prayed. And remember, he went a little further And he prayed those three times. It's associated with Christ when it comes to supplication. It's associated with Christ in jubilation. It was from this mount that he entered in Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday, and when they cheered and sang praises as he entered into Jerusalem. It's also associated with lamentation. Again, in Luke 19, verse 41, the Lord Jesus, as he was on the Mount of Olives and as he looks over Jerusalem, there he weeps. as he sees their spiritual condition, a sheep having no shepherd as those who were lost and without hope and without the Savior. It's also a place of transportation, and Acts 1 verse 9 is from the Mount of Olives that the Lord Jesus Christ was taken up into heaven. You'll remember, why stand ye here gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus that was taken from you shall so come in like manner. It's also a place of revelation. We know from the book of Zechariah chapter 14 that the Lord Jesus, when he comes back again to the earth, his feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives. And so the Mount of Olives has been very special and very important in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's also a place of exposition. And this sermon that he delivered on the Mount of Olives, known as the Olivet Discourse, is the longest answer to any question that he was ever asked. The Lord had been in the temple in chapter 23, verse 1 of chapter 24. Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. He and his disciples left the temple. They crossed the Kidron Valley and made their way up the Mount of Olives. The disciples had heard some astonishing statements in chapter 23. Notice verse 38, for instance. When the Lord talks about the house, he's talking about their temple. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Did the Lord not know how magnificent the temple was? Could he not see Herod's temple there? How could he talk about this temple, this house being left unto them desolate? Look at verse one. Jesus went out and departed from the temple. His disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. In Mark's account, as he went out of the temple, one of the disciples said unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what building are here. In Luke's account, in Luke 21, and as some speak of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said. What a magnificent building it truly must have been. The Babylonian Talmud says, he that never saw the temple of Herod never saw a fine building. Some of the stones, I'm told, were 40 feet by 12 feet by 12 feet. Some of them had been lifted as high as 300 feet into the air. Some of them weighed over 100 tons. And when you think going back to the days of Herod, it took 46 years to build this temple. How they ever got them up, I have no idea. How they ever built such a magnificent temple? Some of the stones were, as I say, suppose some of them were 85 feet long, we're told as well. What a magnificent, beautiful structure it must have been. What an amazing sight it must have been. The Lord says there's not going to be one stone left upon another. This temple that they were gazing upon was going to be destroyed, and it would, of course, be destroyed in AD 70. We'll say a little bit more about that in a moment. Verse number 3 of chapter 24. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? When is this? temple destruction going to come. And then they ask two more questions. What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world or the end of the age? Christ's public ministry is over. He's now speaking privately to his own and he's listening to their questions. And here's really where difference of opinion come in tonight. Is everything that's recorded in Matthew chapter 24 and indeed chapter 25, the Olivet Discourse, has all of this been fulfilled in the past? Is this all historic? There's a belief called preterism. Don't you worry about the names this evening. And people believe that all of the Olivet Discourse has been fulfilled and was fulfilled in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed. There are others who believe that what we read in Matthew 24 just concerns the church. And if that is true, then the church has to go through the tribulation period. I believe that Jesus Christ will come and he could come at any moment. I believe the church will be taken home to be with Christ. I believe then there'll be this tribulation period which concerns mainly the Jew and Israel. as they go through this tribulation period. Remember, it's called the time of Jacob's trouble, Jeremiah 30 verse 7. And so all I want to do this evening is set the foundation. I believe everything we read from verse 4 and Matthew chapter 24 right through is all yet to happen. It's all yet to happen. Yes, Jerusalem was destroyed, or the temple was destroyed in AD 70. And we'll have a little bit of a look at that in a moment as well. Why should we care about prophetic studies? Let me give you a few reasons this evening. First of all, it has a calming influence because we know that God's in control of the future. Are you worried about this year? Are you worried about the future? You see, when you study the prophetic scriptures, you realize that God's hand's in control of everything. You know this, it has a comforting influence. Isn't that what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 18, we're for comfort one another with these words. He was assuring believers who had lost loved ones, that the loved ones wouldn't lose out when the Lord would come back again. But rather, it would be that great reunion for those who are alive. They're going to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. For those who have died and in Christ, they're going to come out of the graves. And they're not going to lose out on what a wonderful reunion is going to be. What a comfort tonight to those who are grieving over lost loved ones. And that one day, if they're saved, they're going to see them again. I wonder tonight, have you family in heaven? Have you family that's ready for heaven? but tonight you're not saved. One day they'll be in glory, and if you die the way you are tonight, or if Christ comes back, you're going to be lost and separated from them for all eternity. It's not very comforting for you tonight if you're not saved, but it has a comforting influence. It has a compensating influence because it reminds us that no matter what we do for the Lord, we never lose out because he's coming with his reward for the believers. It has a commissioning influence. And this is often lost in our churches. We realize that so few preach about the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we've lost that urgency with the gospel. Do we really believe that Jesus could come at any moment? If we really did, we'd be on our knees for our loved ones who don't know Christ. It has a commissioning influence tonight. Oh, so many good reasons to study the prophetic scriptures. I want to do some things very quickly this evening. I want you to think of the people to begin with here. As I just set the scene, we're not going to get into many details this evening. If you look at Matthew chapter 3 verses 1 to 12, again. We read that the Lord is warning the people to have nothing to do with the Jewish religious leaders. Look at verse 1. Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. And he goes on to speak about the scribes and the Pharisees. They're just hypocrites. Look at verse 13. He brings a series of woes upon them. yourselves, nor suffer ye them that are entering to go in." They're just hypocrites, and the Lord says, have nothing to do with them. Notice he's speaking to Jews, and he's speaking about Jews. Just want you to get the context. Look down to verse 32. Fill ye up the measure of your fathers. Again, when he's talking about fathers, he's talking about The Jews, look at verse 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chicken under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. In spite of his love, his mercy, his compassion, they chose desolation and not salvation. The Lord says, it's no longer my house, it's now your house. That which had been the temple, which means the house of God, is no longer the house of God. He says, it's just your house. You have destroyed it. These religious leaders had destroyed it. Instead of being a house of prayer, to become a den of thieves, the Lord Jesus said on one occasion. You can see that the emphasis here is Israel, it's the temple, it's the Jews. Look at verse 39. For I say unto you, You shall not see me henceforth. There's going to be blindness come upon Israel. Until you say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. You know, that's where Israel is tonight, spiritually speaking. The Lord Jesus Christ came as their Messiah. He was rejected. They didn't crown him King of Kings. Instead, they put him on a cross. He was nailed to a cross. was despised. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. That's what they did to Christ, and they're in blindness tonight. And here the Lord says that you're not going to see me until, there's an until. Here's the way Paul puts it in Romans 11 verse 25. But I would not brethren, and again he's speaking to Jews. Paul was a Jew, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits. That blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. Paul believed there was a future for Israel. I believe there's a future for Israel. You see, when Jesus comes and takes the church home, then God begins to deal with Israel once again. And during this tribulation period, Israel will recognize their Messiah, and they will turn and they will trust the Lord. Here's what Zechariah said in Zechariah 12, verse 10. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. And Zechariah, looking into the future, says, in a day to come, Israel will look upon him whom they have pierced. There's going to be mourning, there's going to be grieving, there's going to be conviction of sin, and the spirit of grace will be poured out upon them, and all Israel shall be saved. There is a future for Israel tonight. God hasn't abandoned his ancient people. What's happening today is that the Lord Jesus is building his church. And when the church is complete, when the last soul is saved, when the last brick is added to the church, the church will be taken home, and God will begin to deal with Israel again. I want you to see the Jewish context of what we're looking at. Now, if you're in Matthew 23, look at Matthew 24, verse 15, just to show you this. Remember, I believe everything you find in Matthew 24 is all future, it's all yet to be fulfilled. When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, we'll say more about this when we get to it. But Daniel the prophet's mentioned. Daniel mentions this in Daniel chapter nine. And Daniel is talking about this 70 week period. And again, I haven't time to go into that this evening. Here's how he begins in Daniel nine verse 24. And remember, this is God speaking to Daniel. 70 weeks are determined upon thy people. Who was Daniel's people? Israel. And thy holy city. What's the holy city? Jerusalem. Do you see the Jewish context again? This has nothing to do with the church. This is Israel. The church is going to be gone. Here's what he went on to say, and he shall confirm, this is Antichrist, the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week shall he cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, for the overspreading of abomination shall he make it desolate. That's the abomination of desolation. According to the Lord Jesus, it's still future. It's still future. According to the book of Daniel, it concerns Daniel's people and Daniel's city. It's to do with Israel. Remember, the tribulation period is the time of Jacob's trouble. And so, I want you to see very much that Matthew 24 concerns Israel. The church will be gone. What I believe As we look through Matthew 24, as we study things like the false Christ, the wars, and the rumors of wars, and the kingdom rising against kingdom, and this abomination of desolation, as we see the things that are coming, I believe we're seeing the beginning of these today. That's telling me that Jesus Christ must be coming very, very soon. Because before the tribulation begins, the church will be gone. That's why it's important that you get saved tonight, because tomorrow could be too late. You see the people. I want you to keep this in mind. I don't want to have to keep coming back over this over and over again as we go through the Olivet Discourse. Let me say a little bit very quickly about the period. Could Matthew 24 have been completely fulfilled in AD 70. That's what some people would teach us, that what we really read in Matthew chapter 24 has