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You may have noticed that I am 
limping and wearing an ankle 

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brace. 
You may also have noticed this 

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chair behind the podium. 
Don't worry, if I need it, I'll 

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use it. 
The limping and ankle brace and 

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a chair are because this 
Wednesday I severely sprained my

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ankle. 
Wow, severe ankle sprain you 

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say? 
How did you incur that injury? 

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By walking? 
Yep, impressive. 

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Kids don't try this at home. 
I was walking early in the 

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morning to memorize scripture 
and pray, as I do almost every 

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morning when I can walk. 
It was dark. 

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It's about 5:30 AM. 
It was even darker than normal 

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because Wednesday was very 
overcast. 

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So normally that early, there's 
a little bit of moonlight, 

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Starlight, you can see a little 
bit. 

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But Wednesday morning, you could
see nothing. 

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And I was looking at my phone to
try to help me memorize a verse 

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of Scripture. 
And my left foot stepped right 

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onto the edge of a sidewalk 
pavement and a couple of inches 

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down into the grass. 
And my whole weight went 

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straight down. 
Didn't catch myself, fell 

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straight down. 
Instant pain. 

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I started crawling. 
That was smart. 

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Well, how am I going to get 
home? 

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I guess I'll wait a minute. 
No, no, no, no, no. 

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So I called my wife. 
Thankfully, she could come pick 

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me up right away. 
Got seen by an orthopedist. 

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That is a severe sprain, 
thankfully not broken. 

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Well there's there's technically
something called an avulsion 

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fracture for all you medical 
people, but they just say it's a

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sprain. 
So Lord willing, couple of weeks

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of a brace, resting it and 
elevating it as much as 

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possible. 
I should be back to normal I 

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hope. 
Why did I fall and sprain my 

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ankle? 
Because I couldn't see where I 

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was going. 
Lord willing, when I heal up and

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return to my early morning 
walking ways on mornings like 

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that, I will now wear a 
headlamp. 

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I have already bought 1. 
I mean, come on, You see, if 

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you're ever out early in the 
morning, you see some of these 

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walkers, these runners, they've 
got their little neon vest. 

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Some, some people have 
headlamps. 

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I'm going to be a headlamp guy 
on those kind of mornings. 

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I've got it. 
I've got the batteries. 

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It's ready for the 1st morning I
need it so that I can see where 

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I'm going. 
In your life as a whole, can you

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see where you're going? 
Where are you going? 

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Do you have a desired 
destination in this life? 

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Do you have any sense of a 
destination beyond this life? 

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If so, what's going to get you 
there? 

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Where are you going? 
Can you see where you're going? 

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How are you going to get there? 
This morning we continue our 

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series in Mark's Gospel with our
second of three sermons on Mark,

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chapter 13. 
If you don't have a Bible, 

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please raise your hand and 
someone will bring you one. 

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If you don't have a Bible at 
home, you can feel free to keep 

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it, read it. 
We'd be happy for you to take 

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that as a gift from us. 
Don't be shy. 

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If anybody needs a Bible, put up
a hand. 

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So this morning, Mark 13 verses 
14 to 17. 

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Excuse me, 14 to 27. 
Mark 1314 to 27. 

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In these verses Jesus continues 
teaching his disciples about 

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both their immediate future and 
their ultimate future. 

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This is during the last week of 
Jesus life. 

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It's about 30 AD and for most of
our passage Jesus teaches about 

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what some of his disciples will 
endure in the lead up to the 

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destruction of Jerusalem and the
temple in 70AD. 

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But then he turns their 
attention and ours to the more 

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distant future. 
It's a future that still hasn't 

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arrived, but it will. 
Please follow along as I read 

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Mark 13 verses 14 to 27. 
But when you see the abomination

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of desolation standing where he 
ought not to be, let the reader 

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understand. 
Then let those who are in Judea 

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flee to the mountains. 
Let the one who is on the 

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housetop not go down or enter 
his house to take anything out, 

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and let the one who is in the 
field not turn back to take his 

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cloak. 
And alas, for women who are 

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pregnant and for those who are 
nursing infants in those days, 

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pray that it may not happen in 
winter. 

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For in those days there will be 
such tribulation as has not been

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from the beginning of the 
creation that God created until 

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now, and never will be. 
And if the Lord had not cut 

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short the days, no human being 
would be saved. 

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But for the sake of the elect 
whom He chose, He shortened the 

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days. 
And then if anyone says to you, 

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look, here's the Christ, or 
look, there he is, do not 

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believe it. 
For false Christs and false 

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prophets will arise and perform 
signs and wonders to lead 

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astray, if possible, the elect, 
but be on guard. 

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I've told you all things 
beforehand. 

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But in those days after that 
tribulation, the sun will be 

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darkened, and the moon will not 
give its light, and the stars 

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will be falling from heaven, and
the powers in the heavens will 

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be shaken. 
And then they will see the Son 

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of Man coming in clouds with 
great power and glory. 

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And then he will send out the 
angels and gather his elects 

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from the four winds, from the 
ends of the earth to the ends of

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heaven. 
In this passage, Jesus 

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prophecies the destruction of 
Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 

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AD and his own personal return 
to earth at some later, 

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unspecified time. 
Verses 14 to 23 are all about 

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the destruction of Jerusalem in 
the Temple, and verses 24 to 27 

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are all about his personal 
return from heaven to earth. 

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So in this passage Jesus teaches
us where his first disciples are

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heading, which is into a major 
trial and catastrophe, and where

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this whole universe is heading, 
which is to his personal return.

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What should you do in light of 
Jesus teaching? 

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Very simple, watch out and wait.
Watch out and wait. 

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Watch out is the main point of 
verses 14 to 23. 

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Wait is the main point of verses
24 to 27. 

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Sermon will have two points. 
Each point will have 3 sub 

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points. 
The first point will be much 

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longer point #1 watch out. 
That's Jesus's main take away 

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for us in verses 14 to 23. 
Watch out. 

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Watch out for what? 
First, watch out for the sign 

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Jesus promised. 
Watch out for the sign Jesus 

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promised. 
If you were here last week, 

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you'll remember that in verse 4 
of this chapter 4 of Jesus, 

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disciples asked him when the 
temple will be destroyed, which 

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he's just predicted, and what's 
the sign that it is about to be 

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destroyed. 
Then as we saw in verses 5 to 

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13, Jesus tells them a whole 
bunch of things that are going 

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to happen that will not be signs
of the temples coming 

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destruction. 
These things are all going to 

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happen, but they're not going to
be a sign that the destruction 

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of the temple is near. 
Now here in verse 14, he finally

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comes to the sign they're asking
for, verse 14. 

