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welcome back to all our regular folk and a welcome to any visitors out there with us this morning it's a joy to have new faces in the pews as always we do hope for all that it'll be a glorious morning of worshiping our triune God and for any visitors if you have questions afterwards please feel free to approach us a couple announcements this morning prior to worship first off Mike a butler has applied for membership so that's excellent it's good to have Micah back and it's good to have him seeking after membership here we can pray for him and for that as well just a reminder it is the lord's supper service this evening this evening we will be observing the supper of our Lord well let's turn in our Bibles than to begin our worship this morning can turn to psalm 138 psalm 138 Psalm 138 this is the word of the living and true God a psalm of David I will praise you with my whole heart before the gods I will sing praises to you I will worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and your truth for you have magnified your word above all your name in the day when I cried out you answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul all the kings of the earth shall praise you O Lord when they hear the words of your mouth yes they shall sing of the ways of the Lord for great is the glory of the Lord though the Lord is on high yet he regards the lowly but the proud he knows from afar though I walk in the midst of trouble you will revive me you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand will save me the Lord will perfect that which concerns me your mercy O Lord endures forever do not forsake the works of your hands amen well let's stand and sing our first Tim if you want to turn with me and your red Trinity salter will stand and sing Psalm 110 Psalm 110 be seated let us pray our righteous and our holy God we rejoice now that we can gather together as the Saints of Christ in this place to worship you Father Son and Holy Spirit we thank you again that you've caused us to arise on this day we can enjoy the blessings of your creation that we can rejoice in many blessings and many benefits that you do pour out upon us we thank you now that we can gather together in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ to sing your praises to worship you to come to you to come to that throne of grace with boldness bringing before you now our prayers and our supplications and we do pray that they would be mingled with Thanksgivings that you would be the recipient of all honor and all praise and Lord God that we would know the Peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding we pray that you would cause us to worship you are right in this place this morning we pray that we would worship you in spirit and in truth we pray Lord God that you would give us that measure of your Holy Spirit that our hearts might be stirred up to high praises and to high honoring ziff you are our triune God we do just pray that you would help us to cast off all thoughts of the previous week and in any thoughts that might intrude of the upcoming week that we might be wholly abandoned unto the worship of our God this morning we do pray that we would hallo your name in this place and Lord God not only here but around the world in all of your churches we do pray that all of your redeemed Saints would be singing the praises of their God and we do pray that in a multitude of churches your word would be proclaimed from many a pulpit that you would empower preachers of the gospel not to preach half a gospel or half a Christ but that they would preach the full and saving gospel of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ for truly we know that bless it's saying that faithful saying that is worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world sinners to save we rejoice in that blessed truth that in the fullness of the times you sent forth your son born a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons we thank you that he came into this world that he lived a life of obedience unto your law in the stead of all those who believe we rejoice in that blessed a cross workup on Calvary's tree wherein he took upon himself your wrath he died for sinners upon that blessed cross and we know that it was not an atonement it was not a sacrifice of maybe or perhaps but Lord God upon that cross he perfectly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number and we rejoice in that precious blood we know that there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood and we thank you that we have that in our blessed Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for the resurrection on the third day where he arose from that tomb and with power and great victory we thank you that he has ascended to your right hand where he ever lives to make intercession for his people where he rules and reigns over his enemies where he subdues the hearts of his elect and brings many sons to glory we do rejoice in our Lord Jesus Christ and God we pray that you would impress upon us this day the riches and the excellencies of our Savior and that we might adequately adequately praise you we would ask God that you would be with those who need prayer for the physical things as we prayed for them in this morning's prayer hour we do pray that you would bless those who are sick those who are diseased those who are injured Lord God we do pray for healing we pray for physical strength we would it we would ask Lord God that you would bless each and every one that and even in the midst of physical trial Lord God that you would lift them up in the inner man that you would in their spirit cause them to rejoice and we do just pray that you would that caused them in the face of affliction nevertheless to endure it to be wholly resigned unto the will of the living and true God in all things we do pray Lord God for those who have lost in this recent week we pray for Josh and Nicole we would ask that you would strengthen them that you would give them much grace and much healing and we do just pray that you attend unto their hearts and than in the midst of this to rejoice in their God we pray that by such things you would bring sinners to yourself and by gospel and by spirit we do pray Lord God that you would be with those unable to join us we know whether for illness or for travel we pray that you would watch over those who are not here this morning to give them traveling mercies watch over them protect them in and do return them safely to their homes we would ask Lord God for those around the world who are suffering under the persecuting hands of those who are opponents of the living and true God there are many lands where our brothers and sisters in Christ are being persecuted even unto death for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we would ask that you would bring much help to them that you'd bring much courage and strength to their hearts we pray Lord God that you would cause them to lay hold of the hope of their calling without wavering knowing that you the triune God are faithful we do pray that in the midst of such opposition and hatred and anger and persecution they would nevertheless be able to buy your grace look away from the heavy hands of their oppressors and look with eyes of faith upon the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world they would find all courage and all strength in our risen and exalted Christ Jesus we do just pray again that you would deal with those who persecute your people we pray that you would come to them with the gospel of Jesus Christ that they would hear of the Savior for sinners that they would hear if you are holy God that they would know their sin and that you would Lord God by your grace bring them unto repentance that they might turn from their idolatry and the madness of their false religion and that they might own the Savior the king of kings and Lord of lords and that they might know all spiritual blessings in him we do pray again for those who would continue in their opposition those who will not bend the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ who are daily persecuting your people we do pray that you would take them out of the way that you would bring temporal judgment upon them we would ask Lord God that you would cause them to stumble like drunken men that they may no longer bring violence in opposition to the people of Christ we pray for those who rule over us in this lower world the governments of the name we would ask more God that you would raise up rulers who would seek to rule in righteousness and justice and equity it truly grieves us to look out at the landscape of politics and to see those who uphold vices virtue and who cast down virtue as vice we do pray that you would cause those who are such that they would be taken away from their positions of power and that you would replace them with those who would uphold righteousness in the land we do ask now father that you would be with us in worship we pray for the preacher pastor Butler as he comes up here to proclaim your word we pray as he opens up his Bible and as he grips the wood of this pulpit that you would strengthen him that he would not be leaning upon his own strength but that he would be leaning solely and alone upon the strength that the triune God affords ministers of his gospel we do just pray that the preaching of the word that the worship of our God this day would be unto the strengthening of your gathered Christians here we do pray that we'd be nourished and strengthened that we would be encouraged to leave this place seeking to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ and we would ask yet again God that the preaching of the word the worship of our God this morning would be unto the salvation of sinners might you be here by your amazing and victorious grace that those who entered in these two doors outside of the Lord Jesus Christ in damning unbelief that you would buy amazing brace turn them from deadness and sin to life and light in Christ Jesus the Lord that a multitude of tongues would leave this place singing hallelujah what a savior and it's in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ me now pray amen well let's stand and sing then as a church our next him a reminder as we stand and