00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
It's fun to have visitors with
us this morning. Some of you are here because of the baby
dedications, grandparents. We're thrilled to have you joining
with us this morning. In the past week, what did you
spend the most time thinking about? When you had free time
to think about what you wanted to think about, what was it that
got you most excited? In the past week, what were you
dreaming about? Or maybe take that question and flip it around.
In the past week, what Consumed your thoughts in terms of you're
worried about it. It was there something that over
the last few days You're afraid of and your mind goes to that
maybe the threat of the loss of something Do you know asking
ourselves those questions as a way of asking ourselves, what
do I love? Right and as Jesus listens in
on your thoughts and he can as your Lord is he thinking child
the things that you love are are not the things of me, but
the things of the world. Look here, the Lord tells us
in His Word, 1 John 2, verse 15. God says to us, do not love
the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is
in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is
from the world. The world is passing away, and
also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. Did you spend this last week,
maybe have you spent the last months, loving the world that
is passing away? When the Lord tells us why we
shouldn't love the world, part of what he says is this, the
world and its lusts is passing away. The world and its lusts,
they're not worth loving because they're about to be destroyed.
The world is like a bubble. It's about to pop. And so God
says to us, don't don't fall in love with the bubble. Live
for what lasts. We want to believe what God says
to us, what Jesus will say to us today about how the world
will end so that we don't waste our lives living for something
that's going to be destroyed anyway. Okay, we've been studying
Matthew 24, we're jumping back into that study today. The way
this chapter starts, the disciples ask Jesus a question, and then
two chapters, he's giving his answer to that question. So the
question is, in Matthew 24, 3, right before what Brandon read
for us, Matthew 24, 3, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,
the disciples came to him privately, saying, tell us, when will these
things happen? And what will be the sign of
your coming and of the end of the age? Jesus' answer to their
question is that the world will end with five specific events. So we come to verse 15 today
and we'll be looking at this sequence of five events that
Jesus says these are the things that are going to bring the world
to its end. Starting with the first event
the first visible sign that you can see that, you know, the end
is coming It's called the abomination of desolation All right, Matthew
25 24 15 look there therefore Jesus said when you see the abomination
of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel, the prophet
standing in the holy place. Let the reader understand. Then
those who are in Judea must flee. We talked two weeks ago a little
bit about this abomination of desolation. We noted the meaning
of the phrase abomination of desolation. The phrase itself
refers to something morally disgusting. That's going to bring great destruction. We went back to Daniel, like
Jesus clues us into, and we learned about the timing of the abomination
of desolation. We learned from Daniel that before
the return of Jesus Christ, before his comeback to earth to set
up his kingdom, that there's going to be seven years of great
tribulation. And Daniel told us that the abomination
of desolation is going to be set up halfway through that seven
year period. So three and a half years from
Jesus's return physically to earth, you're going to have the
setup of this abomination of desolation. Also, two weeks ago,
I gave you a definition of what the abomination of desolation
would be. So if you're taking notes on your sheets, the abomination
of desolation, A, it'll happen halfway through the tribulation.
B, what is it? What is the abomination of desolation
that if we see it, we know we got three and a half years left?
Here's what it is. The Antichrist setting up an
image of himself in the temple. This Antichrist setting up an
image of himself in the temple in Jerusalem and demanding that
the whole world worship him or die. Now, I gave you that definition
two weeks ago, but we didn't look up the verses that show
that that's what that is. So I want to take the time to
do that today. The first event that we can see, it's a clear,
this is this, that's going to indicate that Jesus' second coming
is arriving. And so we're going to look up
a couple of those verses about the abomination of desolation.
The first one is in 2 Thessalonians. So I invite you to take your
Bibles and turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and hold your finger
and Matthew will be coming back there. Second Thessalonians chapter
two, we'll be looking at verses one through four as Jesus talks
about, as Paul writes by the spirit about this abomination
of desolation. Okay. Second Thessalonians two
one. Now we request you brethren with
regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering
together to him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure
or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if
from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. So
in the church at Thessalonica, they were getting all upset because
there was some people that were telling them that the day of
the Lord has already come. In other words, somebody was
telling them that the tribulation period has already started and
people are telling them, hey, you're in the tribulation and
they were frightened by it. They were upset by this thought
that they were already in the last seven years of Earth's history.
