← Back to sermon library

good morning to everyone welcome back to free Grace Baptist Church uh welcome to any visitors with us this morning I see that there are and I've met some already there's some new faces out there it's always nice to have visitors among us here at free Grace Baptist Church just one announcement before we begin worship this morning um a reminder that Micah Butler has applied for membership ship so we can keep that in our prayers and uh be thankful that we have a another young fellow uh seeking membership here at free Grace Baptist Church well let's turn to our Bibles then as we begin worship if you'll turn with me to Psalm 2 Psalm two will be our call to worship this morning as you're turning there a reminder Psalm 2 is Rich with Christ uh I think it was Cox or ke one of the two that said that in all our searching after the mind of God in the Holy scriptures we are to manage our inquiries after Christ this Psalm 2 written over a thousand years prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ nevertheless contains much Christ we get to the New Testament and we see Peter Paul John others referencing this text and its fulfillment In The Life and Times of the Lord Jesus Christ and no doubt this the Theology of Psalm 2 continuing to our present day with our ruling and reigning King the Lord Jesus Christ subduing his enemies and bringing his elect to himself Psalm 2 verse one the word of God why do the Nations rage and the people plot a vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us break their bonds in pieces and Cast Away their cords from us he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall hold them in derision then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure yet I have set my king on my Holy Hill of Zion I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me you are my son today I have begotten you ask of me and I will give you the Nations for your inheritance and the ends of the Earth for your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron you shall Dash them to pieces like a Potter's vessel now therefore be wise o Kings be instructed you judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all those who put their trust in him Amen Let Us Stand Together we're going to sing our first hymn if you uh turn in your larger book to the back there should be a hymn uh and can it be in the back it's an insert we'll stand and sing and can it be together for for Amazing Love for amazing God for me canl his to the a his mercy and Earth the that Angels soe his because of and for all his chos gra his Mercy all and free oh my God his Mercy for all my God my and Sh my heart wase and my CH my heart I Rose for and fall now Jesus and rightous the ET and etal and the ground through Christ my please be seated let's go to our God In Prayer let us pray Heavenly Father we Rejoice now we can gather together in the name of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ in this place to sing the Praises of Father Son and Holy Spirit we thank you Lord God that we have the freedom to gather in this place and we know that many around the world do not share this same joy to gather together in Freedom though they have that same joy in Christ and in our God yet they are unable to gather together we thank you that we have this freedom and we do pray that you would help us to count it not a small thing but a high and heavy honor to gather in Freedom to rejoice in our God to sing the Praises of our Christ to rejoice in so great a Salvation we do pray pray that we this gathered assembly would hallow your name this morning we do pray that we would give you that honor and that praise that is due your most high name and we do pray yet again that this would be the case around the world that churches having gathered together would sing your Praises that they would rejoice in the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and that they would rejoice in amazing and Victorious Grace we would ask God that you would help us now to be found as those Saints of yours who rejoice in the Forgiveness of sins we know Lord God that we have not been saved by Deeds of righteousness which we have done but according to your mercy you saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit we know that our Salvation is not because of our Deeds our righteousness our works but Lord God solely and alone salvation comes from the Triune god father Son and Holy Spirit who saves without a helper we thank you for that perfect and final and complete work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the stead of all those who believe we thank you that it is true what the scriptures say that Christ Jesus the Lord came into this world Sinners to save that in the fullness of the times you did send forth your son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law we thank you that we have that adoption as Sons by virtue of the perfect work of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit Spirit we thank you for his perfect life of obedience unto your law in the place of all who believe in him we thank you for that death upon calvary's tree where our savior shed that precious blood that he might win for all those who believe the Forgiveness of sins we thank you that upon calvary's cross we do not have a sacrifice we do not have an atonement of maybe or perhaps but we have a perfect sacrifice for guilty Sinners and we thank you that he arose Victorious on the third day we thank you that he arose with power and great Victory and that all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have the Forgiveness of sins we rejoice in his Ascension and we Rejoice that he now sits at your right hand where he does ever live to rule and to Reign and to make intercession for his people we Rejoice this day in our savior and we do pray Lord God that you would help us by your spirit throughout this time of worship to sing your praises to rejoice in your word and to rejoice in the Christ to whom your word points we do pray Lord God that you'd be with those who need prayer for physical things and we pray for those diseased those with illness those with injury those recovering from surgeries those recovering from giving birth we thank you Lord God that you do bless your people with health that you do bless them with strength and growth and uh we do just pray that you tend to all those who are presently Afflicted or injured that you would strengthen them in body and that you would heal them and that you would cause them even in the midst of physical suffering to nevertheless rejoice in you their God and to be wholly resigned unto your will in all these things we thank you Lord God for the recent birth of Bryce Alexander we do pray that you continue to be with Bastion and Jenny we just pray that you be with mother and father strengthen them help them to rejoice in this gift we do pray that you'd uh be with this young one by uh day by day that you would strengthen Lord God that you would bless we do pray for all that have been recently born Lord we rejoice in so many uh births recently in this church we do just pray that youd be with mothers and fathers that In Due Time Lord God you would bring forth these young ones by your gospel in spirit to belief in the Lord Jesus Christ we long to see Lord God our children our young ones to own the name of our creator and to rejoice in Our Redeemer and we do just pray that you would bring much grace in due time on this matter and we do just pray that you'd bless all the children in our midst Lord God we do pray that at a young age they would rejoice in our Christ we pray Lord God today that for young or old young and old Lord uh you would bring forth dead Sinners to life in Christ we thank you that there are many in this room who rejoice in the Savior who have been brought forth from Darkness to light in Christ who can rejoice in the Savior being found in him we do pray for any and all outside of Christ young and old have we come in these two doors this morning we pray by your amazing grace that they would leave singing the Praises of our savior we would ask again God that you would be with those who are persecuted as there are many in other nations that are persecuted by enemies of the Gospel Lord and we do just pray that you'd be with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ we would ask those who are in Chains those who are persecuted we do just pray that you'd strengthen each and every one we do pray that you would cause them in the midst of uh the the hatred hands and the hatred The Hating lips of their opposers we we just pray Lord God that you would cause them to be strengthen that you would cause them to know in the midst of these things the comfort of their God and we pray Lord God that you would strengthen our dear ones and we would ask yet again that you would deal with those who persecute them uh we long to hear Lord God and we rejoice when we do we long to hear of those who are enemies of yours who by grace and For Your Glory are brought forth from the madness of their idolatry to belief in the Lord Jesus Christ we do pray for those of false religion and uh those who falsely fly the uh the flag of a of a false Christianity who would persecute your people we do pray Lord God that you'd bring them forth from deadness in