Hello and welcome to the Church Newtown Square podcast.
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And now let's listen in to today's teaching.
In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus gives a warning, do not be LED
astray. And this is pretty much the the
thrust of the entirety of the Olivet Discourse.
It is be prepared and also prepare others for what I'm
warning you to to do. Ji Packer, if any of you are
familiar with him, in his book Concise Theology says that
theology, which is the study of God, is meant to lead us to
doxology, which is the praise of God.
What we're doing as we're looking at this, we're doing
what's called eschatology. We're studying the eschaton, the
last things. That's the Greek word eschatos.
It's it's last things. I was eschatos in my class when
I graduated. I did not have a very good GPA,
Right? You might use that.
That's not true. Close, but not true, not totally
true. So what I want to encourage us
is that what we're doing is when we're studying these things,
we're doing this this morning, that would lead our hearts to
worship that it would give us a great steadiness, it would give
us faithfulness. It's so often the focus when you
study the end times, the last things, it is good that you
study. Those things are in there for a
reason, but the focus on timing and stages tends to be something
that is overemphasized. And we forget the whole reason
for which we study it, which is that we would have great
confidence in the promises of God, that our that our hearts
would be rooted in the faithfulness of God, that it
would increase our love for God. Because when God says things
will happen and they happen, then we look back and say, well,
if he said that will happen and it does, then I can look forward
to the greatest thing that I'm hoping for, which is life
eternal. And so as we continue to listen
to the Lord's words here and his warnings, I hope that you are
encouraged by knowing that he tells us these things because
they are for our good and for his glory.
Jesus cares immensely for his church parents.
We don't warn our children because we just want to sound,
you know, kind of mean and curmudgeon Y.
We warn them don't touch that because we don't want them to be
hurt. If Jesus didn't care for us, he
wouldn't be warning us and he wouldn't be warning these
disciples or telling them or us these things.
And so if you're going to summarize the heart behind this
entire passage, this this next section in verses one through
28, I would I would label it like this, that that Christ has
a great care and concern for his church is great care and concern
for you. But three specific things I hope
I want you to see as we move through this, the rest of this
text or this first half of this, all of the discourses is one
that we see that the warnings of God cause us to be careful.
He wouldn't warn us if he weren't to be careful too, that
the Providence of God, his hand in all of history causes us to
be courageous. We can be courageous because we
know that he is providential in all things.
And finally, the clarity of God gives us great confidence.
And so if you remember in verse 1 of chapter 24, Jesus is
leaving the temple and the disciples are still in all the
temple. They are looking at that that
the temple. And to them it looked permanent.
This was the visible center of God's presence, Israel's
worship, and it was a religious order that seemed unshakable.
It was not going anywhere. But Jesus says this is all going
to be destroyed now if the temple falls, if the temple
falls, surely the end can't be far behind.
So what would the temples destruction mean for them?
They're like, what does that mean for us?
What does that mean for Israel? What does that mean for
Jerusalem? Why tear down the temple?
Well, certainly Jesus says in
verses 37 through 39 he he alludes to the fact that it was
for judgment. Judgment is coming, and
certainly it was for that, and it was also for the unbelief and
the covenant unfaithfulness of the leadership.
But even that judgement serves a larger purpose.
It's not just about like destroying the temple because
God's angry. It's it's his redemptive mercy
towards them and towards us. The temple fulfilled its role.
It did what it was supposed to do it.
It was a type and a shadow pointing to the real thing.
The writer of Hebrews says that all of these are shadows
pointing to the one who would come, which is Christ himself.
And once Christ had come and once he offers himself and once
he rises again and once he continues live and to build his
temple clinging to something that was no longer needed makes
no sense, right. A lot of us want to we need to
pare down some things. Spring cleaning.
Have any of you done spring cleaning?
You have a hard time throwing things away.
My my in laws are are downsizing.
And some of you can, you know, commiserate with me on this is
that, you know, you're you're your mother-in-law.
You're holding. She was like, no, no, throw this
away. I don't want to throw it away.
You got to throw it. Let go.
Take your claws off that we hold on to things that we don't need
anymore. It wasn't really like that.