sing as Christians we are speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs so let's stand as a gathered church and sing 298 in your larger Trinity hymnals 298 you can turn in your Bibles to Matthew 17 our new testament scripture reading this Lord's Day morning a reading of Matthew 17 verse 12 verse 13 Matthew 17 beginning in verse 1 once again the word of the living and true God now after six days Jesus took Peter James and John his brother led them up on a high mountain by themselves and he was transfigured before them his face Sean like the Sun and his clothes became as white as the light and behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him then Peter answered and said to Jesus Lord it is good for us to be here if you wish let us make here three Tabernacles one for you one for Moses and one for Elijah while he was still speaking behold a bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him and when the disciples heard it they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid but Jesus came and touched them and said arise and do not be afraid when they had lifted up their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only now as they came down from the mountain Jesus commanded them saying tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead and his disciples asked him saying why then did the scribe say that Elijah must come first jesus answered and said to them indeed Elijah is coming first and will restore all things but I say to you that Elijah has come already and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands then the despite that excuse me then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the baptist amen well just very briefly it Arthur pink said something along these words with regards to the book of Hebrews he said Christ is or he said this rather the the summon substance the center and circumference the light and light of Christianity is Christ the book of Hebrews in many ways is an explanation of the theology of Matthew 17 128 there Jesus Christ is seen with Moses and Elijah and the voice from the father comes from heaven this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear him we have this language in verse 8 when they had lifted up their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only you remember the first words of the book of Hebrews God and various times and in various ways spoke in time passed to the fathers by the prophets but has in these last days spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed heir of all things by whom he made the world's we have here the reality set forth before us of the supremacy in the primacy the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as he appears before them as he appears before his disciples decked in his divine glory not all of it of course but nevertheless his deity something of his deity made known to the disciples and we see this voice from heaven here Christ if you're here this morning here Christ our blessed Savior the king of kings and Lord of lords the one to whom comes to your the one from whom comes to you his word the word that says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved the blessèd Gospel comes from the lips of our Savior the blessèd Gospel comes from the lips of those he has empowered from on high to proclaim the glorious truth if you're here this morning and you are his you're you're a believer hear him and rejoice in his word if you're here and you're an unbeliever hear him and terror if you do not find yourself safely orms of Christ because you will hear those words you will hear him on a fateful day on that fateful and last day when he says depart from me into the everlasting fire reserved for the devil and his angels don't wait until that last day to hear him hear him now here the Grace and the love and the mercy of his gospel here those sweet words that yes there is a holy God that is just to punish those who violate his law that yes you are dead in your trespasses and sins holy deserving eternal wrath and the Justice of God but here as well the sweetness of the one that came into this world sinners to save who by his word says all who believe in me shall not be ashamed but shall have everlasting life rejoice in the Savior and find in him you're all in all hear him let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for the words that we read here in Matthew 17 we thank you for our blessed Savior and we do pray that you would help us to rejoice in him today we pray that Saints here this morning Christians would rejoice in you our blessed God and would sing the praises of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we would ask again that you would be exalted upon the praises of this gathered assembly and we pray that you would this morning be strong to save we pray that you would save sinners and that you would Lord God around the world have your word proclaimed and that a multitude of newly redeemed tongues would sing the praises of their victor the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray in his name amen well let's stand and sing then our final him before the preaching in your larger Trinity hymnal again let's stand and sing 239 please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 24 Matthew chapter 24 that's awesome Matthew 24 I'll begin reading in verse 1 then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple and Jesus said to them do you not see all these things assuredly I say to you not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down now as he sat on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age jesus answered and said to them take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many and you will hear what hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet for nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom and there will be famines pestilences and earthquakes in various places all these are the beginning of Sorrows then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake and then many will be offended will betray one another and will hate one another then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many and because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold but he who endorsed to the end shall be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place whoever reads let him understand then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains let him who is on the on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house and let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath for then there will be Great Tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time no nor shall or ever shall be and unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved but for the elects sake those days will be shortened than if anyone says to you look here is the Christ or there do not believe it for false Christ's and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the elect see I have told you beforehand therefore if they say to you look he is in the desert do not go out or look he is in the inner rooms do not believe it for as the Lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west so also will the coming of the Son of man be for wherever the carcass is there the Eagles will be gathered together immediately after the tribulation of those days the Sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send as an angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other now learn this parable from the fig tree when its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves you know that summer is near so you also when you see all these things know that it is near at the doors assuredly I say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place heaven and earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away amen will let us pray our Father in Heaven we thank you for the written word and we thank you for the Prophet Christ and we pray now that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to receive your truth we ask Lord God that your spirit would be at work in this place she would indeed be helping the people of God to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus and for those God who are not yet your people we pray that conviction of sin would come that as our beloved brother cam has reminded us may they hear Christ may they hear that one who speaks with absolute authority because he is the god man we would pray that today would be the day of salvation that sinners would leave their idols and come to the true and the Living God knowing the joy of being found in him not having their own righteousness which is from the law but that which is given by you through faith in Christ Jesus even now God we pray that you would wash us and purify us and forgive us for all of our sins and all that does dark in our understanding and we pray these things through Christ our Lord amen just need to move this event well we've come in our studies in matthew's gospel to the Olivet discourse the fifth of five discourses in Matthew's Gospel we saw the sermon in the on the mountain chapters five to seven we see his instructions to his disciples in terms of missions in chapter 10 we see the parables of the kingdom in chapter 13 and then community relationships specifically dealing with discipline in the life of God's people in chapter 18 so this is the for a fifth discourse in Matthew's Gospel some have seen a correspondence here between Moses in the Old Covenant and Jesus in the New Covenant the five books of Moses the five discourses of our Lord Jesus Christ now just by way of reminder because it's been some time since we've been here in Matthew's Gospel we are still dealing on the particular day in the Passion Week which is tuesday on Sunday of The Passion Week we see the triumphal entry that's recorded in chapter 21 when Jesus comes triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem and then on Monday he cleanses the temple remember things were not good things were not well religiously in Israel at that time and Jesus cleanses the temple showing his disapproval for the conduct of Israel in the temple of God as well he curses the fig tree on that Monday he pronounces that curse and he says that no fruit will ever grow on you again we saw there that fig tree does in fact represent Israel as