sin to life and light in Christ Jesus the Lord and that you would cause them to be found among those whom they formerly persecuted now rejoicing in our Christ and in our God and we would ask yet again father that for those who would remain in opposition those who will not bend a knee to the king of kings and Lord of lords we do pray that you would take them out of the way so that they may no longer bring violence Upon Our blessed Saints we do just pray that you would judge in this lower world that you would bring temporal judgment upon those who oppose your church Lord and that you would cause them no longer to do so we would ask on this point then God that you would be with those who rule over the Nations we know ultimately that the nations of this world are the nations of Our God and of his Christ and so on that we would pray that you would deal with those who rule those Earthly rules rulers those who are in Authority we pray that you would deal with them that you would cause them to rule after righteousness equity and proper Justice we pray that the governments of the world would no longer sanction Abominations in our land we pray Lord God that you would bring an end to abortion the sanctioning of uh of the murder of babies we do pray that you would bring an end to this and you would cause those who rule over us to in install laws that would prevent this that would criminalize such a horrific act we pray Lord God that those who rule over us would no longer sanction sodomy homosexuality fornication and all manner of Abominations we do pray that you would even remove those rulers who would seek to uphold wickedness in the land and that you would install rulers who would uphold proper Justice we would ask now God that you would be with us in worship we know that the preacher Pastor Butler when he comes up here to Proclaim your word yet again God we acknowledge that the preacher does not rest upon his own strength upon his own Ingenuity or upon his own intelligence the preacher of the word of Christ rests upon the aid that the Triune God affords his Ministers of the gospel and so we would plead for that that you would give strength and confidence and courage and all things needed to the preacher of the Gospel this morning that Pastor Butler would know that Aid and he would preach accurately the word of Christ we would ask God that you'd be with all those in the pews this morning be with us your Saints who uh seek to be fed by Your Word we pray that we would be fed we pray that we would be instructed we would ask that we would by your spirit be equipped that we might know your word that we might rejoice in our Christ and that we might leave this place all the better so that we might be equipped to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ and we would ask that you would be active and Powerful this morning unto the salvation of Sinners might you be here by your Amazing Grace and might Sinners who entered in unbelief outside of Christ leave singing along with all your gathered Saints hallelujah what a savior and it's in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray amen let's stand and sing our next hymn this is 95 in your Trinity himels the larger ones just to note that this will be to a familiar tune How Deep The Father's Love hymn 995 let's stand and sing together e e e e you can turn in your Bibles to Matthew 17 Matthew chapter 17 that's our New Testament scripture reading this Lord's Day morning we we did read 1 to 13 last Lord's day so this morning we will read from verse 14 to the end of the chapter in this passage Christ will again and he will again after after this explained to his disciples that the son of man will go to Jerusalem he'll be betrayed by wicked men those wicked men will kill him but he will be raised again the third day we would notice in the text as we read that they were exceedingly sorrowful when Christ spoke these words it's interesting to read regarding the death and resurrection of Christ and those being exceedingly sorrowful we get to the end of the Gospel accounts and we see the disciples though rejoicing and worshiping and this after Christ explains what the death and the resurrection means when he does actually Rise Again appear to them and instruct them concerning the glory of the Gospel of god let's read Matthew 17 beginning in verse 14 and when they had come to the multitude a man came to him kneeling down to him and saying Lord have mercy on my son for he is an epileptic and suffers severely for he often Falls falls into the fire and often into the water so I brought him to your disciples that they excuse me but they could not cure him then Jesus answered and said oh faithless and perverse generation how long shall I be with you how long shall I bear with you bring him here to me and Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him and the child was cured from that very hour then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said why could we not cast it out so Jesus said said to them because of your unbelief for assuredly I say to you if you have faith as a mustard seed you will say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you however this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting now while they were s staying in Galilee Jesus said to them the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him and the third day he will be raised up and they were exceedingly so sorrowful when they had come to Capernaum those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said does your teacher not pay the temple tax he said yes and when he had come into the house Jesus anticipated him saying what do you think Simon from whom do the kings of the Earth take Customs or taxes from their sons or from strangers Peter said to him from strangers Jesus said to him then the sons are free nevertheless lest we offend them go to the Sea cast in a hook and take the fish that comes up first and when you have opened its mouth you will find a piece of money take that and give it to them for me and you amen well let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this again the reading of your holy scriptures we rejoice in your words to the sons of men and we thank you that as sons of God we can understand and appreciate the language of scripture the meaning of scripture those words that come to us disclosing the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and salvation by him we thank you for the truth that was here announced by the Savior that he was to be delivered up into the hands of wicked men to be crucified but he would rise again the third day we pray that all your gathered Saints here this morning would rejoice in the death and resurrection of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ for the Salvation of Sinners and we to we do pray Lord God by this self-same truth the death and resurrection of Christ for the Salvation of Sinners that you would by your spirit and by that message bring forth dead Sinners to life this morning might you be honored might you be glorified in our worship and might the Lord Jesus Christ be exalted upon the Praises of this gathered assembly and we pray in the name of our savior Christ Jesus the Lord amen our last hymn then before the preaching let's stand again and sing 217 that's 217 let's stand as a church and sing the Victorious to shall the in the SE of the of s Angels PR his the Triant Jesus and all of please turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 24 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 and 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 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 beginnings 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 off offended I'm sorry 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 endures 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 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 sh ever shall be and unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved but for the elect sake those days will be shortened then if anyone says to you look here is the Christ or there do not believe it for false christs 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 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 his 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 it's 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 Mo by no means pass away amen well let us pray Our Father we thank you for the written word and we pray now for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to be upon us we thank you for scripture we thank you that you've not left us as orphans in the world you've given us the spirit and the word and we pray that you would guide us and help us and give us Grace to receive receive these things with grateful hearts and with Thanksgiving we pray for the bible study on Tuesday night we just commit that work into your gracious hand and into your care we pray that you would guide instruct and direct and that you would Grant great wisdom and and help to all that would attend we pray father that you would be magnified throughout the Lower Mainland yay God we pray that you would be magnified throughout the Earth your name would be hallowed that your kingdom would come and that your will would be done on Earth as it is in heaven to that end we do