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But when you see the abomination
of desolation standing where he 

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ought not to be, let the reader 
understand. 

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Then let those who are in Judea 
flee to the mountains. 

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The point here is that this 
abomination of desolation is the

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sign that the temple's about to 
be destroyed. 

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Judea is the region that the 
city of Jerusalem is in. 

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Jesus is addressing those who 
will be present there at that 

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time, and he's saying when you 
see this, it's time to get out. 

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When this happens, this is the 
sign. 

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This is go time. 
But what is the abomination of 

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desolation? 
The phrase comes from the Old 

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Testament prophetic book of 
Daniel. 

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Daniel uses this phrase three 
times in print. 

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Prophecies, predictions about 
the future Daniel 927-1131 and 

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12/11 The phrase describes 
someone who does unholy anti 

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religious things in and to God's
temple. 

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For instance, one of those 
passages Daniel 1131 talking 

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about a coming ruler. 
Forces from him shall appear and

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profane the temple and fortress,
and shall take away the regular 

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burnt offering, and they shall 
set up the abomination that 

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makes desolate. 
These prophecies found an 

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initial fulfillment in 168 BC. 
That is just about 200 years 

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before Jesus is teaching his 
disciples here. 

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Antiochus Epiphanes was the king
of the Selyucid Empire, which 

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included Judea and its 
territory. 

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Antiochus adopted the Greek 
title Epiphanies, which means 

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God manifest. 
He viewed himself as Zeus 

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Incarnate. 
He invaded Judea. 

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He tried to force the Jews 
living in Jerusalem and Judea to

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adopt Greek customs and worship 
Greek gods. 

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In 168 BC he came to Jerusalem. 
He plunder the temple. 

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He took away all the sacred 
vessels of the temple to sell 

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off and finance his war 
campaigns. 

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When he entered the temple, he 
set up an altar to Zeus over the

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top of the altar of burnt 
offerings to the Lord, and he 

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sacrificed a pig there, an 
unclean animal. 

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It was a deliberate, knowing, 
informed effort to give the most

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possible offense to the Jewish 
people and to the God of Israel 

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and the resistance that that got
rid of him and cleared out the 

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temple and restored at the true 
worship was led by the Maccabees

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and came to be memorialized in 
the festival of Hanukkah every 

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year. 
So for 200 years before the 

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before Jesus talking to his 
disciples, all observant Jews 

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would have celebrated how God 
delivered his people from this 

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original abomination of 
desolation. 

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That's what they would have 
thought about year by year, how 

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someone desecrated the temple 
and God preserved his people and

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God purified his own worship. 
And so we got the temple back 

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and true worship back. 
So when Jesus disciples heard 

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him quote this phrase from 
Daniel, they would have thought 

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of some kind of gross act of 
sacrilege committed against the 

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Lord and especially against the 
temple. 

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I have to be transparent. 
I am not certain what the 

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abomination of desolation is. 
I'm sorry, I did my best. 

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It had to be something occurring
close enough in time to the 

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destruction of the temple to 
serve as a warning sign to get 

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out of Jerusalem. 
Scholars disagree about it. 

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There are a lot of theories. 
I think the most likely 

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candidate is that in 68 to 69 
AD, the Zealots, who were the 

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kind of resistance party against
the Romans on behalf of the 

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Jews. 
At that time, they were leading 

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the Jewish opposition to Rome. 
They appointed their own high 

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priest who did not have proper 
Levitical descent, and he 

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started doing worshippy stuff in
the temple, or rather false 

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00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:05,200
worshippy stuff in the temple. 
That would seem to fit Jesus 

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language of verse 14 where he 
says he is standing where he 

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ought not to be. 
Only a Levitical priest has the 

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right to stand there and 
minister in the temple. 

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This guy doesn't. 
He's standing where he ought not

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to be. 
And that would have been a big 

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deal. 
It would have circulated, you 

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00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:18,920
know, that the news of it would 
have circulated quickly. 

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So I'm not 100% committed to it.
I think that's what it could 

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have been. 
Regardless though of any 

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uncertainty about who or what 
this was, Jesus is practical 

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point to his first followers is 
clear when you see this happen, 

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run away, get out of the city. 
He gives more specific 

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instructions on that in verses 
15 to 18. 

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00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:42,280
And we have to remember that 
this wouldn't have just been 

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like, you know, two people walk 
in and, you know, try to like 

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take over the temple. 
This is the entire force of the 

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Roman army coming to destroy 
Jerusalem and destroying the 

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temple, the grandest, biggest 
structure as part of that. 

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00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:56,880
So what are they escaping? 
They're not just escaping from 

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like a religious dispute where a
couple of people are in some old

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building. 
They're escaping from total 

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00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,120
annihilation, an army coming in 
and totally wiping out the city 

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versus 15 to 18. 
Let the one who is on the 

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00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,520
housetop not go down nor into 
his house to take anything out, 

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00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,720
and let the one who's in the 
field not turn back to take his 

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00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,120
cloak. 
And alas, for women who are 

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00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,640
pregnant and for those who are 
nursing infants in those days, 

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pray that it may not happen in 
winter. 

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00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,920
Houses in Judea had flat roofs. 
Houses were often cramped and 

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poorly ventilated. 
So it might actually be cooler 

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00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:34,880
up on the roof where a breeze 
can blow. 

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00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,240
It's kind of like a bonus room. 
People would spend a lot of time

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up there. 
You could even sleep there. 

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00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,240
So what does Jesus mean by not 
go down if you're on the 

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00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:44,680
rooftop? 
What does he mean not go down? 

228
00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,720
I think he means don't go back 
down into the house. 

229
00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,720
There would have been an inside 
staircase and an outside 

230
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:52,880
staircase. 
This is so urgent. 

231
00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,960
You don't even use the inside 
staircase to go down and get 

232
00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,960
anything. 
You're upstairs, you go outside,

233
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:01,680
you run. 
I think that's what Jesus is 

234
00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:06,360
saying. 
It is just possible that houses 

235
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,840
were so close together that he 
envisions people fleeing rooftop

236
00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,000
to rooftop kind of 1st century 
parkour. 

237
00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,120
I just had to say it is 
distracting is in my head. 

238
00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,320
I didn't mean to. 
Some scholars think that's what 

239
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,400
that means. 
I think he probably just means 

240
00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:26,320
go down the outside staircase. 
Anyways, that one's for free. 

241
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:30,840
The flight is so urgent you 
don't even go get your 

242
00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:32,560
belongings. 
That's the point about the 

243
00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:34,000
instruction to being in the 
fields, right? 