the nation and then on the Tuesday the disciples asked him about the fig tree and Jesus teaches them about faith he teaches them about prayer and praying in faith and then on Tuesday as well he confronts or he's confronted by the religious leaders specifically they ask him by what authority do you do these things and then Jesus puts them on the horns of a dilemma and then he tells three parables to indicate that Israel its religious leadership and ultimately its people are under the wrath of God they will be judged their city will be destroyed their temple will be destroyed that then sets off various confrontations there are a series of questions posed to Christ concerning taxes the resurrection and then the law itself and in Jesus ends that portion of their confrontation by asking them concerning the identity of Messiah whose son is he and then in chapter 23 Christ warns his disciples and the multitudes against the religious leaders he does that in chapter 23 verses 1 to 12 and then in chapter 23 verses 13 to 33 he pronounces woes upon the religious leadership these scribes and Pharisees are hypocrites they are blind leaders of the blind and both will ultimately fall into the pit so that's the larger context and that brings us to the Tuesday evening in fact Luke highlights that Jesus in the temple was there during the day Luke 21 37 but at night he withdrew to Bethany this is where the Mount of Olives was and so this discourse this fifth discourse is called the all of that discourse because it was conducted at all of that on the Mount of all let's now I'd like to suggest that we look at the setting of the Olivet discourse in our study this morning so we're only going to focus on the first three verses and we're going to focus on that under three considerations first the departure from the temple verse 1 secondly the declaration concerning the temple in verse 2 and then thirdly the discourse regarding the temple that essentially takes up verse 3 to the end of the discourse but as I said we're only going to focus on the questions posed by the disciples but note in the first place his departure from the temple we cannot separate this from what has preceded the last thing we saw in our studies together was Jesus lamentation over Jerusalem notice in 23 37 0 Jerusalem Jerusalem the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you are not willing see your house is left to you desolate Jesus is sitting in the temple or scanning in the temple the house has already been described in chapter 21 as my house and here in terms of judgment he calls it your house there has been a radical departure on the part of Israel and that leads to the departure of Jesus from their presence notice in verse 1 of chapter 24 then Jesus went out and departed from the temple now many have seen this as an act of judgment or as a visible representation of judgment the departure of Christ from the temple and from the people are to be interpreted in a way that Remini reminds us of things that had gone on in the prophets but just consider in this passage two verbs are used he doesn't just say left a temple he went out and departed from the temple Matthew wants us to understand that this was a decisive thing he doesn't just change his venue he has said and he has pronounced in verse 38 your house is left to you desolate now he is indicating that by his own departure remember that in Matthew 123 Jesus is identified as he Manuel which translated means God with us so God with us is present in their temple he pronounces that it's now become desolate and God with us leaves the temple we ought not to miss the significance of the symbolism that is in view in this particular place previous departures by our Lord in contexts of judgment notice in Matthew 16 Matthew 16 specifically in verse 4 he says a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah and he left them and departed again we may be reading too much into this but I hope to show you in a moment that it is reminiscent of the prophet Ezekiel and Yahweh's departure from the temple itself notice as well in 2117 Christ's departure after he has this sort of conferred a confrontation or after the cleansing of the temple rather in 21 17 it says then he left them and went out of the city of Bethany and he lodged there and then remember the house has been identified as my house it's now called your house as well the place that was indeed to be a house of prayer Matthew 21 13 had become a den of thieves all of this reminiscent of the Prophet Jeremiah the place had proved to be fruitless like the fig tree that he cursed so Jesus now symbolically pronounces his a judgment upon it by leaving it just like we see in the book of Revelation when Jesus withdraws his lamp stand that indicates that things are not well we see in the very beginning chapter that Jesus is in the midst of the lampstands so when Jesus removes those lamp stands we ought not to conclude that all as well for that particular church in the same token when Jesus God with us stands in the temple and then he leaves or he departs and then he makes this pronouncement in verse 2 we ought to see the judgment symbolism utilized by our or but notice as I've already mentioned we ought to look at Ezekiel's prophecy we did look at this several weeks ago in our last study in Matthew 23 but it bears repetition notice in the prophet Ezekiel specifically chapter 8 not everybody's turning there you have great minds and ears and i'm sure you can follow all that i say but i would encourage you to follow along there's a whole lot of difference of opinion on the Olivet discourse I guarantee you by the time we finish chapter 25 some of you perhaps many of you are not going to agree with me we need to be charitable in an understanding that there are several disagreements concerning this all of that discourse it's a tough passage climbing Mount Olivet is no easy task even after spending time in the text often times you know there's some areas there's some issues he's just your your limited and fallible and it's difficult so I'm going to offer a particular interpretation as we move through this section of scripture that you may not agree with so you ought to follow along to at least legitimize or see how it is i arrived at this interpretation this is not a question of orthodox it's not the case that if you you don't agree with jim butler or i don't agree with you we're going to go to hell now this isn't the Trinity it's not the deity of Christ it's not the doctrine of justification by faith it is usually classified in that category described as eschatology or the study of last things now thankfully posts millennia lists all millennialist sand premillennial ists all set at the marriage supper of the Lamb and those who disagree on their specific interpretation of matthew chapters 24 and 25 they too will sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb but nevertheless it is important that we follow the thrust of Jesus words and his actions and I think Ezekiel I think so much of the prophets serve as backdrop for what our Lord is doing it all of that but notice in Ezekiel eight specifically in verse 6 says furthermore he said to me son of man do you see what they are doing the great abominations the house of Israel commits here to make me go far away from my sanctuary now turn again you will see greater abominations so God is in the sanctuary of Israel and he says to Ezekiel have you seen what they are doing do you see the great abominations at the house of Israel commits here to make me go far away from my sanctuary that's precisely the Khanda context in Matthew 24 he departs because of the abominations that had been conducted in the house of God and we can trace this departure of the glory of the Lord in Ezekiel's prophecy if you notice in chapter 9 verse 3 chapter 10 verse 1 chapter 10 verse 4 chapter 10 verses 18 and 19 you see the glory of Yahweh gradually departing from the sanctuary of the Lord it culminates in chapter 11 at verse 2 22 so the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them now note 23 and the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city intriguingly that's where Jesus is at all of that and so he is paralleling he is just like this withdrawal of the presence of Yahweh from the sanctuary during Ezekiel start this presence of God this glory of the lord goes up from the midst of the city stands on the mountain which is on the east side of the city we are not to miss the significance in the parallel thought Jesus does the self same thing and we need to understand that in Ezekiel's day the great tragedy wasn't the destruction of Jerusalem it wasn't the destruction of the temple it was the departure of the glory of Yahweh and the same thing is true in the first century contacts yes the destruction of the city would occur in 80 70 yes the temple would be destroyed as Jesus states very clearly in verse 2 but the reality is is that Old Covenant Israel had been shot down no longer with the glory of yahweh dwell in their midst they had refused and rejected the Messiah himself and as a result they call down the wrath and fury and judgment of God which he dispatches via the Roman armies so the departure of our Lord is significant that brings us to consider in 24 1 be the action of the disciples it says after Jesus departed from the temple his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple in fact mark records it this way they say see what manner of stones and what buildings are here there's no commentary as to why they do this there's no indication as to why they say this but let me offer up a suggestion they understood Jesus words in 2338 they understood that when he says your house is left to you desolate they would suggest to him but don't you see the Marvel don't you see the glory don't you see the pump the disciples understand what our Lord is dis coursing concerning or what our Lord's actions symbolize and what a statement in 2338 specifically mentions and it also indicates to us that the disciples were more savvy than we are in this particular reality they understood the significance of the temple in Jewish religious and political life you see I think the offer or the interpretation that I'm going to offer up to you this morning and as we proceed it doesn't mesh with us because we don't understand how