pray for an outpouring of your Holy Spirit and even now God we pray that you would forgive us for all of our sins and all of our unrighteousness and everything that darkens our understanding grant us help from on high we pray and we ask through Jesus Christ the Lord amen well last week we introduced the olette discourse and I had mentioned that there are three sort of majority positions or major ways or approaches on the interpretation of of the passage there is What's called the futurist interpretation that's where the the The Interpreter takes the bulk of the prophecy as being in the future not Jesus future but our future and then there is What's called the two events interpretation that what we see Jesus doing here on all of it is giving a discourse concerning yes the destruction of the temple in ad70 but also pointing to that last day the physical coming of Christ in glory to judge all men everywhere and then there is a third position adopted in our study called prism and prist simply means past as I said last week we're all preterists when we read the Prophet Jeremiah when we read the prophet Isaiah when we read the prophet Ezekiel we all understand that those prophecies were already fulfilled and therefore we we have a prist interpretation I submit that what we have in Matthew 24 is Jesus response to the disciples questions notice that the questions are asked in verse three they ask a when question and a what question I submit that Jesus answers the what question first he tells them what are the signs of his coming and of the end of the age and then he'll later address the when question but it's a specific response to those specific questions and those specific questions come on the heel of Christ's statement in verse two notice that Jesus points them to the temple the then standing Temple he's not talking about a future Temple he's not talking about a rebuilt Temple he's talking about the temple that his physical eye laid hold of and that their eyes laid hold of he says 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 the temple in Jewish religious and political life was highly significant it was everything it was Central in terms of the cult and in terms of their political structure and so for the disciples for Jesus to announce that this the the the temple would be destroyed this provokes the questions what uh when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age and so as I said Jesus answers that question and to confirm a prist interpretation just by review the larger context leads us to conclude this beginning in chapter 21 all the way to chapter 23 Jesus has spoken with reference to the destruction of the temple and of of Jerusalem as well also the fact that there is a Judean setting Jesus says in verse 16 then those who are in J uh let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains which is interesting why would Jesus give instruction for escape if at the end of verse 14 we learn that the end of all things as we know it is here notice verse 14 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 now when the end comes if we Define it as the end of all things then why would there be instructions for escape why could it be possible that those who were in Judea could flee why would the warning be necessary not to grab the cat not to grab the family photo album but to leave Dodge and get out of town why would he give those instructions if it was the end of all things as well we have this parable of the Fig Tree if it's the end of all things why do we need to interpret the parable of the Fig Tree if if if it is the end of all things then that would be Superfluous as well the time text indicators in the discourse notice in verse 29 Jesus says immediately whatever verses 15 to 28 refer to and I'll argue it's The Siege of Jerusalem in ad70 that then Jesus says immediately after that tribulation then these things will take place and then the time text in 2434 note specifically that Jesus says assuredly I say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place I think it's safe to say all these things are all these things in context so everything up to verse 34 we ought to assume is going to take place in this generation which speaks to the particular people that were living at the time of Jesus the way that Matthew uses this generation every single time and that's bracketed in 20 uh 2335 I'm sorry 2336 assuredly I say to you all these things will come upon this generation so that's just a bit of a of a review of the interpretative approach and again I don't want to split the church over it if you disagree with me by the end of the all of that discourse that's okay if I disagree with you by the end of the all of it discourse that's okay eschatology is not what includes us or our viewer understanding of of the doctrine of last things is not what places Us in the Kingdom of Heaven we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ Alone this is not one of those doctrines that if you get wrong you end up in Hell there are certain doctrines like that the doctrine of the Trinity the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ the doctrine of justification by faith Al you get those wrong and you end up in hell if you end up not a prist I'm not going to pronounce the anathema of God upon you but if you do not end up a predus please don't pronounce the anathema of God upon me and I should say this is not hyper preterism hyper prism teaches there is no physical second coming of Jesus at the to to consummate the the world I don't believe that I believe there is a physical second coming but I don't think that's what's going on in this all of that discourse so let's look at our passage this morning it's intriguing in Verses 4 to four uh 4 to4 Christ describes the conditions preceding the destruction of the temple in Verses 4 to8 he describes the general conditions and we'll look at that this morning and then in verses 9 to14 he focuses on some more immediate things with reference to the apostles or the disciples themselves and the uh the response of the world to the Christian go goel also it is interesting to note that the things he mentions in 4 to8 are not to be interpreted that is coming is at any moment I think the popular understanding of Verses 4 to8 is simply this I mean you probably heard it before I I minister at at an old folks home and sometimes you speak with the older people there and I've ministered or talked to or had my dealings with non-old folks and and you'll hear something like this well you know there's a lot of Wars going on in the world today there's a lot of famines and there's a lot of pescan and there's a lot of earthquakes that means that Jesus coming will be any time but Jesus says specifically do not interpret it that way the end is not yet when you hear of these things do not immediately conclude the end has come he says the very opposite of the popular understanding of the passage in view so Christ is answering their questions and he starts off in verses four and five by highlighting the danger of false teachers the danger of false teachers notice what he says Jesus answered and said to them take heed that no one deceives you it's very intriguing that when Christ is asked concerning the signs of his coming in the end of the age and when these things will take place Jesus cautions his disciples against deceivers what do we surmise by that Christ says that truth and understanding biblical prophecy understanding The Words of Christ is absolutely necessary in other words don't follow anybody and everybody who may say they understand the end times do not follow everybody and anybody that may have a a series of tapes on the end times Jesus says that in this period leading up to the destruction he says take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and they will deceive many now noce he's talking again to the disciples the same disciples that asked about the then standing Temple the same disciples are now addressed specifically and he tells them he says make sure no one deceives you for many will come in my name that doesn't necessarily mean they'll they'll invoke the name Jesus of Nazareth but they will come under Messianic pretense they will come seeking to assume the Messianic prerogative we see that already in the book of Acts in several places in Acts 5 just look there for a moment because I think it's absolutely crucial if we confirm a prist interpretation we have to see that all of these things actually did take place in the leadup or in the buildup to the destruction of the temple in ad70 there's probably certain texts you're wondering how in the world is he ever going to do that well just stick with us and don't throw tomatoes or rotten dead cats or anything like that acts 5 notice we see already specimen samples of such deceivers or such imposters acts 5:36 for some time ago thus or theudas rose up claiming to be somebody a number of men about 400 joined him he was slain and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing after this man Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and Drew away many many people after him he also perished and all who obeyed him were dispersed over in Acts 8: 9 and 10 Simon the Sorcerer I mean we just run through this and see its application to the doctrine of Christian baptism