244
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,200
If you're working in the fields,
you might, you might put put a 

245
00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,800
heavy cloak down at the edge of 
the field and go walk as you're 

246
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,480
doing your work. 
Quarter mile, half mile, 

247
00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:42,520
whatever it is. 
Well, well, don't go back to 

248
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,640
quarter mile or half mile to get
your cloak. 

249
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,600
Just run. 
That's why it's so hard for 

250
00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,440
pregnant women and nursing 
mothers. 

251
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:54,440
If you're escaping from a siege,
it is hard to get babies to go 

252
00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,280
anywhere quickly. 
All parents of infants know 

253
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:58,560
this. 
If there's that type of 

254
00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,560
hardship, you're in that much 
worse of a position. 

255
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,920
Why pray that it may not happen 
in winter? 

256
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,360
Because in that region, it just 
about only rained in winter. 

257
00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,120
You'd have dry drought, no rain 
almost at all. 

258
00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,600
And then you'd get kind of rain 
that would lead to flash floods,

259
00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,520
which means a empty Creek bed 
could become an impassable river

260
00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,080
instantly. 
You don't have to be fleeing, 

261
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:26,120
trying to afford a raging river.
So in these verses, he Jesus 

262
00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,800
tells his disciples the sign to 
watch out for and what to do 

263
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,320
when it comes. 
And the sign did come. 

264
00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,720
Roman armies in circle Jerusalem
and then laid waste to it. 

265
00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,080
The sign came. 
Then came destruction. 

266
00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,800
Jesus's words came true 40 years
later. 

267
00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:43,640
What are we supposed to learn 
from that? 

268
00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:49,160
Jesus's predictions are certain.
They're not guesses. 

269
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,400
They're not estimates. 
They're not projections based on

270
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,240
curves and trend lines. 
They're certain. 

271
00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,800
Jesus promises are true. 
Jesus knows the future because 

272
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:05,960
Jesus controls the future. 
To us, the future is a lot like 

273
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:10,960
the darkness of 5:30 AM on a day
with heavy cloud cover. 

274
00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:16,640
We can't see what's coming. 
We can't see where we're going 

275
00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:25,080
unless God reveals it to us. 
God's Word is our headlamp. 

276
00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:28,760
What else are we to watch out 
for? 

277
00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:33,000
Second, watch out for trials and
mercy. 

278
00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,800
Watch out for trials and mercy. 
That's the substance of Jesus 

279
00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:42,240
teaching in verses 19 and 20, 
Verse 19. 

280
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,240
For in those days there will be 
such tribulation as has not been

281
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,560
from the beginning of the 
creation that God created until 

282
00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:56,320
now and never will be. 
Verse 19, in those days, what 

283
00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,800
days is Jesus talking about? 
He's talking about Rome's siege 

284
00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,040
against and conquest of 
Jerusalem. 

285
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,200
He's talking about the years 
from 66 to 70 AD. 

286
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,040
And he's saying that this is 
going to be a worse ordeal, a 

287
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:11,119
worse trial than anything they 
can imagine. 

288
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,040
Jesus expression here that the 
tribulation is worse than 

289
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:16,760
anything before or after. 
It's a fairly common prophetic 

290
00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:18,200
idiom. 
You see it in the Old Testament.

291
00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:20,880
It's a hyperbolic way of saying 
it's going to be really, really,

292
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,079
really, really bad. 
We're not meant to to sort of 

293
00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:26,119
take this as literally as 
possible and try to weigh up and

294
00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,160
count well the number of people 
died or the amount of suffering.

295
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:30,640
Can we quantify? 
Was this worse than the 

296
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,880
Holocaust? 
No, it's, it's just saying this 

297
00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:40,040
is going to be awful. 
Also, we know from history that 

298
00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:43,960
the events of the Roman war 
against Jerusalem were truly 

299
00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,720
horrific. 
The historian Josephus, who 

300
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,080
wrote a history of the events, 
reports that around 1,000,000 

301
00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,400
Jews were killed. 
Something like 6000 were 

302
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,520
crucified. 
The siege created such a severe 

303
00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,840
famine that some people resorted
to cannibalism. 

304
00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,800
But there was mercy amid the 
severe trials. 

305
00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,440
Look at verse 20. 
And if the Lord had not cut 

306
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,920
short the days, no human being 
would be saved. 

307
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,160
But for the sake of the elect 
whom he chose, he shortened the 

308
00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:21,080
days. 
When Jesus says that God has cut

309
00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:24,760
short the days, he means that 
God set a limit to the trial in 

310
00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,200
advance. 
He sovereignly limited the 

311
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:32,040
length and intensity of what 
Rome would do to Jerusalem. 

312
00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:34,360
He did that to preserve some 
people alive. 

313
00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,000
If he hadn't, they could have 
literally killed every single 

314
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,680
person there. 
So when Jesus says no human 

315
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,120
being would be saved, he's using
saved in the sense of being 

316
00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:47,000
preserved alive, having your 
life saved. 

317
00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:49,240
Why did God limit this 
suffering? 

318
00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:54,160
Jesus says for the sake of the 
elect whom he chose, God showed 

319
00:18:54,480 --> 00:19:00,080
temporal mercy to some for the 
sake of those who would inherit 

320
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:04,640
eternal life. 
God showed kindness amid 

321
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,800
horrific circumstances to some 
for the sake of those whom he 

322
00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,080
determined to show everlasting 
kindness. 

323
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:16,120
God is sovereign over history. 
God sets limits to even the most

324
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:21,600
severe suffering, and one reason
he does so is to show mercy to 

325
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:27,800
his chosen people. 
Even when God afflicts us 

326
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,960
sorely, He cares for us 
compassionately. 

327
00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:40,840
In judgement, He mingles mercy. 
Even when he treats us severely,

328
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:47,120
He mixes in kindness. 
If you were a first generation 

329
00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:49,840
Christian living through the 
siege of Jerusalem, you would 

330
00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:53,440
have been sorely tempted to 
think God has forgotten me, God 

331
00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:58,800
is against me, God hates me, and
you'd be wrong on all counts. 

332
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,640
Amid the horrific hardship, God 
was providing just what you 

333
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,440
needed to be sustained to 
survive. 

334
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,920
And to live to trust in him 
another day. 

335
00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,720
Notice how Jesus does not 
sugarcoat any of this. 

336
00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:22,160
Jesus is the most perfect 
practitioner of truth in 

337
00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,080
advertising. 
He's not hiding any hard news 

338
00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,880
from his disciples. 
Instead, he's opening their eyes

339
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,280
as wide as he can get them to 
go. 

340
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,600
If you're not a believer in 
Jesus, you need to know that 

341
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:39,760
following Jesus will not deliver
you an easy or pain free life. 