been absolutely fulfilled, and therefore there's nothing that has to be fulfilled. Come over to Luke's account just for a moment. Luke chapter 21. Now, I read to you a verse in Matthew chapter 24 about the desolation of the temple, the abomination of desolation, where the temple is going to be desecrated. That's going to happen in the future day when Antichrist comes in. He's going to set himself up as God in the temple in Jerusalem. Thank God, we're going to be in heaven if we're saved. We're going to be with the Lord. But that's going to happen. Now, some people believe that that happened in A.D. 70 when the temple was destroyed. Now, Luke answers that question about when the temple is going to be destroyed. The Lord doesn't cover it in Matthew's gospel at all. Although the question is asked there, it's answered here in Luke chapter 21. Look at verse number 20. And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, and know that the desolation thereof is nigh, let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, let them which are in the midst of it depart out, let none of them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance of all things, which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people." No, the distress is in the land. The wrath is upon this people. This is Israel. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be laid away captive unto all nations. Notice that Jerusalem's going to be destroyed, that the Jews are going to be scattered throughout the world. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. The times of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar, and they will run right through until Jesus comes back and establishes his millennial kingdom. That's the times of the Gentiles. We're in the times of the Gentiles tonight. But I want you to notice that judgment was going to come upon Israel when Jerusalem would be destroyed, and they'd be scattered throughout the world, and everybody accepts that that was fulfilled in A.D. 70. There's absolutely no argument about that at all. Is that a fulfillment of all we have also in Matthew chapter 24? Let me give you a few reasons why I believe it's not. In Matthew 24, verse 15, the temple is desecrated. It's not destroyed. What happened in AD 70? There wasn't one stone left upon another. If you go to the Temple Mount tonight, there's no temple. All you'll find on the Temple Mount tonight is the Alask Mosque. And some of the stones sitting along the ground, just the old remnants of the temple. The Wailing Wall is why the Israelites see this as their most important holy site. The last remainder of the temple, the temple is gone. But during the tribulation period, the temple is not destroyed, it is desecrated. We're looking at two different temples and two different time periods. If we were to read Matthew 24, you'll discover at the end of it, the Lord will gather the elect from the four winds of the earth. It's going to bring in salvation to Israel, as I have mentioned. There's no salvation mentioned in AD 70. No salvation at all. Indeed, it is about retribution. It's about judgment. It's God judging Israel because they knew not the time of their visitation. The Lord mentioned this in Luke 19. Let me read just one verse for the sake of time. And shall lay even with the ground and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another. You know he's talking about the same thing, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. The Lord Jesus come. The Lord Jesus was rejected. This was a judgment. upon Jerusalem, Israel, for the rejection of the Messiah. Whose side are you on tonight? Are you a Christ-rejector tonight? Because there's always judgment for the Christ-rejector. But let me give you another reason as well. When you study Daniel 9, verse 27, and you study about the desecration of the temple, you discover that the one who will cause the abomination of desolation is going to be destroyed himself. That one is Antichrist. No mention of Antichrist in AD 70. Indeed, the Roman leader who came was a man called Titus. He wasn't destroyed. He continued for many years afterwards. But when it comes to the desecration of the temple, it will mark the end of Antichrist's reign. The Lord's going to get him by the scruff of the neck, and he's going to be cast into the lake of fire, both him and the false prophet. I haven't time to open up those scriptures this evening. I just want you to see tonight that what we have in Matthew chapter 24, and we'll open it up as we go along. What you see in Matthew 24 is worldwide. The Lord Jesus said that there's going to be tribulation upon the world such as never was seen before. That's not what happened in AD 70. So you can't squeeze Matthew chapter 24 into AD 70, it just won't fit. You're trying to put a square peg in a round hole and it won't work. What we see in Matthew chapter 24 and indeed chapter 25, and we're going to take our time and we're going to go through it bit by bit, we're going to see that this is what lies ahead in the future. During that time of tribulation that's going to come upon the world. What an awful time it's going to be. J. C. Ryle said this of Luke 21 verses 25 to 28. If you read that, the Lord then goes back to the tribulation period. J. C. Ryle said, the subject of this portion of our Lord's great prophecy is his own second coming to judge the world. The strong expressions of the passage appear, inapplicable to any event less important than this, to confine the words before us to the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans as a non-natural straining of Scripture language." That's the words of Bishop J.C. Ryan. You cannot make Matthew 24 fit into AD 70. What we have is future. And we're going to see how it ties in with the book of the Revelation. And we're going to look at it side by side and see how it all comes together. Surely Jesus Christ must be coming very, very soon. We've talked about the people tonight. We've talked about the period, the past. What happened in AD 70 is finished. What we have in Matthew 24 and 25 is future. It's going to happen. Next week, we're going to begin to look at the prospect as we move into the future. We're going to see what God has planned for this world. One of the best known, if I can call him an atheist in the world, was Professor Stephen Hawking. He wrote a book back in the 80s. And in this book, he talked about creation. And he said