but we ought to appreciate that this Simon the Sorcerer wants something he was claiming that he was someone great verse n to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest saying this man is the great power of God he wasn't doing card trck he wasn't you know pick a card any card that's not the sorcery or the magician or the magic that was in view he didn't pull quarters out of people's ears he asserted to being the great power of God now notice as well in Acts 21 it's a reference to an Egyptian that led persons astray acts 21 specifically at verse 38 are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the 4,000 assassins out into the Wilderness this whole idea of false christs or Pretenders or Messianic assumers these were a reality in fact Josephus speaks to each of these instances he refers to the Samaritan he refers to theudas he refers to the sons of gal Judas of galile and to the Egyptian as well as I said I don't want to multiply references to Josephus but Jose cus is a key instrument in terms of shedding light on the era first of all he was a historian recording the events of the Jewish Wars second of all he opposed Jesus Christ he wasn't a Christian he wasn't a Believer he didn't Embrace Christ as Messiah yet everything that he says substantiates corroborates or affirms what Christ says in the olette discourse such that JC riyle is able to say concerning this exort ation to take heed that no one deceives you he says a more needful warning than this cannot be conceived Satan knows well the value of Prophecy and has ever labored to bring the subject into contempt how many false christs and false prophets arose before the destruction of Jerusalem he says the works of Josephus abundantly prove if you want those references you can email call write text I will provide them for you but Christ's first statement concerning the leadup to the seed of Jerusalem in ad70 is to beware of these false teachers and notice their success says for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many hasn't history been replete with that deceived many I mean it's amazing how many you know Persons get caught up in this you know Prophecy of the end times and devote their all to a particular teacher most of you remember Harold Camping I mean he first predicted the end of the the world in 1999 and then he predicted the end of the world again I think it was May 21st my wife's birthday actually I would have got out of buying a birthday present that year had Harold been right but he predicted the end of the world again and people follow people give ear to that people change their lives persons quit jobs they sold homes they don't go to college they don't pursue University because camping says Jesus will return Christ says don't do that don't listen to these guys listen to the word of Truth the false teachers work through deception and they even decare it according to the parallel in Luke 21 the time is drawn near the false teachers corrupt persons who are uncommitted ultimately to the word of Christ if Christ says do not interpret this as a sign that the end is come then don't interpret it as a sign that the end has come the false teachers capitalized on Messiah fever there was a heightened expectation of messiah in the first century they thought Messiah would come subjugate the Roman Empire and is uh uh give them Jewish preeminence that was the expectation and the feeling and so they were successful Davies and Allison say eagerness to believe will always lead to deception especially if the alternative is waiting I think that's apt and appropriate isn't it listen that eagerness to believe will always lead to deception I don't know if I'd say always I hope there's eagerness to believe the scriptures as they're preached Faithfully but I get his point I get the drift at least with reference to prophecy eagerness to believe will always lead to deception especially if the alternative is waiting ours is an unexciting eschatology ours is a do what you're supposed to do and be faithful well no isn't there something more can I go sit on top of Mount sham and you know Usher in the Pres no just do what you're supposed to do where you're at if you're a woman you're a wife you a mother you got kids just wipe those noses train those children put the seat down for whatever you got to do just do it until Jesus comes back that's unexciting isn't it waiting can be somewhat tedious we want prophecy teachers like Harold Camping and I could multiply the teachers I'm not picking on him in particular well I guess I am but we want somebody who's going to tell us that Jesus will be back in 1999 the dispensationalists went Hog Wild when the the the nation of Israel uh uh Israel was in the land in 1948 there was a a glut of books you know 88 reasons why the Rapture will happen in 1988 I see all these books in the thrift stores guess what they weren't right they just weren't right then they you know revise a little and res scheme it and retool it and they're still not right Jesus says don't listen to them Jesus says listen to me not Jim Butler but him Matthew Henry says those that are most inquisitive concerning the secret things which belong not to them are most easily imposed on by seducers and Bruner makes this observation thus when jesus' disciples asked asked him for dates and signs Jesus first warns his disciples against people who claim to have them they're asking when he says beware of those who will tell you beware of those who will deceive you beware of those who will seduce you beware of those who come in my name and want to Enlighten you and want to tell you when these particular things are going to flash out so Christ says in the lead up to the destruction in ad70 there will be false christs there will be false false uh teachers Impostors John will report in 1 John 2:18 there are many antichrists Among Us or many antichrists have come anti doesn't just mean opposed to Christ but anti also means in the place of Christ it's kind of like an anti-type when we have a type in the Old Testament say David is a type of Jesus we don't say Jesus is against David we see Jesus as the anti-tip the in the place of the one corresponding to so Antichrist in the Bible doesn't necessarily mean some horrible guy that stands up and says I hate Jesus it's some horrible guy who claims to be invested with Messianic Authority he is in the place of he corresponds to and he is one that can Enlighten your mind to the mysteries of God Jesus says do not be deceived by them now notice in the second place the presence of political and social upheaval these things will will Mark the season the time preceding the destruction of the temple note the presence of War Jesus says three things to the disciples concerning this issue of war the report the disciples will hear notice in verse 6 and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars again haven't you ever heard people say this not you don't get out much because you know look at all the wars look what's happening Jesus must be coming any time I'm not suggesting that Jesus may not be coming anytime was not the wars of the rumors of wars that Mark that particularly now in terms of outside the Bible historians tacitus was a Roman Senator and a historian ad 56 to 120 he says the history on which I am entering is that of a period rich in disasters terrible with battles torn by civil struggles horrible even in peace four Emperors failed By The Sword there were three Civil Wars and often both at the same time so that period leading up to 87 he had Wars but Jesus says when you hear of wars and rumors of wars notice what he goes on to say the response the disciples must have he says see that you are not troubled this is an intriguing statement isn't it see that you are not troubled it's not telling Christians we ought not to pray it's not telling Christians we ought not to work for peace he's not telling Christians we ought not to be concerned at the wholesal slaughter of persons in War but he's saying do not be troubled to the point where you're taking off Mission do not be troubled to the point where you're paralyzed do not be troubled to the point where you go run and hide there is a fear that engenders Retreat and Jesus says don't do that don't be troubled when you hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not troubled do not be troubled don't freak out don't panic don't lose it Paul the Apostle uses a similar phrase in a similar context in 2 Thessalonians chap 2 you may turn there as I said it's a similar context dealing with the coming of the Lord and Paul tells the people of thessalonica who had a bit of eschatology fever in their minds too he says in 21 now Brethren concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by Spirit or by word or by letter as as if from us as though the day of Christ had come let no one deceive you by any means he uses Concepts and phrases and language that really speaks or or smacks rather of Matthew's presentation of the olette discourse I think this indicates that Matthew was written probably the earliest of the four Gospels it was in circulation for the Jewish Church in ad48 Paul was familiar with it Paul basically imitates the ol of that discourse and his dealing with a church that had gotten the bug of eschatology but all that to say we need