Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 24. The Lord willing, for the next several weeks, we're going to spend our time going verse by verse and passage by passage through the Olivet Discourse. This is the beginning of our study of a truly monumental passage in Scripture. The commentators and the Christian church in history have traditionally called this text, these two chapters, the Olivet Discourse. because it is a discussion, a discourse, that Jesus has with his disciples on the Mount of Olives. Hence, the very original and creative name, Olivet Discourse. And actually, it's just about eight days ago that we stood on the Mount of Olives and went through the Garden of Gethsemane, and it is a hillside that is just opposite the Temple Mount. So you can literally see the Temple and what's going on on the top of the Temporal Mount from the Mount of Olives just across the Kidron Valley. And it's amazing how close these places are. And as we look at the text today and in the coming weeks, I really hope as we look at these two chapters that Jesus is going to instruct His disciples about the future and particularly about His second coming and the events that are going to transpire in that context. I really hope the impact in you and me as well is not just to be instructed and informed and fascinated by the series of events that will take place and the clues that are given here in these two chapters of Jesus' teaching about the way the consummation of redemptive history is going to play out. I hope far more than that, we are all gripped with the reality that Jesus is coming back. And when He does, It's going to be glorious for his people and judgment for the world. That's the most important message that I can bring to you as we preach these next two chapters. Jesus lives and he is seated at the right hand of the Father, even now in heaven, and he is going to come back. And when he does, it's judgment for the world. More than anything, That's the message I hope that we get from the study of these two chapters of Matthew's Gospel. Jesus is coming back. And when He does, it'll be the consummation. And the seriousness and the gravity of this did not escape the Apostle John's notice, because if you read through the book of Revelation, you'll notice at the conclusion of that book, John closes with, even so what? Come, Lord Jesus. Well, why would he say even so, even though it means judgment and calamity and the expression of divine wrath against mankind and against the forces of darkness, even though it means destruction? Even so, come, Lord Jesus, because you deserve to be worshiped and honored and praised in accordance with who you truly are. And in a very real sense, that's exactly what Israel missed when Jesus presented himself to them as as their Messiah. When they rejected him, who did they really reject? They did not reject a man. They did not reject a prophet of God. They rejected God himself. And the consequence to the nation of Israel in those days was to go out of existence again as a nation. And the consequence to you and I on an individual level is to suffer the wrath of God eternally if we do not turn to Christ and recognize Him for who He is. And that's what's really at stake here in the text that sits in front of us. Now, just to kind of step back and get a little context here, and so we're kind of hitting the ground running by the time we walk into Matthew 24 and verse 1 here, understand that the subject of Christ coming in judgment and the destruction that's going to happen. And even of his death, burial and resurrection being the consummation of his earthly ministry has been the theme of Matthew's gospel really going all the way back to Matthew chapter 16. You remember when Jesus gathers his disciples about him and he says, who do people say that I am? And they give all this, all the suggestions. And he says, OK, well, who do you say that I am? And Peter stands up and says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus says, you're right, and it's God who's told you that now. So you understand here's what's going to happen to the son of man. He's going to go to Jerusalem. He's going to be betrayed. He's going to be crucified and he's going to rise again the third day. And you remember, Peter takes that really well. He takes it right in stride and says, wow, that's amazing, Lord. Well, what happens when you when the resurrection happens? Will we be there and get to see it? Is that what Peter does? No. What does Peter do? He pulls Jesus aside and says, oh, it's never going to be that way. It can't be that way. It's going to be the way we read in Psalm two. When Bob read Psalm 2 this morning in the scripture reading, he's going to rule with a rod of iron. He's going to establish his kingdom here on this earth. Peter doesn't get it. And if you're familiar with the Old Testament, there are just so many passages. Read this week. Hey, guys, if you like homework, let me give you a little suggestion of three chapters to spend some time this weekend in preparation for next week's message. Read Zechariah 12, 13 and 14. Read Zechariah 12, 13 and 14 and then come back and look at this text. You'll be amazed that you'll know exactly why the disciples were expecting that when the Messiah comes, he's going to set foot on the Mount of Olives, which is, by the way, where this conversation takes place, and he's going to split the Temple Mount and walk right into Jerusalem and take over. Well, I'm here to tell you that's what's going to happen. They were looking for it to happen then. That's why when Jesus says, when I get to Jerusalem, I'm going to be betrayed and crucified. And on the third day, I'll rise again. They're expecting rising again, meaning that he's going to take over. They don't they don't get it and they don't get it until after the resurrection, when he opens their eyes to be able to see it. When Jesus in Matthew, Chapter 21, you remember not so long ago when we did the triumphal entry text, Jesus rides in on the colt, the fall of a donkey. And the whole of Jerusalem comes out to see him and they say, Blessed is he who what? Who comes in the name of the Lord. They're quoting from Scripture. They're quoting from the 118th Psalm. This is a fulfillment. They're recognizing him verbally, publicly, nationally as the Messiah coming in at the beginning of Passion Week. And the first thing he does in Matthew 21 verses 12 and 13 is go into the temple and give his approval to everything that's going on, right? No, he walks into the temple, flips over the tables of the money changers, drives out those selling the animals and says, you've turned my father's house into a marketplace. You've corrupted the worship