And Paul is writing to tell them, no, you are not. You were not
in the tribulation. You're not in the tribulation.
And you can tell by these two things. Well, how do you know
that you're not in the tribulation? Paul says, well, listen, if we
were in that day of the Lord, in that tribulation period, there's
two things that would be noticeable, and these things aren't happening.
So what are the things that mark the tribulation period? He says
in verse three, let no one in any way deceive you, for it will
not come, the day of the Lord, it will not come unless the apostasy
comes first. And the man of lawlessness is
revealed, the son of destruction. So there's two things that will
mark the tribulation. First, there's this great apostasy. And an apostasy is a moving away
from the faith. It's a walking away from Jesus.
And so in the end time, there's going to be a great apostasy.
We don't really know much more about that. I have a theory about
why there's going to be a great apostasy in the tribulation.
As we study scripture, we believe that the rapture, that Jesus
coming to take his saints to meet him in the sky like he promised,
he went to prepare a place and he's going to come again for
us. We believe that that rapture is going to happen at the beginning
or just before the seven year tribulation period. Then what
will the churches in the world be like if all the true Christians
are gone? Who will you have left in the
churches around the world? Well, the only people left would
be fake Christians, people who are just there to impress people
or people that were there for wrong reasons and really don't
believe this and only believe the Bible, they don't follow
Jesus. That's who you have left in the church. And so what's
going to happen when all the believers are taken out of the
churches? I think that would explain why you would see a great
apostasy. The churches that are left are
going to turn away from Christ and his word and not follow him.
That's just my guess as to what causes that. But Paul says, listen,
there's a great apostasy coming. It's not here yet. And so we're
not in the tribulation. We're not in the day of the Lord.
And then Paul points out another thing that will be in the tribulation
that hadn't happened. And so they should be confident
they're not in the tribulation. That's the Antichrist. Paul,
in verse three, calls him the man of lawlessness. See there?
Let no one in any way deceive you, telling you you're in the
tribulation. for it will not come unless the apostasy comes
first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction."
Another name for that man of lawlessness is the Antichrist.
Here's a chart that I got from Ben-Weir's book, Paul Ben-Weir's
book. It's called Understanding Eden Times Prophecy. If you're
interested in studying this yourself, it's a great resource. I'll just
use his thing to kind of summarize. What's the Bible say about what
will happen with the Antichrist? Even before the Tribulation period
happens, this man will be a political leader of a Western nation. Then
once the Tribulation starts, he's going to increase in power
to where he will become the ruler of a restored Roman Empire. About
halfway through this seven-year period that ends with Jesus coming,
about halfway through that seven-year period, he's going to be killed
and raised. Whether really or just enough
so that people believe it, And then after that, having been
killed and raised, this Antichrist is going to say, listen, you
ought to all worship me. In fact, he'll demand it. He's
going to become a dictator of all the nations on the earth
in the last part of that seven year period. And at the end of
that time, Christ will return and Christ will defeat the Antichrist
and he will send him to the lake of fire. Now, now watch in 2 Thessalonians
chapter two, verse three and four, what Paul says the Antichrist
will do. Because we're here to learn about
the abomination of desolation. Second Thessalonians 2.3 says,
let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless
the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed,
the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every
so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in
the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Verse 4
is the abomination of desolation. The Antichrist is going to set
himself up in the temple in Jerusalem. He's going to say, hey, I'm God.
Worship me. Paul says, be watching for that.
If you see that, you know you're in the tribulation. Okay, that's
the same thing that Jesus said, right, in our Matthew 24. Now,
there's one more passage about the abomination of desolation
that we need to read if we want the full picture, so go with
me, if you would, in your Bibles to the last book of the Bible,
Revelation 13. Another prophetic passage about this coming event,
this abomination of desolation. Okay, now we're jumping into
Revelation 13, and every time I come someplace, I want to explain
every word, but I can't quite do it in Revelation. So you just
need to know this. In Revelation 13, there's some
symbolism that's already going on. In Revelation 13, the dragon
stands for Satan, and the beast stands for the Antichrist. So
Satan is the dragon, the beast is the Antichrist. We're jumping
into Revelation 13 too. And the beast which I saw, the
Antichrist, was like a leopard, his feet were like those of a
bear, and his mouth was like the mouth of a lion. And the
dragon, Satan, gave him his power and his throne and his great
authority. So in the end time, Satan's gonna give the Antichrist
power, okay? Now, look at verse three. Still
talking about this beast, the Antichrist. And I saw one of
his heads as if it had been slain and his fatal wound was healed.