342
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,160
If you decide to follow Jesus, 
you will continue to suffer 

343
00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:45,360
natural hardships like, oh I 
don't know, spraining your 

344
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,880
ankle. 
You will also then begin to 

345
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,960
suffer new spiritual hardships 
that come to you because you are

346
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:57,000
a Christian. 
When you sign up to follow 

347
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,880
Jesus, he tells you that it will
cost you. 

348
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,960
He warns you to count the cost 
in advance. 

349
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:10,720
He tells you what you're in for.
And His promise is He is himself

350
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:16,640
enough to see you through. 
He is Himself worth all that 

351
00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,000
suffering. 
What these first generation 

352
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,560
believers in Judea would face is
an extreme example of what all 

353
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,640
believers face. 
As the Apostle Paul teaches in 

354
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,680
Acts 1422, through many 
tribulations we must inherit the

355
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,560
Kingdom of God. 
Every Christian's life will be 

356
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:36,440
weighed down with trials and 
suffering. 

357
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,600
Every Christian will pass 
through hardship after hardship 

358
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,840
on their way to heaven. 
The whole point of Christianity 

359
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:46,720
is that the joyful reward that's
coming to every believer 

360
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:50,080
infinitely outweighs all the 
suffering you will experience. 

361
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,440
Now. 
That is the wager on which 

362
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,960
Christianity stands or falls. 
That is what makes it worth it 

363
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:59,560
to be a Christian or not. 
Not anything you will experience

364
00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:01,680
in this life. 
So there are many blessings and 

365
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,960
joys and consolations, but you 
do not find your reward here. 

366
00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:09,400
What makes it worth it is what's
coming. 

367
00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:17,560
What else does Jesus tell us to 
watch out for #3 watch out for 

368
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,480
false hopes. 
Watch out for false hopes. 

369
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,840
Like anybody promising that your
reward is here and now, or that 

370
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:29,480
your full deliverance is here 
and now, those would be false 

371
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,240
hopes. 
This is Jesus warning to us in 

372
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:36,880
verses 21 to 23. 
Look first at verses 21 and 22 

373
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,600
and then if anyone says to you, 
look, here's the Christ or look 

374
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:46,320
there he is, do not believe it. 
For false Christs and false 

375
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,840
prophets will arise and perform 
signs and wonders to lead astray

376
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:57,360
if possible, the elect. 
These false prophets and false 

377
00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:01,120
messiahs would have tried to 
convince people that the 

378
00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,640
unsettling events currently 
taking place meant that Jesus 

379
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,120
had actually returned when he 
hadn't, right? 

380
00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:08,760
That's that phrase. 
Look, look, here he is. 

381
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:10,680
Here's the Christ. 
Look, there he is. 

382
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,440
They're trying to say he's 
already come back, but he 

383
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,080
hasn't. 
These false prophets were 

384
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,680
promoting false hopes. 
It's very much like the false 

385
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,160
prophets in Jeremiah's day that 
Chris helped us consider last 

386
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,320
Sunday night. 
These false prophets promised a 

387
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,000
deliverance that was not coming 
then and now. 

388
00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:32,160
They promised a present rescue 
from present distress. 

389
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:40,000
That's not what Jesus promises. 
These false teachers performed 

390
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,120
signs and wonders in an effort 
to lead astray if possible. 

391
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:48,080
The elect false teachers worked 
real miracles. 

392
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,960
Satan has real spiritual power. 
Not every supernatural work is 

393
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,280
from God. 
And these false teachers 

394
00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,560
performed real miracles in an 
attempt to deceive. 

395
00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,440
They tried to look as much as 
they could, like true biblical 

396
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:08,600
prophets, in order to trick 
people, to cheat them, to scheme

397
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:14,240
them. 
I recently fell for a scheme. 

398
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,840
I received a text message that 
said it was from the North 

399
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:21,120
Carolina Department of 
Transportation. 

400
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,520
It informed me that I had a 
small fine assessed because of a

401
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:30,560
toll that I had not paid. 
I was particularly susceptible 

402
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,800
to this scheme because I 
actually had had a toll get 

403
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,360
billed to me by mail recently. 
It was like 8 bucks. 

404
00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:40,760
I had a little trouble paying. 
It was the most annoying thing 

405
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,240
in the world. 
I spent 1/2 hour trying to pay 

406
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,920
an $8 fine and I thought, you 
know the toll where they bill 

407
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:47,760
you by mail? 
And I thought, wait a minute 

408
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,120
when I got this text like did 
did I actually not pay that 

409
00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:52,600
after all? 
Now they're saying there's going

410
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:54,960
to be a a fine or a penalty or 
something and it's going to get 

411
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:56,960
bigger and bigger. 
OK, OK, well I guess I'll just 

412
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,800
go pay this. 
So I tap the link, I input my 

413
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,440
payment information, it doesn't 
seem to work. 

414
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:05,760
What happened? 
OK, that's weird. 

415
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,360
I guess I'll try to go online 
take care of this again. 

416
00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:11,000
Like my 8th effort to pay this 
$8 toll. 

417
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:16,800
I go online and the online 
system does not find the toll in

418
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,640
question. 
The thing I'm trying to pay 

419
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:24,800
doesn't exist on their website. 
Well you can probably guess what

420
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,960
happened next. 
In a day or two some charges 

421
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,280
started getting posted to my 
debit card. 

422
00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:36,800
Multiple $600.00 payments to a 
credit card that was not mine. 

423
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:41,640
Thankfully my bank caught it 
instantly. 

424
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:46,320
I got a text right away. 
Do you recognize these charges? 

425
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:53,760
I sure don't and I sure know 
where that's from. 

426
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,200
Thankfully my bank had my back. 
You know it's the hassle, right?

427
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,600
You got to cancel your debit 
card, wait, get a new one in the

428
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:03,440
mail, go put it on all this 
stuff. 

429
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,800
You pay for automatic bills and 
stuff online. 

430
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,480
I still had our water bill I 
still had to finally fix the 

431
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,200
other day because they I forgot 
to update it. 

432
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:17,320
Whatever, I got schemes now. 
I don't know if it was because 

433
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,680
of this incident, but I recently
received an e-mail from my bank 

434
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,280
about how to watch out against 
scams. 

435
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:31,240
The e-mail informed me to beware
of bank impostors, to look out 

436
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,240
for false ticket sales and 
investment scams, and to talk to

437
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:39,080
friends and family. 
It warned me about people 

438
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,800
claiming there's an urgent need 
to withdraw funds. 

439
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:47,240
It warned of people promising 
get rich quick schemes, and it 

440
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,080
suggested to me other people who
I should be careful to look out 

441
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,760
for. 
Quote while everyone is at risk,

442
00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:01,160
young adults fall for scams more
often while older adults lose 

443
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:07,600
the most money. 
False teachers are scammers. 