of God. Who is it that straightening out things in the household of God? It's God. You remember when in the Gospel of John chapter one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His what? Glory, glory as of the only begotten. Okay, you want to know what was significant about Solomon's temple back in the day? When Solomon finished constructing it, he prayed and who came, what came and took up residence in Solomon's temple? The glory of God. A visible manifestation of the glory of God just like what accompanied the nation of Israel in the wilderness wanderings. God came and took up residence. The glory of God took up residence in the temple in Solomon's day. If you read Ezekiel, right before the Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel describes the glory of God leaving the temple. And if you read, I think it's Ezekiel 10, 11 and 12. Maybe it's 10 and 12. I can't remember off the top of my head, somewhere in my notes. If you read those chapters in Ezekiel, you'll see the glory of God departs from the Holy of Holies and it departs from the holy place and it departs from the temple. And the last thing you read is the glory of God goes down out of the temple, down off the temple mount, down into the Kidron Valley and up to the Mount of Olives and looks back and then departs. And the next thing you see, the Babylonians come in, they level the place and they take Israel into captivity. In our text right here, the glory of God has come back to His temple and His people reject Him. And so when you pick up here in verse 37 of Matthew 23, the text right before the one we're going to look at, you see that Jesus, having pronounced the woes upon the scribes and the Pharisees and decreeing that the consequence of their rejection of Him is going to be their destruction, He says this, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and yet you were what? Unwilling. You know, God doesn't force anybody to believe in Him, to follow Him, to love Him, or to worship Him. You want to reject God? You can. And you're going to answer to Him. But if you want to be rightly related to God, All you got to do is turn to repentance and come to him. This is the amazing thing about God and his grace and his love. Despite the fact that he is worthy of perfect worship and none of us do it, he is willing to forgive and reconcile us if we want a relationship with him. I have no idea why God wants a relationship with me. I have no idea why God wants a relationship with any of us. And yet he does. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I wanted to gather you, but you didn't want it. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate. For I say to you from now on, you will not see me until you say what? Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Isn't that Psalm 118 again? Yes. Isn't that what they said the beginning of the week? Yes. They said it with their lips, but they didn't mean it with their hearts. They did not love him. They did not worship him. They did not receive him and they did not submit to him and they did not want him to reign over them. They did not recognize the greatness of his person. And you know what? Right at this point, look at Matthew 24 and verse one, Jesus came out of the temple, came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples come up to him and point out the temple buildings and ask their questions. This is the context that we walk into Matthew 24 and 25. Jesus is now departing the temple permanently until they what? until they recognize him for who he really is. By the way, remember I told you to read Zechariah 12 9. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as one mourns for an only son. There will be a day and we talked about this in the weeks and in our preparation for studying Matthew 24. There there is going to be a day when Israel recognizes Jesus for who he really is. And that'll be in the context of what the tribulation. But in the meantime, they rejected God. They rejected their Messiah. And so, you know what their Messiah did? You know what the Lord did? He rejected them. And as he heads out of the temple, He heads out, most likely the Eastern Gate. There's a little discussion on which gate. I actually know which one's which now. It doesn't matter which one. Both of them essentially lead out to the same area, go down through the Kidron Valley, go back up the Mount of Olives. You walk right past the Garden of Gethsemane. I was there. Apart from the fact that a Catholic church is built on all these places, they're really cool places. And you walk right past that. You walk up the Garden of Gethsemane and you get up to the top of the Mount of Olives. And you know what? As you turn around, you know what you can see? You see, there's the temple. And from the top of the Mount of Olives, you can even see what's going on on the top of the temple grounds. You can see it clear as day. It's like what's that what's that little hill that OK, so I don't know what it's called, but you know where the mall is over here, Palmdale Mall. OK, so if you go up that hill, the backside up So 14 goes this way and right along beside 14 there's a little winding road that goes up and around the mountain. You go up that hill and you look back and you look down on the whole of the Antelope Valley. There are so many places like that in Israel where you can just kind of look back and you can see everything played out before you. Jesus goes up the Mount of Olives, turns back, and there's Jerusalem, and there's the Temple, and there's the Temple Mount, and all the things going on. He has walked out of the Temple. One of the things that I found most fascinating, and a little bit of it hit me too, you know, you go to these places where Jesus was. And you realize, wow, the Lord was here. Or this is where the loaves were multiplied in the fish. Or this is Capernaum where Jesus did most of his miracles. Or, you know, we were on the Sea of Galilee. I didn't walk on it. We went to the Dead Sea. Kath floated on it. We've been to Jerusalem. And I've been to the empty tomb, both of the suspected sites. I've been inside. And guess what? They're both empty. I've been to all the and you just start to feel a sense of awe and wonder at the places where things happened. But by God's grace, mosques or churches or monuments or whatever have been set up in all these places that kind of like take away some of the splendor. And especially when you go up to the place where Jesus was crucified and the Catholics have built an altar over it and you get crawl underneath the altar and reach your hand through a hole to put your hand on the stone that was part of Calvary. And all these people are weeping and