And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast.
They worshipped the dragon because he gave his authority to the
beast. And they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like the
beast and who was able to wage war with him? See, in the future
tribulation period, the end of time, Satan is going to come
and he's going to set up for himself a fake trinity. We know the true God is three
in one and the true God is God, the father and God, the son who
is a man and deserves worship because he's man and God, right? And God, the Holy Spirit, that's
the true God that we worship that deserves our worship. Satan
in the end time, he's going to set up for himself a fake Trinity,
an anti Trinity. And so he makes himself the,
in the place of the father. And then he's, he's going to
give his power to this man, this beast, this Antichrist, right?
And he's the fake Jesus, the anti Christ. And there's a third
member of that fake Trinity that that Satan's gonna send up at
the set up at the end of time the third member sometimes we
call him and the false prophet here in Revelation that third
person the anti Holy Spirit is going to He's called the second
beast. All right, so Satan Antichrist
second beast is the third person that's coming up here. Look at
Revelation 13 11 then I saw another beast this anti Holy Spirit kind
of I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had
two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. He exercises
all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and he
makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first
beast whose fatal wound was healed. So just like the Holy Spirit
points to Christ and says, glorify him, this fake Holy Spirit points
to the Antichrist and says, glorify him, worship the Antichrist.
Verse 13, this False prophet performs great signs so that
he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in
the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth
because of the signs which it was given to him to perform in
the presence of the beast. Now watch what this false Holy
Spirit is gonna do. He's gonna tell those, verse
14, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to
the beast. They're gonna make an image to
the Antichrist. who had the wound of the sword and has come to
life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of
the beast so that the image of the beast would even speak and
cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be
killed. Okay, so here's what it says is going to happen at
the end of time. There's going to be an image of the Antichrist
that's set up in the temple, right? And this image is going
to be given life. So it's going to, this idol of
the Antichrist or something, it's going to move and walk and
talk. And is it really coming to life?
Does Satan have that much power or is it, is it a trick? We don't
know, but it's, it's moving around in this, in this idol that's
set up there, it's going to say, worship the beast. And if you
don't, you're dead. It's the abomination of desolation,
right? So we see this in various places
in the Bible that here's this event when the abomination of
desolation happens and the antichrist is saying, worship me from the
temple. Oh, that's a sign that we're
three and a half years from the end. Okay. Come back with me
to Matthew, Matthew chapter 24. Okay, so Jesus says the world
will end with five specific events. The first one that he highlights
is this coming abomination of desolation, this image of this
antichrist set up in the temple in Jerusalem. Go to Matthew chapter
24 again, verse 16. Now, we Christians at this point,
I don't believe that we Christians are here. Because we're expecting
the rapture to come. And when the rapture comes, all
who believe in Jesus now are taken up to be with the Lord.
But there will be believers, lots of people, myriads of people
that get saved in the tribulation. And this abomination of desolation,
when it comes, is going to be so horrible that Jesus wants
to give instructions ahead of time to the people that are living
then. So if you see, if you're one of these Christians that
is living on the earth at this time, and you see the abomination of desolation,
what should you do? He's got advice for them. Matthew
24 verse 16 He says then those who are in Judea must flee to
the mountains when the abomination of desolation is set up Whoever's
on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are
in his house whoever's in the field must not turn back to get
his cloak and But woe to those who are pregnant and to those
who are nursing babies in those days. Pray that your flight will
not be in the winter or on a Sabbath. The Antichrist, we read about
it in Revelation, he's going to be opposed to those who follow
Jesus. He's also opposed to Jews just because they're Jews, whether
they follow Jesus or not. And he's going to try to kill
them. Right. And so Jesus says, listen, if
you're, if you're living, And you live close to Jerusalem,
which would be the Antichrist headquarters. You live in that
region. And the word comes to you while you're on your roof,
that the abomination of desolation has been set up. Don't go back
in the house and pack snacks, like run, get off your roof and
head for the mountains. If you're, if you're in the field,
when you hear the answer, the Antichrist has set up his image
and he wants you to worship him. If you're in the field and you
hear it, Jesus says, don't Don't go back into town. Just head
for the hills. You got to get out of here. And
even if, um, man, if you're pregnant, if you're nursing children, don't
stay home, you'll die. You got to get out. You run.