Where's Danae? She's she's, it wasn't like
that. I promise it wasn't like that.
I treat my mother-in-law with great respect.
I wait till she leaves, then I throw it away.
What what God is doing in destroying the temple is both in
his mercy and his justice removing He took away what had
become for them an obstacle to faith in Christ.
And in doing so he makes clear that his dwelling place is no
longer now fixed in one place, but it is where all over the
temple of God is the people of God.
And so no longer are they able to look and say, Hey, here's
where God dwells. He wants them to look and say
the temple of the living God is now among a greater people.
It is an expansionist. He's making the place bigger to
fit more people. We're going to adopt all these
kids. We got to build a bigger house,
right? So he tears down the temple so
that the temple might be expanded.
And the temple is in the people of God.
The church is now the temple of the living God, and it's built
of living stones, as Peter says, indwelt by the Spirit.
Now what this is not, as some might say and argue, is a
cancellation of Israel. It's not their cancel, but their
expansion. He's expanding, right?
Jew and Gentile. He's tacking on to the people of
God. And so God tore down the old
order because his promises had not failed.
They had actually been fulfilled in Christ.
He had done what he said he would do.
He said all the nations are going to be blessed.
And so now he's, he's building an expansion.
And so the disciples asked 2 questions.
There's two questions posed to Jesus.
When Jesus says, see all this, it's going to get torn down.
They're like, wait a minute, what?
When is this going to happen? When will the temple be
destroyed? And what will be the signs of
the end of the age and of your coming?
And Jesus answers those questions, and he gives his
disciples markers and warnings. And what makes this passage
difficult for some is because you have to sort out exactly
which question Jesus is answering.
It's not impossible because when we read Matthew, Mark and Luke,
if we read parallel passage, we can piece together a few things
that all of this discourse is recorded in those gospels.
And when we read them together, it kind of helps us flesh this
out, but it helps us to remember. 11 Apologetic note.
How do we believe the scriptures?
Well, one of the things is that these three gospels, Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John, not John, Matthew, Mark and Luke, the
synoptic gospels were written before 70 AD.
They were written before probably mid 60s.
Mark was the earliest. Matthew borrowed from Mark, Luke
borrowed from Matthew and Mark. But all of them, most people
agree that they were written by mid 60s, which means that all
that is foretold here is not looking back and be like they're
not. They're not re envisioning
history. They're saying, no, this is what
we recorded. We wrote it down.
And lo and behold, within a few years, this actually came true,
to which we have great confidence knowing that they're
writing things down, that they're not rewriting history
and saying, oh, this happened, so we got to write it.
They're like, no, this is what was reported.
Oh, and it came true. And so Jesus answers their
questions. Look at verse 4.
Jesus answers them. See that no one leads you
astray. Jesus is hard, He answers them.
His main concern is not he's not trying to explain the future he
which he will, but his heart is. I want you not to be LED astray.
He loves his his sheep. He answers them.
His concern is a hard concern. He loves his sheep, He loves
these disciples, He loves his church.
He does not want them to be LED astray.
Why? Because when we're LED astray
from Christ, are we LED from death or to life in Christ's
life apart from Christ's life? So to be LED astray from Christ
is to be LED astray from life. His heart is that they would
hold fast to him. And in verse 4, that's the first
thing I want you to know is that the warnings of God caused us to
be careful. Be careful, church, be careful.
Jesus says, see that no one leads you astray.
Because in verse 5, he said there will be many people who
have, will be LED astray. They'll say that I'm the Savior.
You could probably list at least two or three cults you know of
in history, right? We use this term, Hey, I don't,
I'm not drinking the kool-aid anymore.
Does anybody remember where that came from?
There was a guy that led a bunch of people to believe that he was
a Messiah. They went over to Africa and
they all committed mass suicide by drinking.
Guess what kool-aid? He says when you hear wars and
rumors of wars, see that you're not alarmed.
You say don't be alarmed when you hear all of these things in
verse 6. All of these things must happen,
but the end is not yet. In a sense.
It says these there's going to be signs that feel like signs,
but they're not signs at the end of the age.