somehow touching that rock gives some special blessing. And then you get out and you get anointed with oil and the priest blesses you and all this. And I saw all that and I'm like, yuck. You realize people make the places sacred. And you kind of elevate in your thinking the idea of the place as opposed to the person who did it. Do you know what I mean? And in a very real sense, that's essentially what Israel had done with the temple. They failed to recognize the significance of God Himself whose house it was. And they made it into a splendid place. Absolutely marvelous was the temple. It's still magnificent. And it's essentially leveled with a couple of mosques built up on it. It's just and this is what the disciples see and are thinking about and ask about in the beginning of our text. Take a look at verses one and two with me. Jesus comes out from the temple. He's going away when his disciples come up to him and point out the temple buildings to him. So he's walking off the Temple Mount on his way under the stairs to head out the gate and head across to the Mount of Olives. And the disciples are looking around, and they are impressed with the temple and the buildings. If you keep your finger in Matthew 24, I want you to just turn a few pages to the right. Look at Mark 13. Remember, Mark is the gospel that is based on Peter's preaching. So sometimes there's a little bit more vividness in Peter's descriptions. Mark 13, the same account is recorded this way, as Jesus is going out of the temple, one of his one of his disciples said to him, Teacher, behold, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. See, they're impressed with the structures, and I'm here to tell you it's impressive. It's truly impressive. Just kind of a little bit of description, I don't know if I can do a very good job of explaining this, but The first day in Jerusalem, we went to the Temple Mount. And the only time we could get was a nighttime tour of the Western Wall. So we go there, and they take us right up to the Western Wall. And you go through, there's this big doorway they've got created on the side. You go through the doorway, and then they take you underground to where they've excavated the whole Western Wall all the way out to the cistern at the far corner. To give you a little perspective, The top of the Temple Mount area is the size of 26 football fields. You know how big a football field is? That's pretty big. Now, put 26 of them together in a form of rectangle shape, that's how big we're talking about. You know, when you see the Western Wall and you Google it and you get a picture of it, that's a little tiny piece of it. That Western Wall goes for 26 football fields. Now, let me just tell you a little bit about the construction and why the disciples were so in awe of it. When we went down underground and we touched the wall and saw all the stones, at the very base of the stones, some of them are still Herodian. That means they were the ones that were put in place in Herod's day, starting even more than a decade before Jesus was born. In fact, it's John 2 that says, what is it? Forty and six years has this temple been constructed or whatever. In fact. History tells us, Josephus tells us that in 70 AD they were still doing work on the temple mount when the Romans came in and wiped it out. Herod started to remodel the temple and the whole temple area because he wanted to make it better than Solomon's temple, indeed as much of a magnificent work as even the pyramids. And I suspect he essentially succeeded because of what Josephus says and what I've seen. You go to the bottom of the temple mount. I touched one of the largest stones, at least the largest one that's been uncovered so far. It is 43, one block. Okay, this is one stone block that was put into place and hand carved out by masons. It was 43 feet long, 12 feet high and 12 feet deep. say, well, that sounds big. Well, let me just help you see how big it is. I had my assistant help me yesterday. Remember that, Annette? So I didn't have a tape measure big enough, so the two of us had to do it. So you don't know how big of a block this is. So the corner of the church right here, guess how far back you have to go to hit the 43 feet? Just past Madeline, just short of the edge of the window there, it's 43 feet. That's how long it was. So it's basically the length of the inside of the church. You know how tall 12 feet is? See where the windows are? That's about nine. See where the top of the brown is that separates from the ceiling? That's about 11 and a half. That's a pretty big stone, right? You wanna know how far 12 feet out this way is? That's, where's the, to right here, right through the middle of Bob. OK, and that dodges. OK, so right from that's a big stone. This is this is how Herod constructed the base of the temple. You know, to this day, it is a wonder of modern engineering. You know what it would take? We were underneath the temple mount. Right. And if you didn't like small spaces, you wouldn't like some of this stuff. But We're underneath here, and a couple of us are standing from end to end with our hands on the stone there at the base of the western wall. And he says, you know how much this weighs? And I don't remember the weight. It would take two of the largest modern cranes in existence today to lift that and put it into place. We still have no idea how they did it. The best guess is They originally sculpted it out to be a column and rolled it into place using all of their engineering techniques that they could come up with. Physically rolled it into place, a little bit past where it needed to go, and then carved it off flat, and then pushed it and dropped it into its place, and then sculpted the rest of it. And here's the amazing thing. When they dropped it into place, The Temple Mount literally all the blocks on the way up are are just millimeters all in set so it doesn't fall out. It stays in. Now, if you look at pictures of the Temple Mount and you read this next verse, Jesus says to them, do you not see all these things? Truly, I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down. You know, that used to bother me because Because there are all those stones that you see. I thought that not one would be left upon another. Well, again, if you look at Mark, you know what he's you know what the question is about all the buildings on the top. You know what happened to all the buildings on the top? The Romans scalped the top. They're all gone. It's all gone up top. All that was left is the foundation stone, which is where the Dome of the Rock was built over top of the foundation stone. Everything else was scalped right off. And when you look at the Western Wall, if