And he says, pray it's not in winter because he says, don't
go back to your coat. It's going to be cold out there in the wilderness
if it's winter. Pray that's not winter, but don't go back for
your coat because if you do, you'll die. The Antichrist is
in a rage and he's going to kill as many Jews and Christians as
he can. Starting at that point, flee, Jesus says, if you hear
that this happens. Run for your life. Flee to the
mountains. Even, verse 20, pray that your
flight will not be in the winter or on a Sabbath. So what's the
difference if I'm running away on a Sabbath? Well, they're worshiping
in the temple here in the tribulation, so the Jews are worshiping like
they used to, offering sacrifices in the temple up until the middle
of the tribulation, and there's lots of Jewish laws that they're
following. One of the Jewish laws is not traveling on the
Sabbath. So if nobody travels on the Sabbath and then you are
running on the Sabbath, it's going to be more noticeable that
you're moving. Maybe that's why he says, pray it's not on the
Sabbath. But whatever the case is, Jesus says, if you hear this
happens, Now again, do you trust in Jesus Christ now if you're
a believer? I don't think you'll be there to see it, because I
think the rapture comes first. But Jesus gives instruction for
those who do see it. Brothers and sisters, the world
is like a bubble. It's about to pop. Don't fall in love with
the bubble. Live for something that's going
to last. So Jesus tells us five specific events. The abomination
of desolation and then he's going to flow through the chapter.
There's four more things that are coming that lead to the end. So there's that.
The second thing Jesus says happens is the great tribulation on earth
that will be worse than anything ever seen before. Great tribulation
on earth, worse than anything ever seen before. Look there
at Matthew 24, look down to verse 21. For then there will be a
great tribulation. such as has not occurred since
the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Jesus says, after this abomination
of desolation, a great tribulation starts. It's the worst time in
history. That's number two on your sheets,
a great tribulation. Now, this gets confusing sometimes
because we call this whole period of seven years the tribulation.
And then Jesus says, after the abomination of desolation, there's
a great tribulation. So when Jesus is talking about
the great tribulation, the worst period, he's talking about the
second half of the tribulation. So it gets worse after the abomination
of desolation happens. There's going to be this horrible
time on earth. Some Bible interpreters, and
well-intentioned, they read this and they apply all these things
to things that have happened in the past. And they say, well,
in AD 70, the Romans came and they destroyed Jerusalem. It
was a horrible time. And it was. But was 87, 70, way back in the
past, was that the worst time ever in history? No, not even
close. Right? I mean, World War II,
how many people, 75 million people died in the fighting, 6 million
Jews slaughtered by Hitler. The plague, when it came in the
14th century, it killed one out of every three people in Europe.
When the Europeans came across the ocean, Settled America, you
know 90% of the native population died within a couple of years
because of the smallpox and diseases they weren't used to 90% of the
population just died all at once Jesus says no time period ever
before has held a candle to how bad it will be in the last three
and a half years. Jesus isn't talking about something
that's already happened. He's talking about a future event,
right? Abomination of desolation. And then there's going to be
this time period on earth and it'll be the worst. Listen, if
the, if Jesus comes soon, right? And the numbers of the population
is like it is now, billions of people are going to die during
that three and a half years. The worst time in history. You can read about it in Revelation
six to 19. There's a, there's an extended
description of that tribulation period. Revelation six, just
start reading there and go to Revelation 19 and it's those
seven years. And in the second half of that
time period, there's, there's these judgments. You can read
about it in revelation. There's, there's trumpet judgments and
there's bowl judgments. And I think Jesus is talking
about real events that are going to actually happen, right? And
so you read in Revelation, the first trumpet, a third of the
vegetation of the earth is burned up. The second trumpet, a third
of the sea is turned into blood. The fifth trumpet, demonic beings
like locusts are released from the abyss and they roam through
the earth to torment, but not kill everybody they can find.