It says don't be LED astray. Don't be alarmed verse 8, do not
be alarmed when they deliver you.
Do not be alarmed when you are hated.
Don't do not be alarmed when you see many fall away when they
betray one. Do not be alarmed when many
false prophets arise. Do not be alarmed.
Do not be alarmed when lawlessness and the lack of love
arises. But verse 13, if you endure
through to the end, guys, you shall be saved.
And so the one of the questions that we have to ask here is OK,
what is the end that Jesus is talking about?
The end is the end of these tribulations.
If you live through these hardship guys, you'll be safe if
you hold on to me. That's the basic truth of the
gospel. We don't look to anything else
but Christ. That's that's the simplicity of
the gospel. The gospel is not, hey, your
church attendance plus your faith in Christ matters.
No, some of you would fail your kind words to your neighbor,
your patience with your kids. Man, we are, we are toast.
Aren't you glad that there isn't things added to look to Christ
and you shall be saved. John 14 Jesus says let not your
hearts be troubled, don't let them be agitated.
He says believe in God, believe in me, I and the Father are one.
When things happen in the world and our hearts are agitated for
trouble, troubling things happen to us in life.
And that there's nothing more troubling than death, is there?
We can be troubled by the loss of a job, lack of finances, but
death is something that troubles us the most, isn't it?
And all of us face down Death, trouble and tribulation does not
mean that God is not with us. He says It's not a sign that God
has removed his hand. In fact, the destruction of the
temple is not signs that God has removed his hand.
It's that God is actually doing what he said he would do.
And so join in, Jesus teaches that these things that are
coming are to prepare us, be prepared for what's going to
happen, not panic. Don't panic.
For many Christians around the world, in places like Nigeria,
like Congo, places like Somalia, these words are not theoretical.
When when militants come into a church building, round everybody
out and just systematically fire guns at them, set their places
on fire, this is not theoretical for those who live in those
countries, is it? But Jesus teaches us that.
Yet even there, when suffering is present, that is not a sign
that God has abandoned his church.
It's part of the path by which he keeps his people and where he
leads them to glory. Look at verse 14, the promise.
This is an encouragement. It's not an if.
Look what it says. And this gospel of the Kingdom
will be not might be not maybe will be proclaimed the good news
the the mission will be accomplished, boys.
The church will not fail. I will not fail in reconciling
many back to the Lord. And that's good news, isn't it?
Wouldn't you like to know that like hey, guaranteed
championship for insert your favorite team here.
And we all know that our favorite teams are the Flyers,
the Union, the Eagles, the Sixers and the Phillies.
Are we all all on board with that?
For the rest of you, there's grace.
You're welcome to worship with us.
A guarantee of a championship, guarantee of success.
A guarantee. That's what Jesus says.
Like, yeah, I've, I've won the day.
And that's what the resurrection does.
Jesus emerges from the grave, and that's the sign and seal
that God has accepted. So it's no big deal whether Paul
says I live or I die, I go to be with Christ.
I win. We win.
We win because Christ has won. We don't win because of anything
we've done, but this gospel, this good news that we can be
reconciled back to our Father, our Creator, it will be
proclaimed. And so that's a comforting
thought. But look what he says.
He says this gospel will be proclaimed and then what?
And then the end will come, right?
Then the end comes. There's a distinct timeline
here. There's an A and AB you, you've
all have done geometry, right? A&B.
You know that there's a point A point B, and in between that
point is a line, right? And so we are currently living
in what's called the middle. Jesus says there's two points,
boys. There's the destruction of the
city and then there's the end of the age.
Those are the two questions that they asked him.
One might argue that in the grander story we're actually
living in, it's Point C You know, the end is Point C Point A
is the beginning of the story which happened where in Genesis
God began this work in the moment we fell.
Point B is the middle point of the resurrection to Point C is
the end of the age. There's there is a timeline here
reflecting on the chaos of his day as we're thinking about what
it's like to live in this day and age.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, if you're ever familiar for familiar with
him, he was a pastor in World War 2, Germany and leading up
into the days of World War Two, he was reflecting on the chaos
of his day. And he said this.
He said humankind no longer lives in the beginning.