444
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,800
They look as much like the real 
thing as they can to try to 

445
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,600
trick you into believing them. 
So guard your own heart and 

446
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,080
mind. 
And like my bank e-mail told me,

447
00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:21,920
watch out for others too. 
Jesus warnings are his security 

448
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,880
system. 
He has your back. 

449
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,480
He is trying to help you catch 
false teachers before you give 

450
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,800
them your payment information, 
whether spiritually speaking or 

451
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:38,080
frankly, literally. 
Brothers and sisters, watch out 

452
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,760
for yourselves and watch out for
each other. 

453
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,480
Protect your own heart and mind 
against false teaching by being 

454
00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:48,360
devoted to learning the truth. 
When you hear something claimed 

455
00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:51,880
as true, figure out where that 
person says it comes from in the

456
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:56,400
Bible and go look it up. 
Grow in discernment. 

457
00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:59,320
Grow in testing all the teaching
you hear against God's Word. 

458
00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,000
Grow in detecting spiritual 
scams and helping other people. 

459
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:10,160
Watch out for them. 
Note that in verse 22 Jesus says

460
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,000
that false teachers will try if 
possible to lead the elective 

461
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,720
stray. 
When he says if possible. 

462
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,360
Jesus is saying that's these 
teachers intent. 

463
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:25,560
But it isn't going to happen. 
God will not let any of his 

464
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:29,480
people be LED astray into 
apostasy by attaching themselves

465
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:31,280
to a false prophet or false 
Christ. 

466
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:36,400
God will preserve his people. 
So be confident in him, and at 

467
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:40,600
the same time recognize that God
uses means to preserve our 

468
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:44,280
faith. 
Means like these warnings, means

469
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,720
like Jesus's security system to 
inform our faith of what to look

470
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:51,360
out for. 
In the very same verse, this 

471
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:57,600
passage teaches both that God 
preserves us and that we must 

472
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,280
preserve ourselves by heeding 
His warnings. 

473
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:05,360
Both are true, but what is it 
that makes it impossible for the

474
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:09,040
elect to be LED astray? 
It's God's grace, It's God's 

475
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,600
preservation, it's God's 
protection. 

476
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,240
That's how we won't be LED 
astray. 

477
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:20,640
In verse 23, Jesus concludes not
only this warning, but his whole

478
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,400
discussion of the coming 
destruction of the temple. 

479
00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:27,440
This is a big bookend. 
It brackets the section that 

480
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,600
started in verse 5 and goes all 
the way to verse 23. 

481
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:35,160
Actually, look at verse 5. 
Flip back there the beginning of

482
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:41,120
the speech and Jesus began to 
say to them, see that no one 

483
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:45,840
leads you astray. 
Then in verse 23 Jesus says be 

484
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:49,040
on guard, I've told you all 
things beforehand. 

485
00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,000
He began to say, see that no one
leads you astray. 

486
00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:56,000
Then he says be on guard, I've 
told you all things ahead of 

487
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,040
time. 
He's told them all they need to 

488
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,640
know about the coming 
destruction of the temple. 

489
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,040
He's told them all they need to 
know for them to persevere 

490
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,680
faithfully through that horrific
trial. 

491
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,960
Why does Jesus teach all this? 
It's to help his first disciples

492
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:16,400
and us to be on guard to watch 
out kids in the congregation. 

493
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:22,440
When you study a passage like 
this, the main point is not to 

494
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,760
figure out all the details that 
seem weird. 

495
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,720
What on earth is the abomination
of desolation? 

496
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,960
That's a valid question. 
That's a legitimate question. 

497
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:32,960
It's good to study your Bible 
and do your best to figure it 

498
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,000
out. 
It's also a hard question, and 

499
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,480
it doesn't really get you to the
main point of the passage. 

500
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,960
The main point of the passage is
to be on guard, to watch out, to

501
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,560
live your whole life in such a 
way that you are ready for Jesus

502
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,760
to come back at any time. 
That's the main point. 

503
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,640
Watch out for trials, watch out 
for temptations, watch out for 

504
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:57,400
anything that could pull your 
heart away from Jesus. 

505
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,400
Jesus told his disciples and us 
what would happen before it did.

506
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:07,320
So we should have strengthened 
trust in Jesus word. 

507
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:09,560
That should strengthen our 
confidence in his word. 

508
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:11,960
It should strengthen our 
submission to his sovereignty. 

509
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,160
It should remind us that even in
the midst of the worst trials, 

510
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,800
Jesus knows us, Jesus cares for 
us, and Jesus will sustain us. 

511
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,440
Jesus teaching in this passage 
also reminds us that trials are 

512
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:31,120
not an accident and trials are 
not a sign that God does not 

513
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:36,200
love you. 
Terrible things might happen to 

514
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:40,000
you. 
None of them is a reason to 

515
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:41,480
conclude that God doesn't love 
you. 

516
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,800
Terrible things might happen to 
you. 

517
00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:50,480
None of them is a reason to 
question God's goodness or his 

518
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:55,560
promises or the reward He is 
preparing for you. 

519
00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:02,880
Instead, remember, God 
disciplines those whom He loves.

520
00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:10,400
What does Jesus want you to do 
amid trials and false teachers 

521
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,960
and all kinds of suffering, He 
wants you to watch out. 

522
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,720
Watch out for threats and watch 
out for His mercy. 

523
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,000
Now, when I've just been using 
this phrase, watch out all this 

524
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,880
time, it could sound a little 
passive. 

525
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:26,480
Most of the time when we think 
about watching, it's like 

526
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:31,000
watching TV, watching a game. 
You might put the game on and 

527
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,400
not even really pay attention to
it. 

528
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,000
You're watching a game, but 
you're not even watching it. 

529
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:40,160
To illustrate what I mean by 
watch out, I will describe for 

530
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:44,520
you two ways in which our 
family's dog, Rusty watches out.

531
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:51,320
Rusty's way of watching. 
Number 11 of Rusty's favorite 

532
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:55,840
things to do is to sit in our 
front yard as close to the 

533
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,880
street as possible, lie there 
perfectly still in content, and 

534
00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:02,960
watch people go by. 
He will sometimes escape from 

535
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,720
his proper place in the backyard
to go down to the very front of 

536
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:07,440
the front yard so you can just 
watch people. 

537
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,920
He's not barking, he's not 
hurting anybody. 

538
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,480
He just wants to see who's there
and maybe some nice neighborhood

539
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:16,760
kid will walk by and give him 
some pets. 