The sixth trumpet, a huge army ravages the world from the east
and they kill a third of the world's population as they go.
With the seventh bull, there's an earthquake and a hailstorm,
throwing down hailstones, 80 pounds each. Look at what Jesus
says about this horrible last three and a half years. Jesus
says, unless those days had been cut short, no life would have
been saved. But for the sake of the elect,
those days will be cut short. What's Jesus saying? Well, if
people continued to die at that rate, you wouldn't have to go
on much longer and there wouldn't be anybody left on earth. It's
so horrible. And so Jesus in his mercy is
going to cut it short. He's not going to let it go past
the three and a half years that it's set for. When the end comes,
it's going to stop. So because he's got people that
there's people that believers that live in the tribulation
and he wants them to live through into the millennium and inherit
his kingdom on earth. And so For the sake of them,
when it's time, it's going to end. He's going to cut it short.
It's not going to go on so that everybody on earth dies. Okay,
now, Jesus gave advice. If you see the abomination of
desolation and you live near to Dearon, right, now he's going
to give advice. If you live in the tribulation,
what should you be doing? Okay, so that's verse 23. Look there. Jesus gives advice
to them. Then, if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ
or there he is, do not believe him for false Christs and false
prophets will arise and we'll show great signs and wonders.
So as to mislead, if possible, even the elect behold, I've told
you in advance. So if they say to you, behold,
he's in the wilderness, do not go out or behold, he's in the
inner rooms. Do not believe them. Apparently in the midst of all
of this destruction in the world, there's going to be people that
will come early and they'll say, I'm Jesus. I'm here to save you
early. Come listen to what I have to
say. And Jesus says, don't believe them. Even if they're doing miracles
and amazing signs, don't believe them because they're fakes. Jesus
says, don't be fooled. When I return, no one will miss
it. And the same thing is true for
us today. If you ever get a report, hey, Jesus is back and he's holding
meetings in Omaha, right? Don't go to Omaha. This is not
how this is going to work, right? How it's going to work is you
won't have to go find Jesus. Jesus will come and find you.
You don't have to go seek him. And so Jesus says, listen, even
for the end time, people are saying they're me coming back
early. It's not. You'll know when it's me. Why won't we miss it? Why will
it be so obvious that just everyone will know that it's Jesus? Well,
Jesus gives a couple of reasons why we won't. Don't be deceived.
Don't buy it if somebody's saying they're me. There's a couple
of reasons why you're not going to miss it. First, on your sheets
there, don't be fooled. His return will be sudden and
it will be obvious to everyone. When Jesus returns, he's going
to return suddenly, and it will be obvious to everyone around
the world. Look at verse 27, right? Why
not be fooled, Jesus? Verse 27, for just as the lightning
comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the
coming of the Son of Man be. The return of Jesus Christ will
be like lightning. It will be sudden, it will be public, it
will be loud, and it will be immediately obvious to everyone
what's going on. Revelation chapter 1 verse 7
talks about the same thing Revelation 1 7 says behold he is coming
with the clouds and every eye will see him Even those who pierced
him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So
it is to be amen So why do we not have to go chasing after
people who say they're Jesus just wait for him Well, it'll
be obvious when he's here Secondly, Jesus says, number two, at Jesus's
return, great armies will fight him and their corpses will be
eaten by vultures. At his return, great armies will
fight him and their corpses will be eaten by vultures. Okay, look
at verse 28. So Jesus is going along and he's
explaining, don't be misled by somebody that says that it's
me. You'll know. And then he says, verse 28, wherever
the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. And I was reading
this week, and every commentary has a different idea about what
that verse means. It's a little tricky. What? What do you mean?
Where the corpse is, there the vultures were gathered. And a
lot of good Bible teachers say, well, it's a metaphor. It's a
metaphor for, and then they all explain it differently. Like,
well, apparently we don't know what the metaphor is about. But I actually
think it's not a metaphor. I think he's talking about literal
corpses and literal vultures. And that's why we can't figure
out the metaphors because it's meant to be taken literally.