Instead it has lost the beginning.
Now it finds itself in the middle, knowing neither the end
nor the beginning and yet knowing that it is in the
middle. He was seeing things that were
so mind boggling to him that Germany had left its Christian
moorings and he was like, have we forgotten where we came from?
Created by God to live for God. And now no one knows what will
happen with Nazi Germany. Well, we all know what happened
with Nazi Germany. It rose and it fell and other
kingdoms rose and fell. Other kingdoms are rising and
falling, but yet the end has not come, has it?
And so therefore we are living in the middle, seeing these
things. He believed that modern people
had become so unmoored from their true beginning, so
uncertain about where their history lies.
Your neighbors are uncertain to where history is headed.
We're either in existential threat from the world just being
too hot, to which just 20 years ago we were fearful that it was
going to be too cold and then it was too hot.
It's just like living with your grandparents.
Too hot, too cold, too hot, too cold.
I'm sorry, not grandparents. Some of us in here, it's too
hot, too cold. So how do we live in the middle?
That's what Jesus is saying. How how do we as a church live
in these days when we are moving towards the end of the age?
And Christ cares how we live in the middle.
He cares how these disciples, they're going to experience and
did experience all of these things that he he shared with
them. We live in the middle with
Christ by hearing what it is that his promises are and we
respond in faith and in hope and in prayer and obedience.
Now, admittedly, I'm what what we're about to go through, we're
going to, we're going to work through Christ's warnings and
there's all sorts of debate of what happens on the line
between, you know, point A and point B Point B being the end of
the age and point A when Jesus establishes his church.
And then we move forward. There's all sorts of debate and
it's fine to debate those things.
But what I want us to focus on is the important heart issues
that we would focus on what Jesus says we need to know, and
that would be primary. And so if Jesus is saying, look,
guys, the destruction of the temple is not the end of the
age. All of these things are going to
happen, but the end is not yet. That's verses one through 14.
Now what will happen is he'll answer the second question.
All right? So verses 4 through 14 have
been, in a sense, kind of a digression.
Jesus addresses the first one. He says, here's what you're not
to be fearful of. It's not the end of the age.
It's not the signs of the end. It's not over yet, but be
careful. Be careful.
Then in verses 15 through 22, what he's going to do is he's
going to describe the crisis which is soon going to come upon
Judea. He's going to start giving them
the sign. He's like, look, the destruction
of the temple's going to happen, but you're going to start to see
some things. And I want you to be courageous.
And then in verses 23 through 28, he's going to give them
further warnings about being kind of like jumping the gun
again. He's warning them to guys, the
end is not yet. But I will give you clarity on
the end. The end will be obvious, but be
confident in your work. All right, So look at verse 15.
The Jesus says all right guys, so the destruction of the temple
is coming. Don't be alarmed.
There's going to be people, false Christs.
They're going to be all sorts of persecution, but the end is not
yet. Now he's going to shift towards
answering. Here's the sign of things to
come when you see the abomination of desolation and he
refers back to Daniel, which is a a similar account of what
Daniel was saying in the future would come.
Standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.
That's a little parentheses right there.
Jesus says that when you see the abomination of desolation spoken
of by the prophet Daniel, then understand that's a little
paraphrase that's added. Actually, that's Matthew.
Luke does the same thing. He writes a little note.
He's like, hey, you need to understand this.
What does that mean? Basically what he's saying is
like, hey, if you've read the book of Daniel, you kind of,
you've seen this phrase before. You should understand that the
similar circumstance is going to happen.
OK. You would understand that if
you're Jewish, not if you were kind of like, I don't, I've
never read the book. An early Christian who is not
Jewish would not know that. And so somebody would have to
come alongside and say here's what that means.
It means look more deeply into this because what is said is
less than what is meant. Jesus is allowing them to unpack
kind of what is thought. So what they would have thought
of as good Jewish boys who've been through 8th grade history
class. They're like, they're like the
abomination of desolation. I thought that was fulfilled in
167 BC. You guys all know that, right?
You, you remember what happened in 167 BC?
Does anybody know what happened in 167 B?