you look at the really large stones at the bottom, those are the ones that Herod put in place. And there were stones just like those all the way up to the top. The stones that are there now were either put up by Romans or Crusaders or Mamluks or whatever through the centuries. That's all been rebuilt. That's why there are all the different patterns and styles and sizes. And none of them match the ones that are at the bottom. So when When the disciples say to Jesus, look at this. And they're talking not not about the base, which incidentally, in Solomon's day, he built the temple on Mount Moriah. OK, really cool, build it really nice, amazing place, everybody knew about it, talked about it, world renowned. That gets leveled and Ezra and Nehemiah come back and they set up a base and build a replacement temple when they get back into the land. And the people that remembered seeing Solomon's temple wept because it was nothing in comparison to what Solomon built. Herod comes along and says, oh, yeah, well, we'll make it better than even in Solomon's day. The first thing we need to do is expand the top of the mountain so that we can really do this. So that's when he built the arches and that base so that he took a platform that was about the size of the temple and expanded it out to the size of 26 football fields. And he filled it all in with dirt and rose the mountain up. So it was one huge, massive flat area. That's the Western Wall, the Eastern Wall, and the other. That's the retaining walls of the Temple Mount structure. And then on top of that, now, just so you get a picture for how, and I can't do this inside, so if you can mentally take a walk outside of the church with me now for a minute, okay? From the ground to the top of the Temple Mount in Jesus' day was 150 feet. Now, do you know how tall 150 feet is? That's even taller than I am. You know how tall 150 feet is? That's 15 stories. And here's something to put into perspective. They had to walk steps up 15 stories just to get to the Temple Mount. Every day, that's what Jesus walked. Jesus was buff, man. And he walked up to all those stone steps. And there's a couple of stone steps there in Israel, aren't there, dear? Oh, yeah, right and listen When you get up to the temple mount That's not the high point when you get to the top of the temple mount on the one end is the Solomon's porch with all those cool columns and the roof on it and in the middle is In the middle is the temple, and then the courtyard area around the temple separating the altar and the court of the men and the court of the women, and then out is the partitions for the court of the Gentiles. The temple building itself was another 150 feet up. That's 15 more stories. And by the way, it was all made out of gleaming white marble with actual gold plates affixed to all the highlights. The Dome of the Rock is 69 and a half feet tall or something like that. The temple was more than twice that tall. The Dome of the Rock, you know, it looks really shiny. That's brass. And they actually go in, they don't scuff it, I forget I forget what the treatment is, but every every few years they treat it so that it's not super reflective because they don't want to blind anybody. And you can literally see it for miles around. Well, in Jesus's day, they polished the gold on Herod's temple, so it shined. You couldn't stare at it in the sun. This is amazing. And all the other structures and everything. Listen, they put tons and tons of work and skill, craftsmanship and money into this place. And this is the temple of God. This is where worship takes place. This is the location where God has fixed his name. The glory of God came to his temple and they rejected it. And as and the disciples are looking for the kingdom to come in and they're following the king and they walk into the temple and they're over as even as they're leaving again, which they've done every day this week, even as they're leaving the temple, they go, Jesus, look at these buildings and they're impressed with the place. They're impressed with the buildings. They're impressed with the craftsmanship of God. And the nation has just rejected God. And he says, you're not going to see me again until you really recognize me for who I am. And that's why as Jesus comes out from the temple and he's going away, when his disciples come up and point out the temple buildings to him, he says to them, do you not see all these things? Truly, I say to you that not one stone here will be left upon another which will not be torn down. This is all coming down. This is this is a wonder of the world. In my opinion, perhaps the greatest because of the significance of it. He says, hey, you guys are impressed with it. I got I got news for you. It ain't about the place of God's worship. It's the person of God you worship. And they rejected me. So all of this is coming down. Now, you get a taste for why that by the time they and it's about 15 minute walk, 20 minute walk by this point, walking out of the temple, pointing out all the stones and all the handiwork and everything else. coming out, going down the Kidron Valley and up to the Mount of Olives. And then they sit down and as he's sitting on the Mount of Olives and again, sitting on the Mount of Olives, you can look right at the temple. You can see what's going on on the top of the temple. So all of its glory would be on display. As disciples come 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? Now, this verse tells you what the next two chapters are about. This is the question the disciples ask Jesus, and it's the question that He answers the rest of these two chapters. Tell us, when and what? Two questions. When will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And just so we're clear here, you can even see it in the English grammar, What will be the sign singular of your coming and of the end of the age? There's a clear recognition that that that Jesus coming and they're not thinking of him coming again. They're thinking of him coming in glory and and bringing in the kingdom. That's why they say you're coming. And the end of the age, the end of this age and the beginning of what the kingdom. This is what they're asking. And this is what Jesus is going to answer from this point forward. And as we begin to get into the study of this text, we're going to look at verses four to 14. The first part of Jesus's answer is in these verses. And it is to tell us four signs of the times that are not The sign that it's time. If you're taking notes, here's your outline. Jesus gives his disciples four signs of the times, the times in which they live and the times in which are going to follow until the consummation. Four signs