to appreciate this admonition see that you are not troubled again Brethren I don't want you to not pray in the midst of world events I don't think there's anything Pious or holy and you know saying I don't want to learn anything about what's going on out there Jesus says not to be troubled so I'm not going to pay attention I that's not what Jesus means Jesus means to pray Jesus means to act Jesus means to you know write your MPS if you have that freedom or Liberty but Jesus wants you not to get off course don't freak Don't Panic don't lose it the people of God maintain faithfulness no matter what's going on the people of God imitate the psalmist of God who said though an army May encamp against me my heart shall not fear though War may rise against me in this I will be confident Psalm 273 so Christ tells them you're going to hear of wars and rumors of War see that you are not troubled now notice the reminder the disciples must consider he says for all these things must come to pass verse 6 but the end is not yet he doesn't say this means the end is he says the end is not wars and rumors of wars and the things mentioned in this passage do not indicate that the end is it indicates in this context that the end is not and notice specifically the things he speaks of must come to pass Now That's Heavy think about this for a moment what he says must come to pass wars and rumors of wars Jesus says these things must come to pass the word must means must it is necessary and I think that word underscores the sinfulness of man on this side of Heaven and the consumate glory to come what's going to happen with men they're going to sin against each other and sometimes that sin ends in war it ends in uh uh uh just antipathy and hatred toward one another but it also demonstrates the sovereignty of God the Providence of God these things must come to pass the Lord is in control even over these wars and rumors of wars the Lord is in control for the people of God so that they're not troubled when they hear these reports Brethren if you are troubled and if you are freaked out if you're in panic mode when you hear of these wars and rumors of wars you've lost sight of the fact that God is Sovereign you've lost sight of the fact that the Lord is on his throne you've lost sight of the fact that history is yahweh's and he orchestrates it and he moves it and he's controlling it and he is over it as Lord John Calvin said he adds this not for the purpose of assigning a reason but of warning them that none of these things happened accidentally or without the Providence of God that they may not uselessly kick against the spur for nothing has a more powerful efficacy to bring us into subjection than when we acknowledge that those things which appear to be confused are regulated by the good pleasure of God see there's instruction there so some say well you know as prist you apply that in the first century so it has no lasting import for us yes it does don't listen to Heretics and don't be troubled when you hear political and social upheaval that's as real an application for us today especially today when as I've said there are many who rise up and claim to know mysteries of God and for 1599 will sell you their prophecy conference and teach you those things Jesus says don't listen to them and conversely when you hear about what's going on in the world don't forget God you don't live in an atheistic world because man is in sin and Rebellion what happens in Psalm 2 that Pastor Porter read at the very outset of worship the Nations rage the people's plot of vain things and then the scene shifts and the camera goes up to Yahweh and what do we see do we see him biting his nails do we see him fretting and frust uh frustrated and flustered do we say see him saying oh my look at those people that I've created they've just gone a muck the Lord sits in the heavens and he laughs he holds the people in derision he sets his King on his Holy Hill of Zion he gives him the Nations for his inheritance the uttermost parts of the Earth for his possession when we see man in Mutiny and Rebellion against God the scene shifts to God who's in calm settled Repose Rule and governance over the Nations Brethren that's the way we ought to see things it's the way we ought to view it we hear of wars and rumors of wars and instead of packing up our old kit bag and smile you know run off and smile smile smile hit in the Hills we realize that we're not to be troubled now there is a time to pack up that kid bag as Jesus says when The Siege begins in Jerusalem those who have listened and heard my words those who are in Judea let him flee why because it's a historical application in in time and space of an army invading another Army history tells us that's precisely what happened we'll get to all that when we consider The Siege but Jesus underscores for them but the end is not the end in view here is the end the disciples asked about in verse three the end of the temple which they saw co-relative with the coming of Christ in his glory and his power and his kingdom and the end of the age I think John Gil explains the end here better than most meaning not the end of the world but the end of Jerusalem and the temple the end of the Jewish state which were to continue and did continue after these disturbances in it and the instruction for the disciples is that they are not to be in uh uh troubled because the end is not yet as I've already said this is the opposite of the way we read this text we read this text we say well the end is near again I'm not saying the end may not be near I don't know I'm not Harold Camp I just don't know but beware of interpreting biblical prophecy based on world events especially if as I argue Matthew 24 deals with the destruction of Jerusalem and her Temple the end of the Jewish age the covenantal transition from old Covenant to New Covenant if that's really the way we ought to view the all of it discourse and certainly for us to interpret wars and rumors of wars and famines and pestilences and earthquakes as a sign that he's going to come at any moment is just misguided it's just not correct now notice we see the political upheaval in terms of War but note oh intriguingly just before we leave the phrase Kingdom or Nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom oh we we actually shouldn't just refer to that the the phrase is unique and not unique but it's used elsewhere in scripture to underscore the same lessons okay Jesus tells them not to be troubled Jesus tells them the end is not yet and then he says Nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom what have I suggested is a way that we understand this it's under the sovereignty of God when the prophet Azariah comes to asau he essentially says the same thing he tells him the Jews were Wicked and rebellious against God this is 2 Chronicles 15 he says that is is sought him and he was found by them and then verse 5 and in those times there was no peace to the one who went out uh uh to the one who went out nor to the one who came in but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands so nation was destroyed by nation and City by city for God troubled them with every adversity but you be strong and do not let your hands be weak for your work shall be rewarded you see what he says that's going to happen but that doesn't change your lot that doesn't change your application it doesn't change what is true for you it's used similarly in Isaiah the prophet in chapter 19 a passage we will revisit when we consider the Lord Jesus coming in the Clouds Of Glory or coming in the Clouds Of Heaven notice the prophet Isaiah 19 specifically verse one the burden against Egypt behold Yahweh rides on a swift cloud and will come into Egypt this is how all argue that Jesus is using the language when the text says that Jesus comes in the in the Clouds Of Heaven and if it is maintained that it's in the destruction of Jerusalem I argue it's just like Yahweh came on the cloud to judge Egypt wasn't the case that there was some Apparition on a cloud and they said hey there's Yahweh through the historical events of God raising up Egypt to destroy that was yahweh's coming the idols of Egypt I'm sorry he will come into Egypt so the idols of Egypt will totter at his presence and the Heart of Egypt will melt in its midst notice this underscores the sovereignty of God in Providence verse two I will set Egyptians against Egyptians everyone will fight against his brother and everyone against his neighbor City against City Kingdom against Kingdom what's the point we need to understand that history is under the control of a sovereign God and when we hear of wars and rumors of wars we're not to be troubled we're not to freak out certainly pray certainly fast certainly you know labor to alleviate the the sufferings of the downtrodden and poor but don't be trouble to the point where you're taken off mission where you're sidelined or sidetracked so back in Matthew 24 he now indicates the presence of social upheaval in verse 7B he says in the leadup to the destruction in ad70 there will be famines pestilences and earthquakes in various places if you have a non King James or King James you don't have pestilences in your Bible I'll argue that it is present famines pestilences and earthquakes I don't think it would