important the temple in Israel was not only from a from an aesthetic point of view I mean it's described as one of the wonders of the world the pump and the beauty and the majesty and the glory and the excellence of the building itself but think of temple in Jewish religious life this is where the God of Israel dwells so you see when we go through this discourse and we see the destruction of the temple we go oh yeah that's a first entry event but it's packed it's riddled with covenantal significance the fact that old coven Israel has been shot down and that the Church of Christ is the New Covenant Israel the Apostles these disciples understood something of the significance again not only in religious life in Israel but in political life I mean the country was judge the nation was judged by that standing temple and they often associated in the same way Micah rebukes the people in his day and they say but the Lord is among us probably with an eye on the temple who was Micah what you're saying can't be true because the temples here as long as the temples here then Yahweh is here so you see it's a very significant event in these disciples as they are with Jesus they say to him they shown the buildings they shown that the temple site and they say to him isn't this marvelous isn't this beautiful CH Spurgeon says to them the appearance was glorious but to their Lord it was a sad sight his father's house which ought to have been a House of Prayer for All Nations had become a den of thieves and soon would be utterly destroyed so that's the particular setting in terms of where Jesus and His disciples or what they're speaking about notice in verse to the declaration concerning the temple jesus said to them do you not see all these things he's talking about the temple talking about the very same things they themselves just pointed out and we need to realize that there was a temple standing in fact when Jesus had his physical I as I according to his humanity along with his disciples and he said to them do you see these things there were actually things there in other words there was a venn standing temple that was the target or the subject of the discourse they're not talking about a future example they're not talking about a temple in our future they're now talking about a revived Roman Empire there is a Roman Empire presently at the time of Jesus there is a temple that had both religious and political significance and when Jesus says do you not see all these things he is speaking about the then standing temple it's a concrete objective it's not a serial it's not mystical he's not talking about a spiritual temple he's talking about the physical location in Jerusalem where Jews went to worship so the things of the buildings of the temple and the question that he asks provides the foil for his declaration now note his declaration underscored by all men our translation renders it assuredly verse 2 he says assuredly I say to you not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down do you see again if we ask the question what is the rest of the all of that discourse talk about we would be fools not to see it in this lines he's talking about that temple and he's talking about it crumbling he's talking about it being destroyed i mean the argument that i offer this morning should it be difficult you shouldn't go what where's he getting this he's getting it from verse 2 because that's what our Lord says do you see these things he asks his disciples assuredly I say to you the prophet Christ not one shall be left here apart not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down i want to bring out a few observations concerning this in the first place this is a pronouncement concerning the destruction of the temple some say well there are still stones present so therefore Jesus words in verse 2 cannot be interpreted literally he's talking about the temple he's I thinking about the substructure he's talking about utter decimation or destruction of that temple complex fat France describes it in this language he says the Roman destruction of Herod's temple in AD 70 was so complete that all that now remains as part of the substructure of the temple precincts not of the temple buildings themselves that's specifically what he's talking about there's a parallel usage of the language in Luke 19 Luke 19 this stone upon stone language being brought down are being destroyed notice in Luke 19 specifically at verse 41 now as he drew near he saw the city and wept over it why do you think jesus wept over it because according to his humanity as the prophet of God knowing what was coming upon these people it caused him to weep it promoted from him a response of pity and compassion he wept over the city saying notice verse 42 if you hadn't known even you especially in this your day the things that make for your peace but now they are hidden from your eyes for days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you surround you and close you in on every side and level you and your children within you to the ground and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation and interestingly enough both of these statements sort of reverse Haggai 215 in Haggai 215 that phraseology is used in terms of stone upon stone with reference to the building of the temple remember hey guys a post-exilic prophet along with Zechariah and what Haggai and Zechariah are doing are preaching to the post-exilic Jews telling them to build the temple and so what haggai says is that the temple has now been built they're rejoicing they're praising they're using as atomy as a means as well to exhort the people to faithfulness in light of this reality but the same language is used in Haggai 215 specifically and now carefully consider from this day forward from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord in Haggai the temple was being rebuilt in Matthew in Luke the temple is going to be destroyed stone up on stone not one stone will be left so the pronouncement concerns the destruction of the temple secondly we need to see it as the prophetic equivalent to chapters 21 to 23 you can't just take 24 out and put it in the 21st century that's what happens we read this passage in fact as I read it in your hearing you're thinking those are the signs of the times those are the Wars of the rumors Wars those are the famines and the pestilences that are that are happening all over the globe I will argue that Jesus is talking about the first century when these things occurred that the Great Tribulation happened in the first century when God the Lord visited Israel with punishment from on I because of their coven ental unfaithfulness is not dealing with our future it's dealing with what was future to them at the time that Jesus spoke it but it is the prophetic equivalent of all that has preceded in chapters 21 to 23 the cleansing of the temple what's he showing that his disapprobation with the people of Israel he curses the fig tree and he says no fruit will ever grow on you again he doesn't say it's going to be temporarily suspended and when you're regathered into the physical land of palestine then the fig tree will start bearing fruit again that's not what he says he says in terms of an ethnic future for Old Covenant Israel there is no more the fig tree tis cursed never to bear fruit once again as well the parables concerning the judgment to come there are several places that we see this the parable of the vineyard what does Jesus say is going to happen to those who have rejected the prophets and it's culminated in the death of the great prophet the Lord Jesus he will destroy their city and Jesus says absolutely therefore the kingdom of God is taken from you or kingdom of heaven as Matthew refers to it and is given to a nation that will bear fruits consistent with it in the parable of the wedding feast in chapter 22 what does the King do when his proffer of Mercy is rejected he destroys their city with his armies you think that what Jesus is doing here in chapter 24 is the prophetic equivalent of chapters 21 to 23 where he has pronounced judgment consider chapter 23 specifically in verse 34 therefore indeed i send you scribes I'm sorry therefore I indeed i send you profit wise men inscribes some of them you will kill and crucify and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city that are new was he talking about 21st century no on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah now that works out a to z very nicely in english doesn't work out that way in Greek or Hebrew it works out that way in terms of Old Covenant cannon Abel is in the book of Genesis Zechariah is in the book of second chronicles the last book of the Hebrew canon so from first to last your history has been to destroy the prophets to kill them to despise them to stone them the idea being in in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 it says that some were sawn into history tells us a tradition suggests that that was Isaiah I mean the people that will saw the prophet Isaiah in half with a saw or a people that are fit and right for the judgment of God now I'm not suggesting we're not fit and right for the judgment of God either but we have to ask what is the text in its context me what is the text in its setting mean and I believe that Jesus is speaking prophetically in chapter 2 chapter 24 verse 2 all the way to chapter 25 verse 46 concerning the same things that he's already dealt with in several places in the the previous contact so he says from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias on abarrach aya whom you murdered between the temple and the altar assuredly I say to you all these things will come upon this generation so we see in with reference to the declaration concerning the temple the pronouncement concerning the destruction of the temple secondly the prophetic equivalent of chapters 21 to 23 but the consistency thirdly with Old Testament prophets when Jesus comes into gay comes into Jerusalem in chapter 21 the men from Galilee identify him as the prophet Christ is speaking as a prophet here in fact he sits down he does that in the in the God and the Sermon on the Mount that's the authoritative position for a rabbi if this was a Jewish synagogue I wouldn't be scanning behind a pole but I would be sitting on a chair that was the position