of the times that are not the sign that it's time, because remember, they asked for the sign of your coming and of the end of the age. Well, to begin with, he tells them what isn't going to be the sign, what you don't look for and think, oh, this is it. Notice in verse four, it begins first with personalities. Personalities are not one of the signs Seeing personalities and people presenting themselves as the Messiah or announcing themselves as Messiah is not going to be the sign that it's the consummation. Notice in verses 4 and 5, Jesus answered and said to them, See to it that no one misleads you. See to it. They're called a vigilance. It's a present imperative in the Greek, which means you need to make it your practice to be constantly making sure no one misleads you in this way. Be always alert for this and watching out for this. This isn't just you need to do it. This is you need to be continually aware. This is the case. Make sure no one misleads you, because many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and they're going to lead a lot of people astray. They're going to lead a lot of people astray. Now, maybe today in our context here, in a little church in the desert in Southern California, maybe we're not really under the threat of buying into because there have been so many of them. Maybe we're not under the threat of buying into people saying, oh, the second coming is happening on this day or, oh, the Christ has been seen and this is who it is and he's doing a miracle. We may not be subject to those kinds of beliefs, but throughout The history of the church, many have been. Many have been led astray. And I dare say, as long as people can make millions or more doing so-called miraculous and sign ministries and get tons of money for... One of the most obnoxious things I've seen is you get a picture... If you send a donation of, what was it, $25? I forget. It's been a long time since somebody showed it to me. But for a donation of $25, you can get an actual prayer rug to pray on that looks just like the rug that Benny Hinner, one of those clowns, prays on. Although, just for the record, it's a print. So it's a sheet of paper that has a picture. And it might even be an inkjet instead of a toner. I don't know. But as long as those kinds of shams exist, and people buy into that kind of stuff, this is a relevant instruction. And in Jesus' day, this was very... You know, even in the New Testament itself, there are a plurality of false messiahs that are mentioned. People claiming to be the messiah. Acts 5, verse 36, Thutis. Acts 5, verse 37, Judas the Galilean. Acts 21, verse 38, the Egyptian. And on it goes. Josephus mentions a number of others as well. Someone claiming to be the Messiah, even if there are miracles accompanying his profession or proclamation, that is not the sign that it's time for the Second Coming. that it's time for the consummation of the age. See to it. Nobody misleads you because many are going to come in my name saying I'm the Christ and they'll mislead many. You know, our Israeli guide incidentally told us about something I'd never heard of. It's called the Jerusalem syndrome. You remember when Matt was talking to us about that? Do you know what the Jerusalem syndrome is? Apparently, it's very common. And our guide told us to look it up. to Google it or look it up on Wikipedia. So I did. Wikipedia summarizes it this way, which is probably better than I can describe it. The Jerusalem Syndrome is a group of mental phenomena involving the presence of either religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions, or other psychosis-like experiences that are triggered by a visit to the city of Jerusalem. It is not endemic To one single religion or denomination but has affected Jews Christians and Muslims of many different backgrounds It is not listed as a recognized condition in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders But note, but they're trying to get it in there The best known, although not the most prevalent manifestation of Jerusalem syndrome is the phenomenon whereby a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of psychopathology becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. This psychosis is characterized by an intense religious theme and typically resolves to full recovery after a few weeks or after being removed from the area, which they forcibly do. And apparently it's common for people to claim to be the Messiah or claim to be the second coming of somebody. If you go to Wikipedia and look it up, you can even see a picture of one of these clowns in Tel Aviv presenting himself as the Messiah. We took a bike ride one day through Jerusalem. We left at four o'clock in the morning. Yes, Kath can get up at four a.m. And so we went, we walked about three miles to get to our bikes, rode six and a half miles through the city. It was beautiful. Nobody was there. We watched the sunrise from the roof of the building where the upper room was. So right above the upper room, we watched the sunrise from there. And then we went back and we rode through the Kidron Valley right along the eastern wall with the Kidron Valley down below us and up to the Mount of Olives. Right through this area we're talking about in our text. And the eastern gate was sealed shut by the Muslims. And they turned the whole area on the eastern side there, they turned it all into a graveyard. Do you know why? to prevent the Messiah from coming because Elijah has to come first and there's no way Elijah can walk through a graveyard and not become unclean. So now the Messiah can never come. Well, apparently they've never read Zechariah 14, which says when the Messiah comes back, he sets foot on the Mount of Olives and the whole thing splits. Pretty sure splitting the earth open moves a graveyard out of the way. And I asked our Israeli guide about this. He says, oh, we don't worry about the fact that they've sealed up the gate. All that, we like it. And we like the graveyard here and we like the sealed up gate because you know what it does? It stops pretenders. Nobody can come through that gate and say I'm the Messiah. You know what you're going to have to be in order to present yourself as the Messiah and fulfill Zachariah? You know what you're going to have to be? You're going to have to be the Messiah. You're going to have to be able to split the earth and break open the gate in order to walk through there. So guess what? I can tell you as sure as I'm standing here, that's what's going to happen or something like it. Because nobody's going to stop the second coming. But don't think that there won't be those who pretend. And that's what Jesus is telling his disciples. You want to know about the sign of my coming to establish my kingdom? And you want to know the sign that goes with that, that is signaling that this is the consummation? Well, I'll tell you what, it isn't people claiming to be me. It isn't people claiming to be me. That's number one. So don't be looking for personality. Don't be looking for for for somebody that says it's here or I'm him. That ain't the way it's going to happen. Number two, don't be looking for catastrophes. Don't be looking for some kind of cataclysm to to be the signal that all this must be the sign of the second coming. Look at verses six to eight. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you're not frightened, for those things must take place. But it's not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all of these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. How many of you remember where you were on September 11th? Remember how immediately there was a lot of talk about God? Remember how there was even some talk about, well, is this the sign that it's the end? Remember when the tower fell? Tower of Siloam fell on Jesus' day. And he says, do you think that the people in that tower were more worse than you? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you likewise will perish. Calamities, catastrophes, earthquakes, famines, wars, tragedies. This is part of human history. This is part. of what goes with living in a sin, curse, fallen world. Don't be looking for those kinds of events to happen. You know, I have a record here just between the time of the crucifixion and 70 A.D. and in recorded ancient history in that immediate time frame. There are I counted six, I only wrote down one, two, three, four, five of them, OK? 37 A.D., there was a massive earthquake in Antioch, 53 A.D. in Phrygia, 61 A.D. in Asia, 67 A.D. in Jerusalem. In Acts 11 and verse 28, Agabus predicts the famine in Jerusalem. Listen, there are going to be wars. There are going to be world wars. Notice he says nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom. This just doesn't even have to do with the Middle East. This is around the world. When he says you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars, that little word rumors just means reports or accounts. It doesn't mean that they're you know, I always thought of that word rumors of wars being, you know, you're being told about something that isn't happening. The word can be that, but it's really more generally just you're going to get the accounts of what's going on. And a lot of it may indeed be factual. You ever ever turn on the news and watch Fox News or CNN or whoever? Whatever political spin you want on your news, you can get it today. There's so much destruction, there's so much evil, there's so much atrocity. And as a believer, you wonder how long, oh Lord, how long, oh Lord, right? And sometimes when really big things happen, you might think, well, this can't get any worse than this. Actually, I've read the book of Revelation. I've studied it and preached it. And I know what the real outpouring of God's wrath is going to look like. And this ain't it. Nothing we've seen is it. And that's Jesus' point. You want to know what the signs aren't? What the signs of the times that you're living in are going to continue to live in until I come? You want to know what the signs are like that are not indications that we're at the climax? personalities that claim to be me and two Catastrophes that happen that are frankly all these things verse eight are merely the beginning of birth pangs You know what birth pangs are I? Think I have this right see what Kath and I went through childbirth. I think that You know, don't you think we went through it the preferable way we adopted our kids. So I So my experience with morning sickness and all those kinds of things might be a little reserved, but I've been around enough of you and visited you in a hospital, etc. I'm pretty sure it's a grueling process to go through childbirth. Is that accurate? Okay. Now, you know what Braxton Hicks contractions are? Are they real? Yeah, but no. Do they hurt? Does it feel like a real contraction? I mean, I've never had any and probably won't ever. But are there are there aspects of discomfort and pain and et cetera that that are it's like the baby. It's like the baby's coming, but the baby doesn't come. And it's in some cases, some of you ladies, you must like the process. So you spend it for a couple of extra weeks, right? Right. You know, I'm saying it's just it's pain after pain after pain after pain, but none of them is really. Oh, the baby's coming when it finally is. Oh, the baby's coming. You can tell. Right. That's what Jesus is saying. You're going to think these earthquakes, you're going to think these famines, you're going to think these catastrophes and calamities and cataclysmic events, you're going to think all these wars and you're going to think all this stuff is, it must be time, but I'm here to tell you, these are just the birth pangs. These are just the signs that indicate to you what the real deal will be like. Tell me something, is the actual process of delivery, does it trump all the rest of the stuff that happened before then, at least for most of you? Doesn't it? Yeah. That's what Jesus is saying. I got news for you. When the end comes, you won't have trouble recognizing it. All the stuff you're seeing now are blips on the radar in comparison to the real deal. These are just the beginnings of birth pains. You want to know what the The signs of the times are that are not the sign that it's time for the consummation. One personalities to catastrophes, three persecution. Verse nine, then they will deliver you to tribulation, they will kill you and you will be hated by all nations because of what? Because of my name. You know, you can read Fox's Book of Martyrs if you want. But if you're really interested in delving into a little bit of early church history, may I suggest to you Eusebius's history of the early church, the first three centuries. And you can get a really nice, easy to read version of it, a well-written translation of it by Meyer. You can get it on Amazon. I believe it's even available in Kindle, although I can't remember that for sure. Read Eusebius's church history and the accounts of the torture and the sufferings and the way all nations were against anyone that named the name of Christ. And you might think that level of persecution and that deliberate intention to exterminate Christianity. You know, Hadrian attempted to do this in Jerusalem in 135 A.D. He erected a little monument to himself and a gate was the gateway was part of the gateway was still there, right there. Yeah, we saw we