There's a principle for Bible interpretation that says that
where the literal sense makes sense, seek no other sense. Got that? The literal sense makes
sense, seek no other sense. In Revelation, where it talks
about Jesus' return, it talks about corpses and vultures. Okay,
so hold your finger here, Matthew. Come over with me to Revelation
19. I want to show you where this shows up in Revelation that
explains Jesus' return in more detail. Revelation 19 is where
we're headed now. Revelation 19, we're going to
verse 11. Oh, this is the climax of the
Bible here. Like, we've been building to Revelation 19. To
get here, look at verse 11. Jesus is about to return. It
says, And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And
him who sat on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness
he judges and wages war. His eyes are like a flame of
fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written
on him which no one knows except himself. This is Jesus. He's about to return in glory,
right? Skip ahead to verse 14. This is where we show up in the
story. I believe we're 14 Verse 14 and the armies which are in
heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean. We're following
him on white horses So here's our part in the second coming
of Christ. We get a ride in behind him as
part of his army I just love it, right? So Jesus is returning
now the reason we're here though. I want to we're looking for corpses
and Vultures which seems kind of sad, but that's we're looking
to explain what Jesus said, right? So keep going in there look down
to Revelation 19. So Jesus is returning and Jesus
returning we're going to verse 17 Okay, then I saw an angel standing
in the Sun and he cried out with a loud voice Saying to all the
birds which fly in midheaven come assemble for the great supper
of God and so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh
of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses
and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both
free men and slaves and small and great. And I saw the beast
and the kings of their earth and their armies assembled to
make war against him who sat on the horse and against his
army. Now, we didn't read all the Revelation
to get up to this point, but what you need to know, just before
the end, the Antichrist, he's got his capital in Jerusalem,
it's where he's reigning the world from, and there's opposition.
So there's these great armies that are coming and they're going
to fight against the Antichrist. And so they've come, they've
gathered to Jerusalem to fight against the Antichrist and his
army. And they're all gathered to fight
each other when Jesus appears in the sky. And what it says
is that when they see Jesus, they forget about fighting each
other. And this is their common enemy, this king on his white
horse. And so the Antichrist and his
enemies, they all turn to fight Jesus. It's called Armageddon. You say, well, they're going
to fight against Jesus? Like, isn't it kind of a losing cause?
But that happens today. So many people, they know what
God wants for them, they know what matters, and yet they choose
with their lives to fight against God and what He wants. And the
same thing always happens when someone fights against God. You
fight against God, you die. He's Almighty. Don't fight against
Him. Well, look what happens to these
forces. So the Antichrist and his armies, they're going to
fight against Jesus when he's returning. Verse 20, it doesn't
even describe the battle because it's just like Jesus is almighty. Verse 20, and the beast was seized
and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his
presence by which he deceived those who had the mark of the
beast and those who worship his image. These two, so the second
and third persons of that false trinity, they were thrown alive
into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest,
their armies, the people, that were fighting with them. The
rest were killed with the sword, which came from the mouth of
him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with
their flesh." Listen, this world, it's like a bubble. It's about
to pop. And so, as we look at these end
times things, it just urges us, don't fall in love with the bubble.
Live for something that's gonna last. So Jesus says, okay, the
world's gonna end, five specific events. And we go faster as we
go, so don't stress. But first one is this, the abomination
of desolation. Number two, this great tribulation
that's coming to the earth worse than anything ever before. We're
moving on now to number three, the third event. Now we've been
talking about Jesus's coming here, but Jesus hasn't moved
to his coming yet in the order of the chapter he was just explaining.
He's giving advice for people that During the tribulation,
if somebody says they're me, don't be fooled, because you're
not going to miss it when I come. But now he goes back to his order
of events, and so he moves to the third event. After the tribulation,
this happens. The sun, the moon, and the stars
will go dark. The sun, the moon, and the stars
will go dark. Look at verse 29. Jesus says, but immediately after
the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and
the moon will not give its light, And the stars will fall from
the sky and the powers of the heaven will be shaken. So we've
come to the very end of the seven years. This is just immediately
before Jesus returns. And what the Bible says is that
the sun and the moon and the stars are going to go dark. Now,
this doesn't mean that they're destroyed because during the
kingdom to come, there's still going to be a sun, the earthly
kingdom. There'll still be a sun shining on the earth, not destroyed,
but they're, they're going dark. Something's going horribly wrong.