that was assumed for authoritative discourse that's what Christ does he's speaking as a prophet consistent with the prophets who have gone before him let's notice several passages in the Old Testament notice first in first Kings chapter 9 first Kings chapter 9 this is after the dedication of the temple under Solomon and God the Lord warns the nation of Israel what unfaithfulness will mean unto them notice in first Kings chapter 9 beginning in verse six but if you were your son's at all turn from following me and do not keep my Commandments in my statutes which I have set before you but go and serve other gods and worship them then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them and this house which I have concentrated for my name I will cast out of my sight Israel will be a proverb in a byword among all peoples and and as for this house which is exalted everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss and say why has the Lord done thus to this land into this house then they will answer because they forsook the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and have embraced other gods and worship them and serve them therefore the Lord has brought all this calamity on them do we really need more commentary on what's happening in Matthew 24 do we really need to fill out more blanks I think it's evident that what Christ is doing is standing in the succession of old kavish riyals prophet to bring the wrath of God upon the people of Israel but in case we do look at Micah the prophet in chapter 3 Micah chapter 3 Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Micah chapter 3 notice specifically beginning in verse 8 but truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord and of Justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression into Israel is sin now hear this you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel who abhorred justice and pervert all equity who build up zion with bloodshed in jerusalem with iniquity her heads judge for a bribe or priests each for pay and her profits divine for money yet they lean on the Lord and say is not the Lord among us that's the passage I referenced earlier the idea being the temples there isn't Yahweh among us you see they had treated it as a holy horseshoe or as a lucky charm rather than as a visible symbol of God's presence God had been or would withdraw notice specifically no harm can come upon us verse 12 therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins and the mountain of the temple like the bare Hills of the forest turned back to the Prophet Jeremiah as you turn back to the Prophet Jeremiah realized that Jeremiah lived about a hundred years later than Micah the structure of the placement of the books do not obviously suggest that but it's that prophecy in Micah 312 that gets jeremiah off the hook from being executed as a subversive man but note a few passages in the Prophet Jeremiah notice in chapter 7 at verse 8 behold you trust and lying words that cannot profit will you steal murder commit adultery swear falsely burn incense to bail and walk after other gods whom you do not know Jenny we ought to appreciate as we survey these prophets and as we survey the Olivet discourse the Lord God's not into us abandoning him the Lord God does not take it lightly when we prefer bail over him the Lord God does not just turn a blind eye when we're lazy apathetic wretched professors of religion this is what they were judged for this is the premise of Revelation 2 and 3 if you don't repent I will withdraw your lamps can so don't take any comfort by suggesting that will Butler sees Matthew 24 as having had its application in the first century yes in terms of that particular contact what are the implications for us we better live consistently with the profession that we make if we dare say that Yahweh is our God that Christ is our Lord Christ is our mediator and we give our hearts to bail or we are tempted to go and follow other gods or we engage in the sexual immorality that Israel is upbraided for in the prophets or if we engage in the kinds of things that the prophet Micah was targeting the nation of Israel that same judgment will come upon us it's not the case that we can sin with impunity and get away with it no there's a lesson to be learned and this is what's happening specifically this is where Jesus or matthews tax are coming from it was supposed to be a house of prayer but you made it a den of thieves that den of thieves language comes specifically here from Jeremiah 7 behold will you trust and lying words it cannot profit will you steal murder commit adultery swear falsely burn incense to bail and walk after other gods whom you do not know and then come and stand before me in this house which is called by my name and say we are delivered to do all these abominations in other words they kind of claimed a king's acts well were your people swing do whatever no it doesn't work that way doesn't work that way is the professing people have gotten the New Covenant either well Jesus my Lord and Savior so I'll commit adultery and he'll forgive me to bless it arrangement you know Jesus loves to forgive sin and I love to commit sin so we're just right for each other that's not what the glory of the gospel is about those who are justified freely by His grace pursue righteousness as a manner of life they take seriously Paul's words in Hebrews 12 pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord so you can't ever conclude he loves to forgive i love to send blessid union now that's what's happened in Old Covenant Israel they think that they are immune they think that no bad things will ever happened to them they think their temple will be forever they think that the Jewish age is going to continue indefinitely notice verse 11 has this house which is called by my name be kind of become a den of thieves in your eyes behold I even I have seen it says the Lord but now go to my place which was in Shiloh that's the place where the house of God a rather the tabernacle was located before Jerusalem go to Shiloh where I set my name at the first and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel you see this is why in Matthew 24 they're even more culpable they had these words they knew what happened to Shiloh they knew what happened in the Assyrian captivity they knew what happened in the Babylonian captivity they had Micah they had Jeremiah they had a zekiel and yet they continue in their incorrigibility resisting God rejecting his Messiah and carrying on according to their own dictates a brethren we could say the same thing for us we have not only Assyria and Babylon and Shiloh before then at ad 70 how is it that we continue to do the same sorts of things that they did why does the church so often look like Old Covenant Israel lazy apathetic it's like a chore to get people actually show up and do what they're supposed to do you have to coax the people of God to pray you have to coax the people of God to come to the table brethren these things ought not to be the people of God are the people of God because the Salvation wrought by God and they want to do what their master commands and certainly God uses means and you know nagging preachers like me to remind you of what you're supposed to do the Brethren we don't look a whole lot different than Old Covenant Israel so before we start to say what you can't ever judge us here the language of the Prophet Christ in Revelation 2 and 3 I will withdraw your lampstand notice profit goes on the same go now to my place which was in Shiloh where I set my name at the first and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel and now because you have done all these works as the Lord and I spoke to you rising up early end speaking but you did not hear and I called you but you did not answer therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name in which you trust and to this place which I gave to you and your father's as I have done to Shiloh and I will cast you out of my sight as I have cast out all your brethren the whole posterity of e Frank and we don't have time but notice one other portion in Jeremiah 7 look at verse 20 therefore thus says the Lord God behold my anger and my fury will be poured out on this place on man and on beast on the trees of the field just like Jesus cursing the fig tree you see Jesus isn't doing anything new in Matthew 21 to 24 he is doing what Jeremiah did prior he's doing what Micah did prior is doing what Moses commanded prior that if the people of Israel continued in their unfaithfulness before the Lord God Almighty according to Deuteronomy 28 49 257 God would raise up a nation and drive them into exile Christ is simply enforcing the Covenant that was made with these people and I will burn it and not be a and it will burn and not be quenched you see the same sorts of things and in Jeremiah 9 10 and 11 Jeremiah 26 you can actually turn to 26 there we can see Micah's prophecy yet jeremiah off the hook there for a moment anyway Jeremiah chapter 26 verse 17 then certainly the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the Assembly of the people saying you see they're disputing over Jeremiah because you know what Jeremiah is saying your temples going to be destroyed your house is going to be left to you desolate Israel is going to be significantly changed when Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar come and take over and so there's a discussion among the people they're saying is he subversive is he a revolutionary is he full of treason and wickedness I mean think about it the Lord Jesus Christ could be viewed in the same manner I mean after all was God ordained and sanctioned the temple it was God who put the sacrificial system in place is Jesus being subversive is he engaged in treason well know what happens Jeremiah 26 verse 16 so the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets this man does not deserve to die free has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God then certainly the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the Assembly of the people saying micah of Morris chef prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and spoke to all the people of Judah saying thus says the Lord of hosts Zion shall be plowed like a field Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins and the mountains of the temple like the bare Hills of the forest it Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death you see the argument there if we didn't kill Micah we certainly shouldn't kill Jeremiah you see the reason why is because it was considered treason to ever speak of the temple collapsing be akin to us you know going online and saying oh you know Ottawa and all its public buildings are going to fall I know this is going to happen or an American actually saying or or blogging on his blog site i love Liberty calm the white house is going to be destroyed it's going to have Secret Service show up at his house that afternoon how do you know what's going to happen are you going to plant the bombs you have c4 what is it that we can do to provide that it's the same sort of thing because of the significance of the temple in both Jewish religious and political life to offer up the prophetic word that the temple is going to be destroyed was akin to trees it that's why they're disputing a debating should we put Jeremiah to death because he has actually said that the temple is going to fall so you see here Jesus stands in a long line of prophets when he comes to all of that fact France says Josephus now I'll refer to Josephus through the course of our study but scantly sometimes in the interpretation I offer people cite Josephus more than they do Matthew and I don't want to do that but Josephus was a Jewish historian that lived from about 80 37 to 80-100 he wrote about the Jewish Wars he wrote about the events that took place in his lifetime he lived during the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 so his word is that of eyewitness testimony and it's foolish not to consider it in part France says Josephus declares that the prophecies of Jeremiah and of Daniel concerning the destruction and desecration of the temple were also to be understood of what happened in 80 70 Josephus writes in the very same manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government and that our country should be made desolate by them so just see this Cephas Josephus seemed to track with this as well now all this to say that what Jesus is doing here is not subversion it's not treason it is the execution of the Covenant curses of God upon apostate Israel because they had taken what should have been a house of prayer for the the name of God and the benefit of all men and they had turned it into a den of thieves and robbers Davies and Allison say what we have here is not repudiation of a divinely found in institution but a tragic forecast by Jerusalem's king of a disaster fostered by human sin this is no more subversive than what Jeremiah prophesied we know why Jerusalem fell when Jeremiah prophesied because the people followed bail the people didn't want your way we know why Jerusalem fell in those days well the same is the case here Jesus has made it repeatedly clear he's not pleased with the people he has cleansed the temple he has cursed their fig tree he has told them declaratively that their city will be destroyed it really ought not to puzzle us what's happening at the Olivet discourse Davies and Allison conclude the destruction of the temple is God's verdict upon the capital and then I want to suggest fourthly and finally in our in our consideration concerning the declaration concerning the temple this was a contributing factor in the trial of Jesus this was a contributing factor in the trial of Jesus just turn over 2 26 61 2661 the witness says false witnesses come forward and they say this fellow said I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days now they're not false witnesses because they rehearse what Jesus said they're false witnesses because they put a spin on it or they add to what the leaders already had in terms of their prejudice against our Lord of glory but this was common understanding the then standing temple would be destroyed according to this Jesus notice in 2740 when christ is on the cross verse 39 and those who pass by blaspheme him wagging their heads and saying you who destroy the temple and build it in three days save yourself if you are the son of God come down from the cross and intriguingly Christ's holy martyr Stephen was on trial for much the same thing in Acts chapter 6 specifically in verses 13 and 14 it says they also set up false witnesses who said this man does not cease to us does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place in the law for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us so you see at least in the first century there was a pretty good idea that what christ discourse concerning in Matthew 24 and 25 was the then standing temple so we've seen the departure from the temple the secondly the declaration against the temple and then thirdly and finally and quickly we'll look at the discourse regarding the temple I don't mean quickly we'll look at it I just mean we'll look at verse 3 verse 3 now as he sat on the Mount of Olives as we've already seen this is in Bethany it's the east of Jerusalem it's a place a particular place where they would have an excellent vantage point over the city Gil tells us the east wall was actually even shorter so they would have had a great view of what the temple was now as he sat on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately now the privately probably means apart from the crowd mark highlights the four disciples in particular Peter James John and Andrew in mark 13 3 but I don't think those four were without the rest i think the privately simply means its disciples alone it's not the multitudes it's not the religious leaders it is specifically his disciples that means royal to suggest that matters concerning prophecy and eschatology are best for the church and shouldn't be published to the world at large I don't know if I fully agree with that but I understand the sentiment and notice specifically what they asked him they say tell us when will these things be I'll argue they're talking about what he just said in chat averse to the destruction of the temple when will these things be isn't that a curious thought they have questions like we have questions if your Lord tells you your temple in your city are going to be destroyed and you happen to live in the city you haven't have your livelihood in the city I don't think it's outlandish to suggest that they would say what when is this going to happen we'd like to know please tell us so it's a legit question it's one that often does plague the people of God when's it going to happen I don't have patience I want to know everything I don't think it's so much that way they're genuinely curious tell us when will these things be and then the next phrase looks like two questions but I think it's just one the grammar suggests and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age the grammar suggest that that's one question in other words they thought was they thought the the sign of is coming the coming of Jesus and the end of the age were carell ative not saying that destruction of Israel destruction of the temple the sign of the coming and then the end of the age it's the structure of the temple sign coming end of age so those two things go together now argue as we proceed that Jesus answers their questions Jesus answers specifically their questions now maybe not in the way that they would have wanted in the way that they had expected but the fact is that the bulk of the discourse is a response to what these disciples asked when is the destruction of Jerusalem what is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age and that's how we shall proceed God willing in the coming weeks I simply asked for you to you know stick around if anybody wants to leave because you know all you guys do is talk about eschatology those who have been here for a while know that this sermon took about 13 years to prepare I was going to preach this i think it was 13 14 maybe 15 years ago I set it in the context chapters 21 to 23 got to the Olivet discourse and said we're not going to do this because there was an eschatology fever going on probably part my fault creating it you know getting fired up and making a big deal out of it and in discussion with brethren and suggesting that I don't want to split the church over this so we didn't go through with it I still don't want to split the church over this I absolutely positively don't if you disagree with me when we get to 2546 that's okay you can blog about me for all I care you can say this guy because it's not heresy heresy is a denial of a cardinal truth in the Christian faith with which or through which one enters hell you're not going to enter hell because you disagree with me on the Olivet discourse and I hope you don't think i'm going to enter hell because i disagree with you on the Olivet discourse I will attempt to be charitable as we proceed with those with whom I disagree but do not interpret disagreement as a lack of charity I have a dear brother in this congregation sitting here right now who he and I disagree on this and we love each other we treasure each other at least I do for him I hope he does for me as well no no it's a tasket all just but but we can disagree but I have to take a position I have a commentary on the book of Revelation in my study that's very helpful it gives the three different views of the book of Revelation I don't want to be in Matthew 24 and 25 for the next 15 years to give the three views a man's gotta operate based on his conviction and principal and i believe the position i will argue for is absolutely current well most absolutely correct as i said there's always some difficult portions when you consider all of it does it all just jive according to some particular assumption but the position i will argue for is something i hold to so by way of conclusion by way of bringing this home there are three methods of interpretation of the all of that discourse the first and probably the most popular is called the futurist view now as the word suggests the futurist sees most of Matthew 24 occurring in the future not Jesus and his generations future but our future I don't believe that's an accurate reading of the text I believe that Jesus and His disciples looked at a physical temple Jesus spoke about its dissolution the disciples asked him about that and then Jesus