540
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:23,320
That is Rusty's way of watching 
#1 Rusty's way of watching #2 

541
00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:31,720
every time a delivery person or 
tradesperson comes to our door, 

542
00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:36,480
Rusty detects them by scent or 
sound long before they get to 

543
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:39,040
the door. 
He runs right behind the front 

544
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:43,400
door and he starts barking his 
head off and he does not stop 

545
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:45,800
barking if it's a delivery 
person until they've left, 

546
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,800
gotten into their delivery truck
and driven away. 

547
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:52,320
Unfortunately, if it's a repair 
person, a tradesperson, he 

548
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:54,920
doesn't stop barking for the 
entire time they're doing their 

549
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:56,800
job. 
I'm so sorry. 

550
00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,320
I try to crate him. 
I I put him outside on a leash 

551
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:00,840
around the basketball hoop. 
I do whatever. 

552
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:05,200
He will not stop barking his 
head off. 

553
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:10,000
He remains vigilant. 
It is not my favorite part of 

554
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:15,280
his personality. 
Four times in this chapter, 

555
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,120
Jesus uses the same Greek word 
bleppo as a command. 

556
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:24,239
Verse 5, verse 9, verse 23, 
verse 33. 

557
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,920
Same Greek word. 
It gets translated differently 

558
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,920
depending on the context. 
It means watch out. 

559
00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:32,280
Watch out for danger and 
deception. 

560
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:34,440
Watch out for false teaching. 
Be on guard. 

561
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:39,159
So in verse 23, when Jesus says 
be on guard, he is exhorting you

562
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:43,400
to watch out. 
Like Rusty's second way of 

563
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,639
watching. 
Not because a delivery person or

564
00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:50,600
tradesperson is going to harm 
your family, but because false 

565
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:54,600
teachers really can. 
Because false prophets really 

566
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,640
will. 
I wish I could just let Rusty 

567
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,000
know, hey, hey, boy, it's OK. 
You don't need to worry about 

568
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:01,280
these people. 
They are friends. 

569
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:05,520
We try that. 
But for us as Christians, we do 

570
00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:10,800
need to stay vigilant. 
Vigilant for trials and the 

571
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:14,320
impact they'll have on us. 
Vigilant to spot signs of God's 

572
00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:17,000
mercy amid those trials, which 
he's announced we're going to 

573
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,720
see. 
And vigilant against anything 

574
00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:23,520
that would lead us away from 
believing in Jesus and obeying 

575
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:29,600
His commands. 
Be on guard and stay on guard 

576
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:35,160
until Christ calls you home to 
Him or until He comes to you, 

577
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,800
whichever comes first. 
Because if you believe in Jesus,

578
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:51,200
He is your destination .2 More 
briefly, wait, wait. 

579
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,040
That's the main thing verses 24 
to 27 would have us do. 

580
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:02,640
Wait for what First? 
Wait for the new creation. 

581
00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:11,760
Wait for the new creation? 
Those that's in verses 24 to 25.

582
00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:16,680
But in those days after that 
tribulation, the sun will be 

583
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,640
darkened, and the moon will not 
give its light, and the stars 

584
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:24,560
will be falling from heaven, and
the powers in the heavens will 

585
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,920
be shaken. 
This language sounds like the 

586
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:31,120
end of the world. 
It sounds like the dissolution 

587
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,520
of the universe as we know it. 
One challenge in interpreting 

588
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,960
this language is that lots of 
Old Testament prophecies use 

589
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:43,840
language exactly like this to 
describe events that are not the

590
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:47,720
end of the world. 
One obvious example is Isaiah 

591
00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:49,680
1310. 
It's almost identical to our 

592
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,520
passage, for the stars of the 
heavens and their constellations

593
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,040
will not give their light. 
The sun will be dark and it's 

594
00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:58,600
rising, and the moon will not 
shed its light. 

595
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:03,120
What is Isaiah 13 talking about?
It's talking about judgment on 

596
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,120
the king of Babylon that 
happened in the 6th century BC. 

597
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:13,240
That was an end for some. 
It was not the end for all. 

598
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,480
So what does Jesus language here
refer to? 

599
00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:20,800
To answer that question, we need
to work on a couple others. 

600
00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:23,720
The first is when does all this 
happen? 

601
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:29,360
Jesus introduces verse 24 with 
two phrases that mark its time 

602
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,960
in those days after that 
tribulation. 

603
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,720
The phrase after that 
tribulation tells us explicitly 

604
00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:43,280
that these next events he's 
about to describe do not 

605
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:47,040
describe what happens to 
Jerusalem in the Temple in 70 

606
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:48,960
AD. 
It describes something that 

607
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:53,760
happens after, not the same 
event, but something later. 

608
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,040
But what does that phrase in 
those days mean? 

609
00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,880
I think the rest of the passage 
clarifies by the content of what

610
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,200
Jesus promises in the following 
verses. 

611
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,360
He's talking about His personal 
return to earth. 

612
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:07,840
He's talking about people seeing
Him. 

613
00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:10,160
He calls himself the Son of Man 
because he's fulfilling Daniel's

614
00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:13,440
prophecy from Daniel Chapter 7. 
He's talking about people seeing

615
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:17,000
Him coming in power and glory. 
That is not metaphorical. 

616
00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:19,200
That is not some type of 
spiritual insights. 

617
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:23,120
That is seeing with your eyes 
something you have never seen 

618
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,280
before. 
That's what he's talking about 

619
00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:27,920
in the rest of these verses. 
So he's talking about coming to 

620
00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:29,760
Earth. 
He's talking about bringing 

621
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:31,360
people into his physical 
presence. 

622
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,160
He's talking about accomplishing
final judgement and bringing 

623
00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,280
about a new creation. 
He's talking about the final 

624
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:39,520
end, the ultimate end, the end 
for everyone, the end for the 

625
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,680
whole universe. 
This is the grand finale. 

626
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:43,520
This is the goal of all of God's
plans. 

627
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:45,160
This is the culmination of 
everything. 

628
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:49,840
So that's what the rest of these
verses are about, which helps us

629
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:54,200
answer the question of what 
these cosmic phenomena mean. 

630
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:59,280
On the one hand, we should not 
take them in a strictly literal 

631
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:03,920
sense or a hyper literal sense. 
It's not like stars will start 

632
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:07,080
homing in on Earth like giant 
homing missiles and then fall to

633
00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,560
Earth and blast our planet to 
smithereens, right? 

634
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:12,080
If you try to read this as 
literally as possible, stars 

635
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:15,160
fall to Earth. 
Does that mean, you know, the 

636
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,040
Orion constellations going to 
gather up and sort of come at us

637
00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:20,960
and we'll know it's, it's, it's 
not that literal. 

638
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:26,680
What's he saying? 
He's saying the whole created 

639
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,680
order will bear witness to his 
coming. 