be difficult for us to understand why such things would happen after there's Wars what is the typical result famine pestilence and earthquake well not necessarily earthquake the New Testament confirms the presence of these things as do Josephus and tdus at length in Acts 11: 28 there is a famine that agabus prophesies concerning Judea that's the southern tribes of Israel that's the people of Israel that's the people of the Covenant and agabus tells about that when go Paul meets the pillars of the CH Church in Jerusalem and they extend to him the right hand of fellowship and they said to Paul only remember the poor and he says such I was eager to do he's talking about those in the famine in Judea when Paul comes to visit James in Acts 21 Paul brings with him monies collected from Gentile churches to present to James and the elders at the Jerusalem Church this is Paul's whole argument in Romans 15 if you Gentiles have benefited from inclusion into the Jewish covenants then cough up send them money and help alleviate their troubles while they're going through famine there was famine in the first century there was pestilence in the first century there was earthquake in the first century again our new testament's a confirm it and as well Josephus in tacitus we would be here a long time if we went through all that particular data but if these things result because of the war I think they also result because of covenantal unfaithfulness and this is what I want to direct our attention to famine notice in The Book of Leviticus this is where it may get tedious if you're a new visitor with us this morning you're probably saying get tedious it's already been tedious this is going to be a bit of a different study as we work our way through the all of that discourse it's not the easiest discourse in the New Testament and in order to do it justice we have to go somewhat slowly I don't want to be in it for years I and I my promise to you we will not be in it for years but we can't just glide through it and leave some areas of misinformation my argument or not mine but an argument is specifically this that God called the nation of Israel into a covenant with him God promised that Nation blessing if they were faithful he also promised curses if they were Unfaithful and Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 contain those records if you go into the land and do what you're supposed to do then good things will come upon you if you go into the land and you do bad things then bad things will come upon you we see historical expressions of these bad things coming upon them in the Old Testament these things were prophesied by prophets like Isaiah prophets like Jeremiah prophets like Ezekiel the nation of Israel would go a whing from God they would turn from him they would reject him they would follow the gods of the pagans around them and so God would send the prophets to call them to repentance and faith and he if they would not repent and believe God would send judgment in 722 BC God sent judgment via the Assyrian Empire they came and destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel now you would think Judah the southern Kingdom of Israel would have learned their lesson this is the point in Ezekiel 23 she became even more wicked but you would have think thought that they would have learned their lesson but they didn't they persist in unfaithfulness they persist in idolatry they persist in Breaking the Covenant God made with them so in 587 586 God raises up Babylon he calls Nebuchadnezzar my servant he sends Babylon in to destroy the city of Jerusalem and to destroy their Temple again you would think that they would learn they don't Jesus comes to his own and his own receive him not Jesus comes as the Messiah sent by God and instead of receiving him and worship Shing him and loving him and adoring him they say away with him away with him crucify him so that judgment promised in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 that was fulfilled in the northern kingdom in uh 7:22 BC Southern Kingdom 586 BC is going to be fulfilled one last time in 870 when God brings the Covenant curses to Bear upon these people and the Covenant now it with them is dissolved it is done this this is the point in Hebrews 8 there is a better Covenant the New Covenant wherein the the people of God are not the nation of Israel but the Church of Jesus Christ the people of God whether Jew or Gentile but there's no longer a national Covenant so that at ad70 the Jewish people the nation of Israel enter the ranks of Every Other Nation and as I preached last week we ought not to be anti-semitic we ought not to hold modern Jews responsible for the sins that happened 2,000 years ago but conversely we ought not to be zionis and think that everything focuses upon the return of the Jews to their Promised Land they're just like everybody else the only way they enter into the New Covenant is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone and so what we find in 8070 is the completion of the curse of God upon an apost lost eight people and I believe that as we understand this it makes Crystal or it should be crystal clear now probably will never be crystal clear but hopefully we can at least ask for Clear note the Covenant curses in The Book of Leviticus we're going to run through these quickly famine famine verse 16b I will also do this to you I will even appoint Terror over you wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart and you shall sow your seed in vain for your enemies shall eat it we have both pestilence and famine in that one famine again in verse 19 I will break the pride of your power I will make your Heavens like iron and your earth like bronze note pestilence in verse 21 we'll just take them as they come if you walk contrary to me and are not willing to obey me I will bring on you seven times more plagues according to your sins notice famine in verse 26 when I have cut off your supply of bread 10 women shall bake your bread in one oven and they shall bring back your bread by wait and you shall eat and not be satisfied verse 29 you shall eat the son flesh of your sons and you shall eat the Flesh of your daughters now some will say well that's hyperbolic isn't it no it's not The Siege of Jerusalem in Babylon what happened to the people mothers would eat their children guess what happens that that's what the Prophet Jeremiah says in the book of Lamentations tenderhearted women took their their babies and they ate them because there was no food at The Siege when we read or when we get to the actual ad70 event uh Josephus describes the same things persons Under Siege would eat their children they would resort to cannibalism because there was no food and that's what God is prophesying here in the Book of Leviticus notice Deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy 28 similar things famines pestilences and then I want to notice something really quick and then we'll finish now really quick and preacher talk is probably different than it is in every other talk so if you're thinking two minutes the end is not yet Deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy 28 vers again we'll just run through these 17 and 18 cursed shall be your basket and your kneading Bowl cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land the increase of your cattle and The Offspring of your flocks notice famine again in verse 23 your Heavens which are over your head shall be bronze and the Earth which is under you shall be Iron the Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed notice the the the reference to to epidemic or plague in verse 21 again just scanning through this briefly the Lord will make the plague cling to you until he has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess notice as well famine in verse 31 your o shall be slaughtered before your eyes and uh but you shall not eat of it your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you and shall not be restored to you your sheep shall be given to your enemies and you shall have no one to rescue them your your sons and daughters shall be given to another people famine and pestilence are are woven throughout these Covenant curses again I'm not doing it justice because of the sake of time but it's replete and it's very intriguing something else entwined or enjoined or dealt with in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 it's not just famine and it's not just pestilence but it's Exile and here's what I Think Jesus is saying in that sea or that that era preceding The Siege of Jerusalem you're going to have famines you're going to have pestilences you're going to have earthquakes the end is not yet but in The Siege what happens Exile the people of Israel are shut down follows the Covenant curses it goes goes along with Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 back for a moment to Leviticus 26 and note even the language that is employed in these Old Testament books that is imitated by our lord Jesus notice in Leviticus 2625 and I will bring a sword against you that will execute the Vengeance of the Covenant when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence of among you and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy notice in verse 31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to