responded I don't think it would have made any sense to the disciples whatsoever for Jesus to have given them an answer that included you know Henry crit Kissinger Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton or whoever the major eschatological players of bed in the modern Church it wouldn't have made any sense to that he gives them an answer to satisfy the question posed by them so I think futurism is incorrect secondly there is what's called the two events view and essentially what Jesus is doing is juggling between the destruction of Jerusalem and the second physical coming and so these particular person's or interpreters suggest that there's what's called prophetic shortening being utilized in other words the destruction of the temple is a type or a symbol of the second physical coming of our Lord and then the third way of approach there is probably other ways but these are the main views the third view is the preterist view and that's the position I will argue preterist simply means past tense I've already said that is how I believe it that what Jesus is talking about was future from his perspective and for the disciples but it's passed to us preterism means that we see prophecy in its context we interpret it in its context and if it's been fulfilled then we see it as a past event we're all preterist you may never have heard that word you may be suspicious of Butler at this point you may have heard of hyper preterism I'm not a hyper preterist but that word preterism can be charged with a whole lot of things and you're thinking wait a minute this is suspect you're a preterist too because you believe that when Jeremiah prophesied concerning the destruction of the temple in the seventh or the sixth century BC it's already occurred you're a preterist when it comes to Jeremiah when it comes to Ezekiel I just happen to be preterist when it comes to Jesus too and that is the position I will argue for and the reason for that the second place by way of concluding thoughts I think there is heavy contextual confirmation of the preterist view the first place the lead-up in chapters 21 to 23 I think it is to go against all natural forms of biblical exegesis to forget 21 22 23 and to jump into the Olivet discourse and put it in our future it comes on the heels of it comes at the end of the same day that Jesus has just said in several places that there is destruction coming their way he just said in 2338 Islam in lamentation that your house is left to you desolate why would we not take 24 as the natural development of thought or the prophetic statement concerning all that has preceded it secondly the specific question and declaration concerning the then standing temple verse 2 I don't know how this couldn't be more decisive he talks about stone standing that they see and they will fall and be crumble thirdly the Judean setting throughout the narrative in other words it's not a worldwide situation that's going on no specifically these are just a few thoughts notice in verse 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains if it's dealing with the second physical coming what about those in chilliwack where we flee what about those in Abbotsford where do we go what about those in Ontario it's talking about a localized judgment notice specifically in verse 17 let him who is on them on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house we don't live that way we don't live on the top of our houses the Jews did living in this particular milieu or this particular landscape that's how they live they would go up onto the top of the house and he says when this happens don't go down and get your stuff forget the cat go don't take anything out of the house if it's the second physical coming what matter is it doesn't matter if you grab the cat doesn't matter if you grab the dog doesn't matter if you go for the pictures but if it's a localized judgment we're in the Roman armies are going to occupy your city don't waste your time with the cat get out of town you see it's localized to Judea in the first century notice in verse 20 pray that your flight may not be in winter on the Sabbath again suggests a Jewish audience why doesn't he want your flight to be on the in the winter cuz it's cold and when you're living outside the city dispossessed from your home it can be a brutal way to live and pray that it won't be on the Sabbath because you're not supposed to travel on the Sabbath if this was the second physical coming what difference does it make of its winter if it's summer if it's fall if it's raining it doesn't matter when Jesus comes he comes when i'm going to go fetch cats we're not going to you know put on jackets when Jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead you're not going to donít I you're going to be in the situation you find yourself notice as well 22 and unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved but for the elects sake those days will be shortened again it's not speaking about the second physical comment no flash is going to be saved or spare after that it's going to be consummation it's going to be eternal State it's going to be judgment time and then as well the parable of the fig tree in verses 32 to 33 intriguing why would Jesus tell us to look for these signs if in fact Jesus is physically returned in other words when Jesus descends from heaven in his glory with all of his angels doing the things that the Bible describes him doing we're not going to say oh wait a minute I need to interpret this fig tree that would be superfluous William J Dumbrell suggests as much the coming is to occur through historical events for if the coming were to take the form of the son of man's visible return then the sign of the fig tree would be superfluous thus the judgment to be visited upon Jerusalem is a sign that the son of man is in fact raining in heaven and then as well the time texts the time text notice in chapter 23 at verse 36 assuredly I say to you all these things will come upon this generation what do you mean by that Jesus I mean the people to whom I'm speaking notice in 24 35 or 34 rather surely I say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place the jetta the usage of this generation underscores the people to whom Jesus is speaking fact these two passages in many respects book and exactly what Jesus is doing dis coursing on concerning the destruction of the temple sama have tried to evade the clear meaning of generation by defining it as race he's on about the Jews I don't think you want to import that meaning into acts 2 40 Peter says be safe from this perverse and crooked generation you better not say that about a whole race of Jews that wouldn't be very good not that I'm saying political correctness ought to dictate but it's not being used here as race the idea that it refers to those living at the time the fulfillment takes place is to beg the question the idea that it refers to those living at the time that it is fulfilled is simply to beg the question and the fact is that every time syn generation are utilized by Matthew guess what it means it means the people to whom Jesus is speaking numbers 14 numbers 32 Psalm 95 tell us that a generation is about 40 years Jesus uses it in a very same way in Matthew's Gospel in many respects 11 16 12 39 41 42 45 16 for 17 17 23 36 24 34 this leads da carson to suggest this generation can only with the greatest difficulty be made to mean anything other than the generation living when Jesus spoke you can't evade that you can't run from that you say well pastor Butler verses 29 to 31 indicate that Jesus comes in glory I'm going to argue that that happened at Jerusalem Jerusalem at eighty seventy that the language that is employed there the cosmic upheaval is right from the prophets we read that when God comes to judge or Yahweh comes to judge Babylon he rides on a cloud and every eye sees him this is exactly the language employed by our Lord and note that verse 29 says immediately after the tribulation of those days so if for 228 refer to what happens in the first century then taking immediately in it's obvious import we have to conclude that it means immediately and whatever Jesus means he means he comes to judge those people for their coven ental unfaithfulness and then the very basic fact that Jerusalem and it's temple was destroyed 8070 was a reality I mean it's not just you know Matthew Mark and Luke and record this google it read Josephus Josephus sounds like Matthew Mark and Luke in some ways the way he was cords away scribes it it actually happened I think that's a strong argument for this particular position in 80 70 the Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem interestingly enough Titus called the armies off for a moment and then people escaped sike what Jesus says when you see Jerusalem surrounded by its enemies know that it's desolation is near this is why he gives specific instructions when you're on your rooftop don't go grab the cat run when you see those Roman armies if Titus happens to call them off then run get out of town pray that your flight may not be on in winter on the Sabbath but it was a localized specific judgment that actually occurred such that liberal scholars I don't like calling them that but liberal Bible people that do not take Jesus words as authoritative have seen the similarities between what Jesus says in the Olivet discourse and what actually happened in eighty seventy so they say well what we find is that eighty seventy occurred and then Matthew wrote and put those words in Jesus mouth because it was so accurate it was so literally fulfilled it was so in line with what we find in the Olivet discourse this interpretation corrects those who think that Jesus was wrong with reference to his coming have you ever read through this section of Holy Scripture and said wow it sounds like jesus is coming and if I'm thinking properly in 2336 and in 24 34 he says this generation but I know he didn't come in that generation so we must be wrong have you ever been led to think that you don't have to nod your head or stand up or raise your hand or bow your head or close your eyes I'm just suggesting that people think Jesus was wrong no nobody thinks Jesus wrong Bertrand Russell the famous British philosopher who lived from 1872 to 1970 he wrote a book called why I am NOT a