The God who controls the universe, who made it, can throw it off
if he wants to, right? The same God who made the world
dark when his son was hanging on the cross, dying for our sins,
will, just before his son returns, make the whole world dark. And
in Luke, Jesus adds, Luke tells us some more words of Jesus from
the same speech. Look at what Jesus says there in Luke's account
of this speech, this sermon. Jesus said there will be signs
in sun and moon and stars. And on the earth, dismay among
nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which
are coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will
be shaken. So the sun, moon, and stars go
dark. And then you get event number four, which is Jesus will
return with power and glory. Jesus will return with power
and glory. Look at verse 30. And then the sign of the Son
of Man will appear in the sky. And then all the tribes of the
earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on
the clouds of the sky with power and glory. Okay, imagine this. Okay, so it's dark all around
the world. Supernaturally dark and people
are afraid and they're looking at the sky and there's no light
and what's going on and what's to become of us and Then as they
look up at the sky They see the sign of the Son of Man What's
the sign of the Son of Man that people will see it's dark and
then all of a sudden the sign of the Son of Man is Some of
the church fathers used to say it was gonna be a blazing cross
in the sky. I don't think that's the best
explanation. I think the sign of the Son of Man is the Son
of Man himself, that Jesus is going to appear in the sky, the
sign which is the Son of Man. And you say, well, if Jesus is
coming down, then the people on the other side, no one would
be able to see him. Well, Jesus can work this out. You know,
in the new earth, what's gonna be the light of the world? There
won't be a sun because God will be its light. And so if Jesus
returns in blazing fire, people will be able to see it, right? And so the sign of Jesus returns
in the sky and people will look up and they will see him coming. See verse 30, they will see the
son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great
glory. Jesus appearing in the sky in
a blaze of glory is the climax of history. And if you believe
the Bible, you believe this is how history ends. Jesus returns
from the sky in a in a blaze of glory. It's everywhere in
the Bible. It's in it's in Daniel. We read it in Revelation. Look
here. Second Thessalonians chapter one, verse seven. The Lord Jesus
will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming
fire. Remember when Jesus was standing
before the high priest and he was on trial? The high priest
Caiaphas, Jesus is there about to crucify him. The high priest
is getting upset because Jesus won't talk and he says to Jesus,
I adjure you by the living God, tell us whether you are the Christ,
the son of God. Remember what Jesus said in answer
to that? Jesus said, You have said it
yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and
coming on the clouds of heaven. Now, if you're a believer in
the Great Tribulation, you've been enduring the Antichrist's
wrath and everyone's worshiping him and you're running and hiding
and now Jesus returns in the sky and you're like, yes, here's
my King, right? If you're an unbeliever in the
Tribulation, there's nothing for you now but to weep. Do you
see it in the verse? Jesus says, Matthew 24, 30, Jesus
will return, appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the
earth will mourn. See, because for many on the
earth, up until this point, they are in love with the world and
the things of the world and the lusts of the world. That's what
they're living for. And the Antichrist offered them
all the joys of the world. And so they follow the Antichrist
and they worship him because he gives them the stuff they
can see and what they want. And now they realize, here comes
the real king, and he is righteous, and I am not. And it's destruction
for me. And so the tribes of the earth
mourn at the coming of the righteous king. For many on earth, they're about
to be sentenced to eternal hell. This world is like a bubble.
It's about to pop. Don't live for the stuff of this
earth because that's that's not what lasts live for what lasts
Jesus says the world is going to end with five specific events.