Desolation doesn't Jesus say that in Matthew 23:38 behold your house is Left To You desolate well this is what God promised for a people that would reject his law his Covenant and ultimately his Messiah it would be the execution of the Vengeance of the Covenant notice in verse 32 I will bring the land to Desolation verse 33 your land shall be desolate and your cities waste again Deuteronomy 28 same sort of thing same sort of concept same sort of uh uh a warning to the nation that they go not out and apostatize against God Almighty Deuteronomy 28:32 I've already read that verse 33 a nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your hand land and the produce of your labor and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually so you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see the Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head notice in verse 36 the Lord will bring you and the King whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known and there you Shall Serve other gods wood and stone and you shall become an astonishment a proverb and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you and then in verses 47 to 57 it is developed at large that Exile results when they continue to break God's covenant one man says commenting on banishment or Exile banishment from the promised inheritance was the extreme of malediction it signified the loss of God's special presence in favor loss of the appointed sacramental access to him on his Holy Hill of Zion and loss of status as the people of God's kingdom that's what happens at 8070 this is consistent with what Jesus says in Matthew 21:43 I tell you the Kingdom of Heaven is taken from you and given to a nation that will bear fruits consistent with it it's the church it's the people of God again not just Gentiles but Jew and Gentile God's not saying you'll never be saved if you're a Jewish person he is saying to the Covenant people that had rejected them that had filled up the measure of their father's guilt according to Jes Jesus in Matthew 23 that upon you all this righteous blood will be required from Abel to Zechariah and then notice the reason specifically and again we could multiply passages here but I just want you to see it in Deuteronomy 28 since you're already there verse 45 moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep his Commandments and his statutes which he commanded you and they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder and on your descendants forever we go back to the ol ofet discourse and when we compare scripture with scripture and we look at Luke Luke adds this interesting statement and I think in this he reflects something of these passages I have brought to your attention in Luke 21 20-22 he says but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies be difficult to argue that he's not talking about the Siege in ad70 some Scholars suggest that Matthew 24 doesn't treat the destruction of the temple at all I think that's nonsensical but some do think that most admit that Mark and Luke are definitely dealing with the temple and its destruction in ad70 so is that you know rabbit I'm pulling out of my hat today saying I want you to believe that this all took place in the first century because I want you to believe it this is a long and historical position with reference to Matthew 24 but in Luke 21 20-22 when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies then know that its desolation is near it's the same sort of language we just read in Leviticus 26 desolation your cities your Sanctuary will be desolate then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains let those who are in the midst of her depart and let not those who are in the country enter her now we see that in Matthew duplicated but Luke adds this that Matthew doesn't Luke says for these are the days of Vengeance right out of Leviticus I was reading my Bible this morning right out of Ezekiel as well God calls it Vengeance when he brings judgment to Bear upon his Covenant breaking people these are the days of Vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled boy I wonder what Luke's talking about he's talking about Leviticus 26 he's talking about Deuteronomy 28 he's talking as Gil says about Moses and the prophets Luke is saying that this is a fulfillment of the scripture the destruction of the Temple in ad70 these are the days of Vengeance that everything all things that are written may be fulfilled this is according to God's plan in other words you break Covenant God brings judgment to Bear upon you then finally and that's real the end is near verse eight all these are the beginning of Sorrows all these are the beginning of Sorrows this is the beginning of birth pains this is what the word literally means or travail it speaks of a time of Agony with a blessing in the future doesn't it I mean all of us as parents know that when those birth Pains start well you ladies know it better than you the men you know when those birth Pains start you're in for some suffering I can't imagine it's easy to give birth I've often thought that I'm thankful that God did not make me a woman because I have struggles with a cold I don't know how I could do that but there's birth pains there's anguish there's sorrow SS but there is a time of rejoicing and if we follow the trajectory there's going to be Sorrows to be sure Jerusalem is going to be shut down the temple is going to be lost it is going to be destroyed but on the heels of that God incorporates a worldwide people of God into the Covenant promises made to Abraham so there is good in view the language that Jesus suggests or tells us here all these are the beginning of Sorrows in other words when you hear of wars and rumors of wars and you see these famines and these pestilences and earthquakes do not immediately conclude that Jesus is going to back come back on that day no these are the beginning of Sorrows in Jewish expectation they thought there would be a time the birth pangs of Messiah the period of distress preceding the Messianic age Christ is using the term this way he's saying there is going to be preceding stress there is going to be a period of Sorrows there will be Wars there will be rumors of wars there will be famine there will be pestilence there will be earthquakes you will be hated by all for my name sake you will be persecuted the gospel will be preached not throughout the whole world the word specifically is the inhabited World a word that's used in other places telling us that this has in fact been fulfilled but these things will precede the fall of Jerusalem and the fall of Jerusalem the Jewish Wars of 67 to 6 uh 8070 was was horrific these are the beginning of Sorrow other words disciples you got work to do go out and preach go out and teach go out and be faithful go out and uh engage the apostolic Ministry don't immediately conclude the presence of these things indicates my imminent return well that's our Exposition God willing we'll take up the next several verses next week just a couple of thoughts first the misconception concerning prism sometimes persons he that you believe that this has already been fulfilled and they say well do you think there'll never be problems or trials in the earth Beyond this no any more than I would think that when Jeremiah said there were going to be hardships facing Israel prior to the destruction of the temple then that there wouldn't be hardships in our future there's still going to be wars and rumors of wars and famines and pestilences and earthquakes I'm not here preaching some polanish view well this is already satisfied so don't worry Brethren be happy no but there was a specific historical application of these things to the man that Jesus was speaking to very specifically so that's a misconception that's offered up against prism secondly we ought to understand that here lies an exhortation to Believers there's two actually take heed that no one deceives you and see that you are not troubled now certainly that was applicable to these men in their context they heard about the destruction of the temple they ask about the destruction of the temple Jesus answers about the destruction of the temple but brethren we ought to take this exhortation to heart as well we ought to listen to what our lord Jesus says br makes this observation Bruner uh Jesus sermon first seeks theological sanity is that what he says it's first thing he just addresses take heed that no one deceives you what does Jesus seem to assume there there's going to be well he doesn't assume he tells us there's going to be many who will deceive many in other words Health stability well adjustment security peace an absence of perplexity in many many many respects is connected to what you know concerning God's truth I'm sure you're saying oh Butler's back to this again tell want us to read our Bibles and pray exactly do you know how many problems we have because we don't read our Bibles and pray you know how perplexed we get because we don't read our Bibles and pray oh did you hear soand so say that this was going to happen What does the Bible say about that stuff Jesus says you know when you hear about these things don't immediately run off to them don't be enamored by them Bruner goes on Jesus sermon first seeks theological