Christian he says I am concerned with Christ as he appears in the Gospels taking the gospel narrative as it stands and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise for one thing he certainly thought that his second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who are living at that time see Bertrand Russell read the text and said wait a minute Jesus thought he was going to come in clouds of glory before the death of the people that were standing or living at that via before the death of all those who are living at the time people have suggested that Jesus was wrong he got the part ossia wrong he didn't know what he was going to come back again well if we understand it from a preterist interpretation of course he wasn't long of course he was absolutely right not that preterism needs to tell us that and then I think that this interpretation correctly understands the significance of the temple and the covenantal transition that's taking place I think Paul reflects this in the book of Hebrews yes I believe Paul wrote Hebrews you're getting all kinds of wacko and weird things this morning but in Hebrews 8 specifically in verse 13 and that he says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete the first covenant what we refer to as the Old Covenant now what is becoming obsolete and growing old why does he say that he says it's obsolete and then he says it's becoming obsolete and growing old the language the grammar the the tenth the uses of the verbs that seems to indicate something on he says it has or he's made the first obsolete now what is becoming obsolete and growing old here's what I suggest the Old Covenant was rendered obsolete at the death of Christ on the cross when that veil was rent asunder from top to bottom God reaching down instead a man going up that's when the Old Covenant was rendered null and void it's no longer binding upon the people of God but how can he suggests that what is becoming obsolete and growing old because the temple was standing when Paul rohde bruise because the sacrificial system was in place when Paul wrote Hebrews this is why he says what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away and this language of vanish away is used in Old Covenant contacts when cities are desolate when cities are destroyed when judgment happens so from the vantage point of the apostle prior to 80 70 says yes the New Covenant rendered you know null and void the old but it's still present in terms of its physical symbolism but it's going to vanish away and I think that as we see this interpretation it causes us to appreciate the significance of the temple and the coven ental transition that's taking place now finally I know that we're at twelve-thirty I like that clock because it's a little slower than mine I feel really bad when I keep you late when I look at my watch so maybe I shouldn't wear my watch on Sunday but I just have to finish as I said this has been about 13 years and just stick with me another five minutes the practical import of this study I think in the first place the application of the Covenant curse upon Israel as pronounced in Deuteronomy 28 49 257 is seen flashed out we need to reflect upon the fact of what Old Covenant Israel was was a theocracy was a people called by God to God and given laws and a covenant that they were supposed to march lockstep with now there's certainly other things going on tipa logically but that is what I want to highlight at this particular point Deuteronomy 28 49 257 speaks of God raising up nations and bringing the people of Israel to exile this leads Meredith Klein to make this observation Old Testament history witnessed successive executions of this curse and it was finally exhausted in the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 it was finally exhausted in the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 so what was prophesied or what was warned about in Deuteronomy 28 was finally exhausted in the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 this leads to two very practical concrete realities for the people of God there ought not to be anti-semitism in the people of God there ought not to be anti-semitism in the church the modern Israelite or Israeli living in Palestine is no more responsible for the death of Jesus than we are responsible for somebody who did something two thousand years ago oh there ought not to be anti-semitism all those Jews they murder Jesus no that's not how you're supposed to look at Jews anti-semitism is wrong but secondly the idea of Zionism is wrong if God shuts down Israel as the covenant people officially in 80 70 we ought not to be looking for this prophetic a fulfillment of the return of jews to their land there are not to be a Zionism that that precludes krrish Christ himself so there are two errors that i think are helpfully avoided when we take the discourse in its contact we ought not to be anti-semites but we ought not to be pro Zionists to the point where we elevate you know Israel as a body politic over the Lord Jesus there with every other nation now they've joined the ranks with the rest of us they're not the covenant people of God the church is the covenant people of God now an ethnic Jews in the church is the covenant people of God but he's not the covenant people of God because he's a Jew we need to guard our hearts against such things when I'm going to fly the Israeli flag outside of our church Zionism and anti-semitism and both decisively dealt with by a proper understanding of just what Jesus is talking about and as well I think that we ought to pursue the truth telling pastor Porter that this stuff is tough to preach on because people I mean face it we're conditioned futurists we have grown up with Christian tradition we have grown up with it being pummeled into our minds that every time coming in the Lord means his second physical coming it's hard to Unthank that brethren will have to pursue the truth wherever it takes us I don't have some you know prejudice against futurism if future isn't taught in the Bible praise God I think that's when I speak to paedo Baptist you know you hate children are you treat your children like paying it no I don't have any against sprinkling a baby if God commands it I don't have an emotional investment in you know in preterism you know you have to believe this because no I think that's where the text leads us and we ought to pursue truth even if it upbraids some of our present held assumptions now I realized futurist and the the two event guy would say the same thing praise God let's make our cases let's seek to prove what scripture says concerning these particulars now for those of you who fell asleep after the you know second word of the sermon today I just want to remind us all that it is about the gospel you say well how what you just said can actually be about the gospel because our Lord Jesus is the one who lived who died and who rose again the Lord Jesus spoke on all of it the Lord Jesus made these declarations and the Lord Jesus did this in light of the reality they came to his own and his own received him not in light of the fact that he would go to the cross that he would lay down his life for his people that he would give up his own blood he would give up his own life to save his people from their sins this Christ everything he did was according to a specific purpose he did everything in obedience to his father's Law we have to take seriously what he spoke at all of that in terms of eschatology or in terms of last things and I would argue last things for the nation of Israel specifically there in the Olivet discourse but that Jesus can't be dissected he can't be pulled apart we can't just have the priest Christ and reject the prophet Christ but i do want to leave on this note if you are not a believer this morning you need the priest Christ you need the prophet you need the king but when we've heard of the priest Christ we refer to him it is doing and it is dying and it is rising you see man is sinful we have all departed from the Living God we've all raised our fists we have all gone astray we've sought out bails we've sought out Mammon we've sought out sex we've sought out drugs we've sought out whatever it is whatever pleases us some may say well I never went for sex or drugs or rock and roll and all that wickedness then it was probably self-righteousness and as we'll see tonight self-righteousness was condemned by Jesus more than then crack dealers or the prostitutes so don't think because you're not a crack dealer because you're not a prostitute you're somehow okay all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God the priest Christ went to the cross and bore the wrath of God for sinners that's what he did there it wasn't just a display of love it wasn't just a warm example it wasn't just something to make us smile occasionally he was a substitute a penal substitute he bore the wrath in himself that was due for sinners and then he was put into the grave he was raised the third day he ascended on high he led captivity captive and he gives gifts to men and he calls sinners bar those gifts preaching the gospel throughout the world today to believe to repent to forsake sinned and come to the Savior to look to him and to live so whether you can rehearse to me what a futurist is or what a preterist is you know what and the grand scheme of things I really don't care if you get that but I don't want you to miss this the way of salvation is through Christ Jesus the Lord the way of hope the way of life the way of blessing the way of peace with God is through our Lord Jesus Christ and that's by faith look to him and you will live will let us pray father we thank you for your word and we thank you for the Prophet the Lord Jesus Christ and for his discourse at all of it for his words of instruction throughout the gospel narratives and I pray that you would help us to have understanding as we proceed through this passage of Scripture and I pray God that you would prick the hearts of any here that are outside of Christ and bring conviction for sin and bring a realization that Christ is the alone savior for sinners go with us now and watch over us and bring us together tonight that we may eat at your table that we may rehearse the good things of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you