Okay, so we saw the fourth one Jesus will return in power and
glory one more event number five All people on earth will be gathered
before Jesus To be sentenced either to eternal life or eternal
death all people on earth living at that time will be gathered
to Jesus to be sentenced either to life forever or fire forever. Look at verse 31. After he returns,
he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they
will gather together his elect from the four winds from one
end of the sky to the other. Verse 31 here predicts that God
is going to gather all of his elect, all the people who believe
in him from around the world. He's going to bless them We find
out from chapter 25 that at this time as Jesus is gathering his
elect, he also gathers the unbelievers. Like everybody that's alive,
they're going to have to come and stand before Jesus because there's
a great judgment that comes at this time. Actually, you read
other passages of scriptures, we find out that the Old Testament
saints are resurrected at this time. They get to come and stand
before Jesus, but Jesus is gathering them. Look ahead to Matthew 25.
We'll get there, but I want you to see what he will say to these
people once he has gathered them. So he's gathering the elect,
the people that believe in him. And here's what he says to those,
his chosen ones, his people that love him. Look, Matthew 25, 34,
the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are
blessed with my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. And what a joy it will be for
them. At that time also, God will gather
all the unbelievers who are alive to him, and his words to them
will be strikingly different. Do you see Matthew 25, verse
41? Then he will say to those on
his left, depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has
been prepared for the devil and his angels. Do you know every
person on this planet has a basic decision to make about Jesus
Christ? Every person. Jesus came to earth
the first time so that he could say this. He came to earth the
first time so he could speak these words. Come to me all who
are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Do you
know if Jesus hadn't come and died on the cross he couldn't
have invited you to him? Because you're too sinful to be in his
presence and you've failed and you've fallen short and there's
guilt and shame and it's real. You couldn't come into his presence,
but, but Jesus came to take your sin upon himself and to pay the
full penalty for your sin. He died for you. Hey, pay the
full penalty. And then he rose from the dead
so that now he can say, he says to you, he says to everyone in
the world, he says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. He offers rests to you, eternal
rest. Have you come to Jesus? It's
the most important thing in life. Do you know you have to come
to Jesus before you die? You have your lifespan. We don't know how long that will
be, but you have your lifespan to come to Jesus while the invitation
is open. If you wait until after you die,
then instead of hearing this great invitation, come to me,
you will hear the words of verse 41, depart from me. So the most
important thing at the end of this is we think about this world's
going to end. Jesus is the King. The most important
thing is have you come to Jesus? If you haven't, you can come
to him now. He hears your thoughts. If you
just cry out to him and say, Jesus, I'm coming to you. I trust
in you. I'm yours. I want to follow you.
I want to be yours. He'll receive you right now,
forever. Says grace. That's what he does. He gives
it to people for free. But, um, if you have come to him, maybe,
maybe if you look back over your last week or your last year,
you come to him and you know that what matters is him and
his kingdom. And yet, as you look back, you know, I, I've
been distracted and what, what I've been loving is the world.
What I've really been living for and what my thoughts go to,
I'm living for the world. And I know that's not what matters,
but maybe that's what you've been doing with your life. And
if that's the case, then your Lord would say to you today,
as He shows you this passage, here's how this is gonna end.
He would say to you today, you know, live for what matters.
Don't love the world, don't live for the world. Live for the things
that are gonna last. Christ and His kingdom and the
people around you that He loves. These are the things that are
gonna last and this is what we ought to live for. Let's pray. Father, every time we come and
we open up your word, you speak to us. And it's things we need
to hear. Sometimes it's unsettling because
truth is like that. We thank you that you don't water
things down for us. You just give us the truth in
all of its reality in your word. And so you've told us how the
world's gonna end. It'll end with these five events.
And you're going to come and you're going to judge every person.
We need to trust in you. We need to live for what lasts.
Thank you that you give us the way to do that. Your word has
told us what matters and what lasts and we can embrace those
things and live for that. We just want to confess as your
people this morning, Lord. Often we get to where the things
we can see, we start thinking those are the things that are
important and we get distracted from what matters. And so we confess that
and we want to turn away from that. Help us, Lord, to to live
for Christ and for what matters, because we know that this world
is passing away, and what matters are the things that are eternal.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks, everybody. God bless you.
How Jesus Says the World Will End
Series Matthew - Hulinsky
| Sermon ID | 523211512188177 |
| Duration | 43:40 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Matthew 24:15-35 |
| Language | English |
Documents
Add a Comment
Comments
No Comments
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.