640
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:33,640
He's saying the normal patterns 
that seemingly go on forever and

641
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:39,840
endless cycles will stop. 
Everything, even the cosmic 

642
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:45,600
elements, will halt, will snap 
to attention, and will honor the

643
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,040
Creator who's returning to his 
creation. 

644
00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:52,400
It will be 1 giant sign to 
herald Christ's immediate 

645
00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:55,320
return. 
When you see the heavenly bodies

646
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,400
a stop working like they 
normally do. 

647
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:01,000
Jesus is coming right now. 
That's his point. 

648
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,920
But then what do we do with the 
phrase in those days? 

649
00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:08,000
In those days makes it sound 
like this happens right after 

650
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,000
the destruction of the temple in
70 AD. 

651
00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,040
But of course, here we are 
almost 2000 years later and it 

652
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:17,840
still hasn't happened yet. 
I think the best way to resolve 

653
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:23,480
this difficulty is to recognize 
that Jesus is presenting in 2D 

654
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,880
what will eventually happen in 
three DI think he's setting two 

655
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:31,720
things side by side. 
Side by side that will actually 

656
00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:37,440
happen far apart in those days 
does refer to the prophetic 

657
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,680
future. 
He's presenting God's plans as a

658
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:46,000
seamless fabric. 70 AD is not 
the second coming and final 

659
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:51,040
judgement, but it does preview 
the second coming and final 

660
00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:53,640
judgement. 
It's part of the same prophetic 

661
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:58,120
tapestry. 
You can picture it like this if 

662
00:40:58,120 --> 00:40:59,880
you're driving W through 
Colorado. 

663
00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:02,440
It's as flat as Kansas for 
hundreds of miles. 

664
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,520
Eventually the Rockies shoot up 
over the horizon. 

665
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:10,080
From far away it looks like a a 
flat wall of mountains. 

666
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:12,440
Like if you walked up to it, it 
would look like a Hollywood set 

667
00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:14,200
of mountains. 
All in 2D. 

668
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:17,760
But of course, once you get 
close enough, you see that one 

669
00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,520
peak is far behind another, 
separated by dozens of miles, or

670
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:24,640
in our case, separated by at 
least about 2000 years and 

671
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:27,320
counting. 
You could call this prophetic 

672
00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:32,000
perspective, or you could use an
image from photography and call 

673
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,440
it prophetic foreshortening. 
Jesus is setting these events 

674
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:40,320
side by side without intending 
to provide a precise timeline. 

675
00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:44,920
What's Jesus main point? 
It's that we are to wait for a 

676
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,040
new creation. 
When he returns in person, 

677
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:52,800
creation will cease its usual 
operations to bear witness to 

678
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:55,960
his coming. 
And that would be a preparation 

679
00:41:56,720 --> 00:41:59,200
for his work of making all 
things new. 

680
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:06,080
Second, wait to see Jesus's 
power and glory. 

681
00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:08,720
Wait to see Jesus power and 
glory. 

682
00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:10,480
That's what he promises in verse
26. 

683
00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,680
And then they will see the Son 
of Man coming in clouds with 

684
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,920
great power and glory. 
He's saying everybody will see 

685
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:19,520
him. 
He's saying the second coming 

686
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:22,600
will be unmistakable. 
That phrase coming in clouds 

687
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:27,000
from the prophecy of Daniel 713,
which talks about one like a Son

688
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:29,960
of man being invested with 
divine power. 

689
00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:32,680
Jesus came the first time in 
weakness. 

690
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:35,880
He'll come the second time in 
power. 

691
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:38,840
Jesus came the first time in 
humility. 

692
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:42,080
He'll come the second time in 
glory. 

693
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:45,600
Jesus came the first time to the
cross. 

694
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,760
He'll come the second time to 
claim his crown. 

695
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:58,080
All those reversals, all those 
striking contrasts are because 

696
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,840
when he came the first time, he 
came to save. 

697
00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:06,000
He came to humble himself. 
He came to become the servant of

698
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:09,120
all. 
God created us to know him, love

699
00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:12,360
him, and serve Him. 
And yet each of us has refused 

700
00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:14,600
to serve Him. 
We would rather serve ourselves.

701
00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,400
We would rather do whatever we 
can to get others to serve us. 

702
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:20,480
We sure don't want to serve God 
as if he gets to decide all that

703
00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:23,160
we do, as if he gets to set the 
terms for everything in my life,

704
00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:26,040
as if whatever he says I'm 
supposed to not do or do, I'm 

705
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,000
just going to have to do it 
because he says so. 

706
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:31,720
Where's the fun in that? 
Yeah, that is the essence of 

707
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:34,760
what the Bible calls sin, 
service of self. 

708
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,120
Instead of being willing to 
serve God, and God is merciful 

709
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:42,320
and just, He came. 
He sent Jesus to come to show 

710
00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:45,760
mercy to us by dying on the 
cross to pay for our sins, and 

711
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:50,480
in that very act He, God 
satisfied His own justice by 

712
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:54,960
Jesus suffering the penalty due 
for the sins of everyone who 

713
00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:56,440
would turn from sin and trust in
Him. 

714
00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:02,280
Jesus paid the price to welcome 
you back into a right 

715
00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:05,440
relationship with God if you 
will simply believe in Him. 

716
00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:07,920
And then three days later, he 
rose from the dead. 

717
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:11,360
He triumphed over death. 
He entered into a new, eternal, 

718
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:14,560
indestructible life, a life that
nothing can end, a life that 

719
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,760
death cannot touch. 
And so now he invites, Now He 

720
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:23,160
summons, now He commands 
everyone on this planet to turn 

721
00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:26,000
from sin and trust in Him. 
That's what it means to become a

722
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,320
Christian. 
That's what it means to be right

723
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:30,920
with God. 
That is the way you can be right

724
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:34,240
with God today if you don't 
trust in Jesus, if you simply 

725
00:44:34,240 --> 00:44:40,800
turn from sin and trust in Him. 
This second coming of Jesus in 

726
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:45,280
power and glory is the 
conclusion to the true story 

727
00:44:45,720 --> 00:44:49,600
that Mark is telling. 
The end of the story will happen

728
00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,080
outside of the story. 
We're still living in this 

729
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,800
story. 
We're still waiting for it, and 

730
00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:58,000
it'll be more than worth it. 
Jesus's second coming is what 

731
00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:02,680
confirms all his teaching, what 
validates all his demands, and 

732
00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:08,080
what fulfills all His promises. 
Jesus's second coming will 

733
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:12,480
finally put everything into 
perspective. 

734
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,720
Sometimes people scoff at the 
Christian hope of Christ second 

735
00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:19,080
coming as if it's just 
delusional pie in the sky stuff.