saw, you know, we saw so many stones and so many sculptures and so many things. There's a little bit of a blur. Hadrian put up a monument to himself in Jerusalem as the one who stamped out and wiped out Christianity and Judaism permanently. Well, might have been a little premature in putting that up, but there's been no shortage of people who have tried to kill all Christians. None whatsoever. You know something, there are going to be times when it seems like the whole world is against Christ and the whole world is out to kill all of his people. But that's not the sign that it's time for the second coming. It's not. That's his point. They're going to deliver you to tribulation. Philipsis. Hardship. Tribulation. And they're going to kill you. And you're going to be hated. Notice it doesn't just say by Israel or by Jews. By whom? All nations. It's going to come to the point where everybody's against you because of my name, because you love me, because you serve me. But I've got news for you. That isn't the end. That's just part of what it means to be a Christian. depending on the season that you're in. Fourth. Personalities, catastrophes, persecution. But actually, there was one more thing I wanted to say here in Second Timothy, Chapter three, I want you to turn there with me. Second Timothy, Chapter three. Starting in verse 10. Look at what the Apostle Paul says with regard to persecution as it relates to Christianity. He says to Timothy, second Timothy three, verse 10. Now you followed my teaching, my conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love and perseverance and the persecutions and sufferings such as happened to me at Antioch and that Iconium at Lystra and what persecutions I endured and out of all of them how the Lord rescued me. And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be what persecuted. It's part of it. It's part of it. Jesus never promised that living for him would be easy. Jesus never promised that everybody would be happy with us. In fact, in the Beatitudes, you'll recall that Jesus says, Blessed are you when men persecute you and revile you and say all manner of evil against you for my sake. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you, and your reward in heaven is great. Right? This is part of it. And that's what Jesus is telling his disciples. It's part of it. They will deliver you to tribulation. They will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. But that's not the sign that we've come to the consummation. That's just a sign of the times and what it means to be a Christian in a sin, curse, fallen world until I come. And the final one, and it's probably the toughest, it's apostasy, verses 10 to 13. Apostasy. You know what apostasy is? It's when you acknowledge the truth and you believe the truth and then you depart from it. It's when you go away from it. Verse 10, Jesus says, At that time, many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and they will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will what? Grow cold. Now, there's a little issue here. Most people's love for what? For each other, for God, for both. I think it's primarily for God. Most people's love will grow cold. Most people's love for Christ will grow cold. I don't know that I know of anything colder than Catholicism. I don't know that I know of anything more offensive directly than Catholicism because it names Christ and claims to be speaking for Christ and yet corrupts the gospel of Christ. And having seen it first hand and the impact it has on so many people and misleading them, this is a little bit outside of here, but when I was As it turns out, we had a royal that visited Jerusalem when we showed up. I didn't know who it was, but apparently it was Prince William. So one of the people in the group got a picture of him. That's how close we were. And I wouldn't have known him from Adam, but we couldn't get into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or wait in any of the lines because that's where he was going that day. So we went back. I think a different night, a few of us. Kath went to bed, because it was about 8 or whatever we were, 7 or 8, and so Kath went to bed. It was a long day, so I'm not blaming her or anything. I mean, I would have, but I just really wanted to go in and see it. I wanted to see what was left of the Mount of Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, and I wanted to get to what was left, you know, that had been sculpted away and see the empty tomb. I just wanted to see it. So I get in there and you know at eight o'clock nobody's there. Nobody. So well OK not nobody but almost nobody. So we go all the way up and I get up to the mount and they build an altar. They build an altar over the stone where it's at least part of what most likely where Jesus was crucified. And then they have a hole. They've got a plastic cover over the whole stone. They put a hole in it. But in order to touch it, you have to get on your hands and knees and go underneath the altar and reach down and touch it. And we were like fifth or sixth in line and I'm standing there. And I realized everybody is weeping or praying or whatever and you're waiting for each person to get done with their little ritual. They get out and then they go and they get anointed with oil and blessed by the priest and the nun that's there. And I just thought, I don't want any part of this. And so I left and then we went down to the empty tomb and we stood in line for a while, half hour or so, and right before we went in, the priest, you know, it's this all sacred, everybody's quiet, it's a, what they used to call it, you had to, a modesty site. So you had to have, you know, long pants on, your shoulders covered, and all this stuff. So we, we finally, it's, we're, the next one's in line. And the priest comes out, closing in ten minutes. You guys listening to me? Closing in ten minutes. Just like that. I'm thinking, you know, all, dude, Like this is your bread and butter. And then he goes in and he takes it. There's a little offering box they have in the empty tomb. Well, I go in there and you see the slab where he perhaps was laid and resurrected. And then you see all this stuff all over the walls, all this Catholicism. They are taking the truth and listen, they're doing the same thing. that the Jews did with the Temple Mount, that Jesus went in and said, you've turned the whole thing into a marketplace. I just wanted to be where Jesus was. I turned it into just a great offense to God. You know, you should not be surprised that just because, listen, apostasy is not the sign of the end. Do you remember what Jesus said in the parable of the soils? Remember what he said? So there's