This guy named Antiochus Epiphanes came in and started
desecrating the temple. And that's where the zealots
came out. They came out and they're like,
that's not going to happen here. And so there's a huge revolt and
they fight and they kick him out.
That's where we get Hanukkah from.
Did you know that? The Festival of Lights, Adam
Sandler, anybody? Yeah, anyway, yeah.
So that's what that got the the the festival of lights is the is
the kicking out of the desecration of the temple and
everyone, every historian like that's what Daniel was talking
about. But because Jesus mentions it
here, it means that that wasn't the fulfillment of that.
He says when you see the abomination of desolation in the
holy place, then you know the destruction is near.
Then you know Luke helps us look at verse 20 and Luke chapter 21.
It's right here ready. Luke adds this point and again,
this is before. He says when you see Jerusalem
surrounded by armies, then you know that his desolation has
come near. This was something that was
already foretold by Jesus in Luke's Gospel.
Jesus already says it and Luke includes it, but Matthew does
not. And so rather than bore you
this, this participle, when you see this, it participles a
Greek, it's an ongoing, it's like this thing when you see
these these things happening, it's basically it's a build up.
And what happened was Titus and the Roman army in 70 AD began to
gather armies around as things kind of got heated in Jerusalem.
What they began to see is that Rome began to surround the city
with armies and it started in late 60s and then it began early
in the 70s. And then Jesus is saying that
something like this, where the gathering of armies is going to
happen. And So what you boys need to do,
disciples, what you need to do is be prepared.
Another clue is he says let those who are in Judea fleets
the mountains. This means that Jesus is still
talking about the destruction of the city.
Before we move on, let me show you 2 paintings.
Let me just show you 2 paintings.
Some of you might be familiar about this is this is based on
Josephus's and Eusebius history of Jerusalem in the city's
destruction. That's kind of the picture of a
painting based on that. It's not the actual event,
obviously, but it was destroyed pretty thoroughly.
And then the next thing that was recorded is on the altar.
That's the great altar where the smoke would rise.
They were all that was the picture.
They were slaying bodies and stealing things out of the
temple. The temple was utterly destroyed
and there was massive slaughter. If you read the accounts of the
destruction of Jerusalem, it's brutal.
Women and children were stuck in the alleyways, they were eating
their children, they were starving, they were surrounded,
they were sieged. Men and women were killing each
other, they were jumping off the the walls.
It was brutal. There was starvation and finally
the city fell, it was sacked and then they absolutely destroyed
the temple. So with those pictures in mind
and Jesus doing this in 30 ish AD 333032AD and with the gospels
written before this account, listen to what Jesus says.
They ought to be warned. We're still talking about the
destruction of the temple. Look at verse 17, he says when
you start seeing the city surrounded by armies, Luke gives
us clarity. Let the one who's on the
housetop don't go down. Verse 18, the one in the field,
don't turn back. If you're pregnant, that will be
a shame because it will be hard for you to run and to flee for
those who are nursing infants in those days.
It will be brutal and it was actually if you read Josephus
and Eusebius and you saw that pregnant women and women with
young children were were were forced to either starve or eat
their children. If it was the Sabbath,
everything would be closed. If all of these things Jesus
saying if these things happened, you need to pray and be
prepared. The destruction is such that you
need to flee. Look at verse 20.
Pray that your flight from the city to the mountains may not be
in winter or the Sabbath. There is urgency here.
There is there is a sense of man.
This is turmoil and Jesus saying guys run like the wind.
If you see all these things happen, but look at the
encouragement that is in this text.
He says, but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut
short. That word elect there has to do
with for the sake of those who would would would survive the
onslaught. How does that happen?
The verse above says those days will be cut short, that God in
his Providence sees the suffering of people and he's
doing something that's part of a bigger redemptive picture, but
he's still in control. There's only one man that can
shut days short. There's only one God in the
world who can control world events.
He's the one that starts wars and finishes wars.
He's the one that prolongs them and shortens them.
He's the one that holds our days in his hand.
He's the one that ends our days. He's the one that does all
things. He is the sovereign God.