736
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:21,400
As if we're just dreaming, 
making it up. 

737
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:23,920
That's a nice story. 
It makes you feel better about 

738
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:27,280
your sad life. 
But we're simply taking Jesus at

739
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:31,200
His word. 
He promised it, so we trust it. 

740
00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:35,880
We who wait for Christ's second 
coming are the ones who have our

741
00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:39,720
eyes open. 
We're the ones you can see in 

742
00:45:39,720 --> 00:45:44,320
the dark. 
We can look through present 

743
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:48,960
darkness and see an infinitely 
bright future. 

744
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:53,960
We know where we're heading, and
we know where this whole 

745
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:58,960
universe is heading. 
It's those who deny Christ's 

746
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:02,120
coming who are dreaming and 
refusing to wake up. 

747
00:46:03,320 --> 00:46:06,480
It's those who think that 
everything will simply go along 

748
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:09,920
as it is who are deluding 
themselves. 

749
00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:14,360
So wait patiently to see Jesus's
power and glory. 

750
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:21,040
What will happen when you do? 
Third, wait to be with him 

751
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:25,000
forever. 
Wait to be with Him forever. 

752
00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:30,000
Believer in Jesus, what will 
Jesus do for you when He comes? 

753
00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:31,920
He'll gather you into His 
presence. 

754
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:36,160
Look at verse 27. 
And then he will send out the 

755
00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:39,280
angels and gather his elect from
the four winds, from the ends of

756
00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:43,280
the earth to the ends of heaven.
There's so many features of 

757
00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:48,680
verse 27 and verse 26 before it 
that bear witness to Jesus's 

758
00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:52,840
divine equality with the Father.
In other words, these two verses

759
00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:54,520
bear witness to the truth of the
Trinity. 

760
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:59,440
How do they do that? 
In verse 26, Jesus comes with 

761
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:02,960
the clouds in the Old Testament.
That's something only God does. 

762
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,640
Coming with clouds is a sign of 
God's divine power. 

763
00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:09,920
It's a sign of God himself 
revealing himself. 

764
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,080
In verse 26, Jesus comes with 
power and glory. 

765
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,960
Those are divine attributes. 
Jesus comes revealing that he 

766
00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:21,040
has the glory that God alone 
has. 

767
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:26,880
And verse 27, Jesus sends out 
his angels. 

768
00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:31,240
Note the possessive pronoun. 
The angels belong to him. 

769
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:35,040
They report to him. 
They do his will. 

770
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:39,080
Who gets to command angels? 
God alone. 

771
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:44,720
In verse 27, Jesus gathers his 
elect. 

772
00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:49,320
He's the one who chose them. 
He's their possessor and master.

773
00:47:49,480 --> 00:47:53,200
He's their Lord and Savior. 
The elect are his. 

774
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:58,160
And in verse 27, He comes to 
gather his elect to himself. 

775
00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:02,080
What does that mean? 
It means that fellowship with 

776
00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:05,960
Him is the goal of everything. 
It means a being with Jesus is 

777
00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:07,440
the goal of Oliver and emptive 
history. 

778
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:10,880
In Old Testament prophecies, the
Lord promises to gather His 

779
00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:13,320
people to himself. 
How does he do that? 

780
00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:18,200
In the person of His Incarnate 
Son, by his return from heaven. 

781
00:48:19,360 --> 00:48:23,120
Jesus possesses divine 
perfections that only God has. 

782
00:48:23,720 --> 00:48:27,080
Jesus performs divine works that
only God does. 

783
00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:32,720
He does what God himself 
promises to do himself. 

784
00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:37,920
There's only one God, and that 
God eternally exists as three 

785
00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:40,840
persons, the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Spirit, who are 

786
00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:45,440
equal in every divine perfection
and deserve equal honor, glory, 

787
00:48:46,120 --> 00:48:50,160
and worship. 
If you're a Christian, what are 

788
00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:53,120
you waiting for? 
You're waiting for Jesus to 

789
00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:56,600
gather you into His arms. 
You're waiting for Jesus to 

790
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:59,840
bring you into perfect security 
in His presence forever. 

791
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:05,800
You're waiting for Jesus to 
perfectly satisfy you in Him 

792
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:09,720
forever. 
Whatever suffering you 

793
00:49:09,720 --> 00:49:13,400
experience will end forever, 
either when you die or He 

794
00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:19,120
returns, whichever comes first. 
When Jesus gathers you into His 

795
00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:24,040
presence, there'll be no more 
trials, no more threats, no more

796
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:28,840
dangers, no more 
disappointments, only perfect 

797
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:34,880
satisfaction in Him that is 
worth waiting for. 

798
00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:41,840
If you trust in Jesus, you are 
not walking blindly through pre 

799
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:45,200
dawn darkness like I was on 
Wednesday. 

800
00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:49,320
You know where you're heading 
and you know where this universe

801
00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:51,920
is heading. 
God has revealed all that to you

802
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:53,960
and more. 
God has shown you where you're 

803
00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:55,680
heading and He's the one taking 
you there. 

804
00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:57,960
All along the way, He promises 
to care for you. 

805
00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:02,440
He'll care for you through 
instruction and discipline. 

806
00:50:03,360 --> 00:50:05,160
He'll care for you by preserving
you. 

807
00:50:06,400 --> 00:50:12,360
He'll care for you by protecting
you, and He'll care for you by 

808
00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:17,840
limiting your trials so that 
they do not destroy you. 

809
00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:22,880
One day. 
He'll care for you by gathering 

810
00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:26,280
you into His presence from 
wherever you may be. 

811
00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:29,720
If you're a believer in Jesus, 
where are you heading? 

812
00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:35,720
Into the arms of your Savior. 
What's keeping you on that path?

813
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:41,360
The sustaining grasp of the arms
of your Savior. 

814
00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:46,240
How can you know He'll welcome 
you with open arms? 

815
00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:52,520
Because He stretched out those 
arms for you on the cross. 

816
00:50:53,400 --> 00:51:02,000
Let's pray. 
Heavenly Father, we thank you 

817
00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:08,400
for lighting our path through 
trials, through tribulation, 

818
00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:14,440
through hardship, by revealing 
to us the glorious final end we 

819
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:17,240
have to look forward to. 
Father, we pray you'd sustain us

820
00:51:17,240 --> 00:51:20,160
in faith. 
Pray you'd strengthen us, pray 

821
00:51:20,160 --> 00:51:21,560
you'd encourage us with these 
truths. 

822
00:51:21,560 --> 00:51:24,720
And we pray for all those who 
have not entrusted themselves to

823
00:51:24,720 --> 00:51:27,880
Christ that they would in faith 
and repentance, in Jesus name, 

824
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:28,920
Amen.