four kinds of soil. One, absolute rejection of the message, no impact, no nothing, they're gone. The other three are positive responses of the gospel. One is evergreen and ever fruitful. They're always hanging around but never really manifest real saving faith. One is real saving faith, proved by endurance and by fruit. The other one believes for a while and then leaves, departs. That falls away. Apostasy. Listen, this is part of what it means to be a Christian in a sin-cursed, fallen world. You should not be surprised that there are false religions. You should not be surprised that there are people that fall away from the truth. You should not be surprised that people try to corrupt the Gospel and the Gospel message. And you should not be thinking that those are the signs that He's coming. This is just a sign that this is what it's like until He does come. This is the reality. Notice what Jesus says in verse 13, though. But the one who endures to the end, he will be what saved. You know what? You know what the real message is for us is right here. Jesus is coming back, and when he does, it's going to be the consummation of redemptive history and you can count on it. It will happen. But don't be looking for it or worrying about it or get fascinated with all the supposed events and how they all line up. It isn't about that. It's about just being persistent and living a life of worship for Jesus Christ and pointing others to Him no matter what anybody else does and no matter what happens to you. Look at verse 14. Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to whom? All nations. And then what? Then the end will come. Now, you tell me, just look at this verse. The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations. What's that sound like? What passage is a few chapters from now, does that sound like the Great Commission? go into all the world and make disciples, right? Do you know what Jesus says? Do you know when the end is going to come? When you guys have fulfilled your job. When you guys have proclaimed the good news of the kingdom to all nations, to the whole world. Then the end comes. Then the end comes. If you take your Bibles and turn with me to Acts, keep your finger here in Matthew 24 and turn to Acts chapter 1 with me. After the resurrection and right before Jesus ascends back to the right hand of the Father from whence he'd come, the disciples asked this. Notice in verse 6, Acts 1.6. When they that is the disciples and Jesus had come together, they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this time you're restoring the kingdom to Israel is now the time that you're going to do it. Remember, just 40 days before, well, about 42 days before they're on the Mount of Olives. And Jesus is saying. When the gospel is preached to all nations, that's when the consummation comes right here, they are a little over a month and a half later. When they say, Lord, is it at this time you're restoring the kingdom of Israel, the kingdom to Israel? Notice what he says. It is not for you to know the times or the epics which the father has fixed by his own authority. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth. I'll tell you when the consummation is coming. when the ministry of the gospel has come to its end, when we have fulfilled the job that God has given to us. It does not say when everybody repents. It says when everybody hears. You want to know what we should do with regard to looking forward to the imminent return of Jesus Christ and the consummation of the age, not be looking for him. Not be impressed or fearful of catastrophes or wars or calamities. Not be overwhelmed by persecution and not be distraught by apostasy, but singularly be living for him and doing the job he's called us to do until he comes. Until he comes. You go back to Matthew 24. And I leave you with these words. The one who endures to the end, he will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations. That's why we're here. We aren't here to live out our comfortable little Christian lives. We aren't here to just be a church and minister to each other. We are here to bear witness to all peoples that Jesus is the Christ. and that he's coming again to judge the living and the dead, including you and including me. Now, let me ask you a very simple question. Are you ready? If he were to come today, are you ready to meet your maker? There is a way to be ready, and that's to recognize Jesus for who he is. To say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord and recognize Jesus and his death on the cross. as the means by which God reconciled you to Himself and paid for your sins. You know, this isn't all about signs. It's about certainty. Jesus is coming, and when He comes, it will mean judgment. Are you ready? There aren't going to be a bunch of early warning announcements. He will come. And when He does, it's judgment. It isn't about symptoms. It's about salvation. You're going to see persecution of Christians. You're going to see apostasy. You're going to see people claiming to be the Messiah. You're going to see cataclysms and horrible happenings. And all of these are just birth pangs. Just recognize these things are blips on the radar in comparison to what real divine wrath looks like. Are you ready? And it isn't about society, it's about a Savior. It doesn't matter what the world thinks. It doesn't matter what the world says. It doesn't matter what's popular. All that matters is you have a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Because in the end, He is the one person that you will answer to. Are you ready? Father, thank you so much for this day and for sending your Son to die for us. Lord Jesus, thank you so much. We're getting our eyes off of the hype and the circumstances and helping us to fix them very firmly upon you. For those among us who do not know you, God, I pray you will open their eyes to the truth of who you are and create in them a fear of your righteous judgment and then draw them to yourself and save them. And for those of us who belong to You, Lord, I pray You'll help us to live above our circumstances. Whether it's medical issues or financial issues or relational issues or any other issues, Lord, I pray that You'll help us to recognize You are so much bigger and eternity is so much longer than this short, little, temporal existence in life. I pray that we would indeed seek to live for you and to glorify you with all of our heart and mind And look forward to your return even though we know it means destruction and wrath Even so lord jesus come And may we be living more motivated to live in light of the imminency of your return Because we know the certainty of it in jesus name