sanity and then emotional stability take heed that no one deceives you see that you are not troubled those are abiding exhortations or applications from Matthew 24 that should help each and every one of us do not be deceived by false teachers the best way to guard against deception by false teachers is to know the truth the truth shall make you free Jesus says be in the Bible be reading the word of God learn what it says take heed to the words of instruction therein we're starting a Bible study God willing on Tuesday night in South Sur I hope that multitudes come I hope that people hear I hope that people learn I hope that we can see a church established in the Lower Mainland in that region and then we can multiply that word not because we're great or we're awesome or we're the most excellent and holy interpreters of scripture that have ever been but if you have lived in this world for any amount of time you'll know that not every church that proclaims or professes to be a Christian Church is preaching the gospel they're preaching Health they're preaching wealth they're preaching ing happiness they're preaching Prosperity they're preaching how to how to be a better this or a better that we need a better Christ to save us from our sins we need blood atonement we need Redemption through his blood we need to hear that we're sinful wretched vile helpless guilty Sinners and the only hope is from on high through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ that's what needs to be thundered that's what needs to be trumpeted that's what needs to be Pro claim Jesus says take heed that no one deceives you the most important thing in your life is not your happiness the most important thing in the in life is the glory of God and a righteousness that is not your own being given to you by that God we need to pray we need to preach we need to hope we need to encourage faithful diligent study of Holy scripture again I'm not suggesting that persons who end up different L on the the all of that discourse than I aren't doing that no good Godly righteous holy men end up with different interpretations of the olette discourse that's okay but it's the the campings it's the 88 reasons why it's the you know capitalizing on people's fears being prophets of prophet instead of prophets of God Jesus says don't don't let them deceive you and as well don't be troubled Brethren I know it's hard not to be troubled in this world I mean the world is a tough place to live isn't it terrible things happen here I mean it's like daily isn't it you find out Sinners have you know outdone themselves they have out sinned themselves I mean especially now I mean we got information like that you know how did the Dodgers do last night oh this person committed beastiality with their dog hey what were the Lakers doing and it's like we just process tidbits of information some of it is absolutely mindblowing it's hard not to be troubled isn't it it's hard not to be troubled when we see our government officials lying and we accept it oh well they're politicians that's just what they do or or they're lawyers and that that's just what they do why they shouldn't do that it's a troubling world that we live in war is troubling attacks by is troubling the thought that somebody would go in amongst a soft target and Shout a name and then blow people up is troubling it's hard to live in this world so Brethren I'm not sure I can give you 15 ways and 15 helps on how to obey Jesus here because it's a struggle and it's a difficulty and I confess some trials myself with this particular admonition but Christ says it see that you be not troubled don't lose it don't freak out don't don't be crippled don't run don't hide don't desert but rather be faithful be faithful in your work be faithful in your home be faithful in your Society be faithful in your church too how come we we all know I should be faithful in my workplace we all know I should be a faithful husband and not go out on my wife how come we all know I should be faithful in my you know in my in my society and be Civic minded why aren't we so faithful in our church why is it that we'll just miss time and time again or we'll sleep during preaching if you don't get enough sleep at night get some sleep why is it that faithfulness to the church is held in contempt today Brethren let your let let see that you are not troubled and then finally as I said there are various views of this passage the futurist says it's all in our future the two events says some of it was then some of it's to come prism says it was then but prism still sees this as typical of what's going to happen in the future in other words if God executed the curses of the Covenant on his Covenant people you cannot think for a moment if you're an unbeliever who has not come to Christ that you're going to escape the wrath to come neamiah Cox sort of a forefather of the particular Baptists one of our forefathers made this comment concerning Enoch and Enoch prophesied according to Jude 14- 15 and Cox says the first judgment that Enoch prophesied was a type of future judgments again a type is a symbol or an action or something that happens in the old Covenant or Old Testament that's antitype is in the new he says the first first judgment was a type of future judgments on wicked men and this really intrigued me especially of the destruction of the Jewish state by the fire of God's Wrath for their rejecting of Christ that's 8070 he says each of these was a Prelude of the general Judgment of the world so the threatening of this first judgment to the ungodly living uh ungodly living was also a denouncing of judgment against all ungodly sinners in future times so here's what says when you read the Bible if you read the Bible and I suggest you should or you hear the Bible preached and you see the flood and you keep reading and you see Assyria Second Kings 17 destroy the northern kingdom and you keep reading and you get to Jeremiah and you see God using the Babylonians to destroy the southern Kingdom and then you make it to Matthew 24 and you say yeah that that makes sense this generation it does take place then and you see God bring the the the Roman armies to Bear Christ specifically and thrown at the right hand bring the Roman armies to Bear upon these Sinners you need to conclude the same is going to happen to you you can't escape the wrath to come you cannot flee to the mountains on those days these instructions to those who were in Judea they could have escape this is typical though the antitype is the judgment to come when All Flesh will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ are you prepared to do that are you prepared to stand before Christ are you prepared to give an account of the Deeds Done in your body whether good or evil you see Jesus doesn't stop there it's not just the Deeds it's not just the physical but it's the words that we say Matthew 20 uh 12:36 it's the thoughts we entertained you say well that seems outlandish didn't Jesus teach us in The Sermon on the Mount you have said that it was said you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not commit adultery but I say to you whoever looks upon a woman and lusts after her in his heart is guilty can any of you with Judgment Day honesty say I have never committed adultery under that definition I highly doubt it can any of you say I have never committed murder under Jes definition you have heard that it was said by those of old you shall not murder but I say to you whoever hates his brother without a cause whoever calls him Rocka or fool has violated the Commandment so you see you're going to stand young and old it's not just for you old goats out there it's for the young people as well you're going to stand before this Jesus you're going to stand before the Lord Of Glory we spent an hour previous to our session here going over this God has affirmed this God has ordained this God has promised this and one of the ways he has made it evident is by raising Jesus from the dead if you do not flee to Christ if you do not run to him if you do not find refuge in Christ you are going to suffer far worse than what those living in the Roman Empire did in ad70 so please listen to Jesus but substitute here then those or let those who are in Judah flee to the mountains I would say to you let those who are on the earth flee to Christ flee to Jesus run to him believe in him and you will have everlasting life well let us pray Our Father we thank you for the word of God we thank you for its Clarity and its beauty and its consistency and I pray that you would help us to understand these things and help us to truly seek to implement these things in our our lives that we would not be deceived by false teachers by Impostors and as well that we would not be troubled to the point of paralysis help us to be a caring people and a praying people and a working people but God help us not to be paralyzed by fear and trepidation I ask that you would indeed open eyes and Open Hearts to the truth of the Gospel that Jesus came he lived he died he rose again so that all who believe in him will have everlasting life do that which is impossible with men do it for your Glory sake and save souls and we ask these things through Christ Our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed e e for