He is in control of history. Jesus says he is still in
control. And that, friends, causes me to
be courageous because I know that when God promises these
things must happen and you will be delivered through them.
Just do not be LED astray. I can be courageous.
I can, I can look at the news and be like, well, OK, it's
getting pretty bad. Not for us directly, though, is
it? We're relatively living at peace
right now here, right? Lots of people in the world are
not living in peace. What is it like for Christians?
Which by the way, there are Christians in Iran right now who
are drawing from this passage and saying, man, the end is not
yet. God is doing a great work
because you know what's going on in the midst of that
tribulation, guess what's going on?
Many are coming to Christ because they have no other hope
in anything else. That's what tribulations do.
That's what suffering does. That's why Jesus is saying,
guys, take your eyes off the immediate and look at the these
things are happening so that more would come to trust God.
That makes sense, right? We don't we don't eschew
suffering and troubling in our lives because that's what
strengthens US. No one's ever said, I've said
this before. No one's like, you know what, my
life is pretty easy. I've grown a lot from having an
easy life. Has anybody said that it's nice
to have comfort? It's good that we are
comfortable, but I've never heard anybody be like, man, I
walked into the gym and just looked at the weights and I got
stronger. Actually, some of us do that.
Some people do that. It just, you know, think that
being in the presence of weights.
No, no, it's the lifting of the weights.
It's the, it's the struggling with death and destruction.
It is the hard times that cause us to cry out to God and
strengthen and come to him. And that's exactly what happens
when trials and tribulation in the world happen.
There's encouragement that none of this is outside of God's
providential control. It is for the sake of his people
and it is for the sake of his people that he cuts the shorts.
The days, the suffering, the siege was relatively short and
it was done. And guess what happened to the
church? It expanded, it grew it, it, it,
it goes out of Jerusalem. Do you remember the persecution
early in the church when the Christians are spreading and
Saul is persecuting the church and killing Christians and
imprisoning Christians and it spreads them and they go to
Turkey, they go to Europe, they go to North Africa, they, they
spread into Eastern Asia. The, the gospel goes to all of
known Roman Empire and the gospel is spread.
And that's all because God decides to end one age and enter
into the new age where now we have a global focus.
It's not just a focus on this particular part of the world.
Now it's a a global focus. Look at verse 23.
He says Jesus, listen, if anyone says to you, look, here's the
Christ or there he is. What are we to do not believe
it. There's nothing like suffering
that causes people to look for other saviors.
He's like, guys, do not take your eyes off me.
Verse 25 I see he says, I told you beforehand, I'm telling you,
Jesus says this because he knows that his disciples are going to
need these words later. I've told you beforehand, he, he
underscores this. He does the same with the
resurrection too. He said, guys, I'm going to rise
from the dead and they just didn't understand it.
But guess what? They understood afterwards, They
looked back, they hid his word in their hearts and when they
needed it, they drew upon their like Jesus told us this would
happen. What does that do to us?
It gives us great courage, right when they're seeing all of this
go on, they're gonna remember like, man, remember when we
were, remember when we were listening to the Olivet
Discourse? They actually wouldn't have said
that. They're like, remember when
Jesus remember when he said the temple was gonna be destroyed?
And then he started telling us all these things.
We were like, didn't understand it.
Now we understand. He told us this would happen.
It gives us great courage because his word is in his heart
and that's what it means for God to dwell in your heart.
When we hide the Lord's word in our heart, when we take his
promises and they're there in moments of distress and moments
of fear, in moments where we need courage, when he speaks to
us through his word, David says, I've hidden your word in my
heart so that I might not what sin against you.
But also we hide God's word in our hearts so that we might be
encouraged. So the less we know that God
says, the less opportunity we have to draw from his his
promises. The more that we know, the more
that we read and study Scripture, the more that we do
this on Sunday mornings, the more that we sing his word and
pray his word and learn his word.
His word dwells in our heart and he abides in us and we in him.
And so when those moments come when we are absolutely frazzled,
agitated, troubled, Jesus is small still whisper is fear not,
I'm with you if you're not. I've overcome the world.
Fear not. I will provide for you to he who
is able to do all immeasurably more than you asking or imagine
I'm able to do this if you're not, I love you.