there was room somewhere for a great creator. He reviewed his work, and then he put out a more recent work. I think it was called The Grand Design. And he said that gravity itself would teach us that there's no need for a divine being. There was no need for a creator. Man has tried to take God out of the past. Evolution has taken God out of the past. When we go back into creation, we don't need God anymore. According to some of these so-called experts, it all was a big bang or something like that, and God has been taken out of the past. God has been taken out of the present. But President Jimmy Carter's funeral, which was just a couple of days ago. I wasn't listening to it or wasn't following it, but someone sent me a little message about it. I don't even know who it was. It's interesting that Jimmy Carter was professed to be a born-again believer. I have no reason to question that. He was a Baptist, and again, no reason to question anything of that at all. But it's interesting that Garth Brooks And Tricia Yerwood, now having a clue who she is, apparently she's a country singer as well. They sang at Jimmy Carter's funeral. They sang the piece they were asked to sing. It was a piece written by John Lennon and his wife. Remember, imagine. They sang about there's no heaven. They sang about there's no hell. They sang about there's no country. It's a message which sometimes was described as a communist manifesto, although Lenin said he was no communist. But really what they did is they took God totally out of the present. So they've took God out of the past, they're taking God out of the present, and they're taking God out of the future. Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." Matthew 24 tells us that you cannot take the Lord Jesus out of the future, because Christ has the future all laid out. Let me ask you tonight very personally, very directly, and yet we trust very graciously, does God feature in your future? Have you left him out of the past? Are you not interested in him in the present? Do you not care about him when it comes to the future? Because without Christ, you have no future. You have no future without Christ. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said, Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. A number of years ago, it's wonderful some of the rubbish that I read. I read an article written by a man. I'm trying to see if I can find his name in front of me here. It doesn't really matter. He was a man called Park Condal. And he came up with this idea that there was a shake in the earth And because of that, the stars are out of the place they used to be. And he said that the Zodiac signs are all wrong. People got really upset. People who were Aquarians suddenly discovered they could be Pisceans, or I don't know. I get them all mixed up. I don't even know or remember what I am supposed to be myself. People got themselves all in a tizzy. Have they been misled all these years? Imagine looking to a horoscope to learn something about your future. This book is the only book that can speak with any authority about the future. Christ in A.D. 33 said Jerusalem was going to be destroyed. In A.D. 70, it was destroyed. Could you tell me what's going to happen in 37 years' time? I don't think you know what's going to happen tomorrow. But the Lord says, Jerusalem's going to be destroyed. He tells us in years to come, there's going to be a great tribulation period upon the earth. He tells us that Jesus Christ is going to come back to the earth. He's going to establish his kingdom. At the end of that kingdom, all those who have died without Christ are going to be resurrected and stand before the great white throne. And whosoever was not written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. You can trust the Lord when it comes to the future. Let me ask you again tonight, and I'm closing with this. Have you trusted the Lord with your future? Gordon spoke to the boys and girls this morning and told them one of the precious things, the most precious thing they have is their soul. Have you entrusted your soul into the hands of Christ? Because if you have, you can say a blessed assurance. Jesus is mine. What a blessed future you're guaranteed. Let's bow in a moment's prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for thy word this evening. We pray, Lord, that the spirit of God will write the truth of it upon our hearts. Lord, we thank you for the teaching we receive about the future. And Lord, we believe that God knows all about tomorrow. And Lord, maybe someone here tonight, they're worried about tomorrow. Lord, we just pray they'll be able to trust Thee. But Lord, there may be some here tonight and they're still without hope, and they haven't trusted their souls into the hands of the Savior yet. Lord, would you grant them tonight that awareness that they were born in sin, that desire to turn from their sin and to come to Christ. and trust Christ and Christ alone based on the finished work on the center cross as their own and personal Savior. Lord, would you grant the siding grace tonight? Lord, what a joy it would bring to all of our hearts if even one soul was to find Christ as their Savior tonight. For it's in and through his precious name we pray. Amen. We're going to sing in closing, This evening, that hymn that I tried to quote, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine, hour of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood. You can be sure of your future this evening if you'll trust your future to Christ. We'll stand and sing after we get the introduction. Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Bearer of salvation, purchase of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect delight. Visions of rapture diverse on my sight. Angels descending bring from above. Candles of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. I am my Savior, above the endless. Watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. Lord, our heart's desire and our prayer this evening is that everyone in this meeting would have that blessed assurance that Jesus is mine. Speak to hearts tonight. Lord, may the spirit of God bring that conviction of sin, and may there be those who will turn to Christ, ere forever it be too late. Board us now in thy fear and with thy blessing, and grant each and every one of us homeward journeying mercies, For it's in our Savior's precious name we pray, amen.