There's neither height nor depth nor length or width.
That's how much I love you. An infinite amount.
I love you, I love you, Fear not.
See, I've told you beforehand, Jesus says in verse 26, if they
say, look, he's out in the wilderness, or if they say look,
he's in the inner room. She's like, don't go out there,
don't believe him. Why?
He's like, guys, it's going to be obvious where I'm at.
He gives us great clarity. He says verse 27, for as the
lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the West,
so will the coming of the Son of Man.
Lightning's pretty obvious in the skies, isn't it?
So right now, here is in this passage, in this section, in
this teaching, where it seems like he is starting to lift our
eyes above the city's destruction.
So in the 1st 28 verses, there are no signs that he's talking
about the end of the age. It's quite the obvious.
He's saying, guys, all of this is going to happen.
He's like, and if they say look, there he is here, he's coming.
He's like, no, no, no, no, it's going to be obvious.
Like carcasses on Route 3 around a deer that's been splattered by
a Mack truck, right? We've all seen that, right?
It's nasty. Big vultures, Turkey vultures,
you know what I'm talking about. They're obvious.
Or in the sky, lightning. He's like, it will be obvious.
He's lifting our eyes beyond Jerusalem's fall.
He's beginning to say now what will be the sign of the coming
of the Son of Man. It will be very obvious.
I'm not sure if you know this, but there is a thing called 12
verse Shia Islam. Does anybody know what 12 verse
Shia Islam is? The 12 are It is a hope that is
attached to what's known as the hidden Imam.
Imams are Muslim teachers. They teach the Quran.
They, they teach the people of Allah how to submit to Allah
through the Quran. But there is this belief that
there is a hidden Imam and that hidden Imam will emerge one day
in the future. The world is in chaos and in
trouble and he will return, maybe with Jesus, the Mahdi,
he's called, he is believed to be the one will appear in the
last days and that matters. Do you know why that matters?
Because in Iran their constitution makes the Twelver,
Jafari, Shias and the official religion of the state.
Did you know that this world is not in a battle between men and
men? And we battle not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers and the powers and the
principalities there. This is a spiritual battle and
not everybody in Iran believes this.
But what they do believe who believe in the 12 or Shia Islam
is that there is one other than Christ who will come.
And Jesus tells us that we are not awaiting a hidden Christ, we
are awaiting one who will emerge victoriously and he will come
back victoriously. The first has already happened,
hasn't it? He's emerged from the grave
victoriously. And Jesus and boys, when I come
back, I keep saying boys, because I'm imagining him
talking to these disciples, but he's saying, church.
When I come back, it will be as bright as lightning, as obvious
as it the, the, the light in your face.
You will not miss me. And that is of great
encouragement. And that's what we're waiting
for. We're not waiting for things to
secretly happen. Jesus says here's the
destruction of the temple. Here's the end of the age.
In between there, be prepared, be encouraged, be faithful, be
steadfast, be not afraid. Don't be LED astray.
Do the things that I've told you to do.
And trust me, I will return. And when I return, the waiting
will be all over. It will be finished.
And So what Jesus will begin to do is he'll begin to answer the
question, what will the Son of Man look like when he comes
back? The destruction of the city has
happened. This, the city was destroyed,
all of these things that Jesus talked about was fulfilled
between 30 and 70 AD. And now the church looks to the
second part where he says, when will the Son of Man return?
Next week we're going to finalize the Olivet discourse.
We're going to, we're going to wrap up and see what does it
mean for the world when Christ returns?
What does it mean for us? What should we look for?
What should we not be so worried about?
But what should we look for? And what is the New Testament
reveal about what the disciples and the church believed about
his return? Some of them did fear that they
missed it. The Thessalonians are like, did
we miss it? Paul's like, no, you didn't miss
it. But when the Son of Man comes
back, what a great encouragement it will be.
It'll be amazing. It's going to be a significant
event, and we ought to keep our eyes fixed on that and be
encouraged. But while we are waiting,
there's work to be done, right? More people need to hear about
Jesus. The sermon you've just listened
to is a presentation of Church Newtown Square.
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