Signs of the Times, Part 2

One have been energized by this
study. I don’t know how much of that
is coming through yet. For me, I probably hovered in
in the direction of fear or trepidation over this subject. Certainly
not indifference, although for a great degree of the population,
the Christian population, There is somewhat of either indifference
or a hyperactive focus on these things, almost a preoccupation
with eschatology and all things to do with the end. One pastor
said it accurately when he said there are many, many Christians
who will not discuss it. There are many preachers who
do not think that the details are important. Even though they’re
laid out in immense detail in Scripture, as we’ll see in a
moment today, and then he closes with this statement, it always
these things are written for the terrorizing of sinners and
the comfort of saints. That little phrase stunned me
as it likely did you. The terrorizing of sinners. In
our day and age, when we think of terrorism, it’s a bad thing,
but To put the fear of the Lord, the terror of the Lord into the
heart of the people was always the goal of the Scriptures. And
it’s a good thing to awaken people out of their complacency. As one pointed out, the future
predictive prophecy. Occupies one fifth of Scripture,
20 percent of the Bible. is prophecy and really prophecy
that is yet to be fulfilled. A great portion of that prophecy
is focused on the return of Christ. One noted that twenty, pardon
me, one out of every twenty five verses in the New Testament.
relates to Christ’s return, it’s a huge subject, it’s not one
that we can take a casual approach to. And it’s one that even as
we approach it and we begin to develop convictions, calls for
humility. That said, this is where I am. As I unfold these things before
you, I can tell you this is where I am, at least today. I want
to be, of all things, as we come through these things, humble
and teachable. We don’t need to hold belligerently
to the things that we believe. We can hold to strong convictions.
We can have strong opinions. We can hold to things and advance
things and preach and proclaim things with great conviction
and all the while, be humble. As I’ve said all along, I’ve
said it to John and to Trey. I’ve said it to others, said
it to my wife. Anybody who has asked me, I’ve told them that
of all things as I come through this. More than anything, I want
to be humble. Because if we’re humble, we’re
usable. If we’re humble. God can take us and mold us and
shape us and continue to teach us. If we’re not humble, we are
as a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal and worthless, really. But I want to. Go back to Luke
21 and in going back to Luke 21, I help you, I want to help
you get ready for Good Friday. I haven’t lost my mind, I’m not
off my rocker, my calendar isn’t messed up. I want to park you,
if you will, back in the context of this passage. Because if you
remember, as we resume our consideration of Luke 21, it’s important to
remember where we are. It is now midweek Wednesday. In Jesus final week of earthly
ministry, he came into Jerusalem in great excitement, the triumphal
entry just two days earlier on Monday. And in just two days,
he will undergo the great humiliation for which he came. the arrest,
the crucifixion, burial, and the resurrection. But Jesus,
even though these hours are fleeting, takes one additional opportunity
to instruct His beloved disciples. In this great passage that is
known as the Olivet Discourse, the longest of all of Christ’s
teachings, the longest answer to any question Jesus ever spoke
to, The longest version of which is in Matthew’s Gospel from which
Darren read this morning. It is a prophetic unveiling of
what will take place in the future for the sake of his disciples,
his followers, those in Christ. The particular point of this
passage is to warn and exhort and encourage to faith and obedience. The Olivet Discourse is The last
major discourse in Matthew’s gospel. It is primarily concerned
with judgment and with conduct that is expected from Christians,
from believers, as one said, sometimes what Jesus says refers
to. The coming judgment on Jerusalem. The judgment that we looked at
in great detail in 70 A.D., sometimes what he’s saying refers to not
only that judgment, but the judgment at the end of the age. Sometimes
what Jesus says applies equally to both. The first is a judgment
that followed the rejection of Jesus and his earthly ministry,
the second is the judgment that will follow the preaching of
the gospel throughout the entire world. If you would, I want to go back
to Luke chapter 21. We’ll read a portion of Luke
21 today, beginning in verse five, Luke 21. Let’s begin in
verse five. And while some were talking about
the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive
gifts, he said, as for these things which you are looking
at, the days will come in which there will not be There will
not be one stone upon another which is not torn down. They
questioned him, saying, Teacher, when therefore will these things
happen and what will be the sign when these things are about to
take place? And he said, See to it that you are not misled,
for many will come in my name saying, I am he and the time
is near. Do not go after them. When you
hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified, for these
things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”
Then he continued by saying to them, nation will rise against
nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes
and in various places, plagues and famines. And there will be
terrors and great signs from heaven. And the disciples were stunned.
They were just absolutely overwhelmed. Here they were just exiting the
temple, sitting perhaps on the hillside across from it, looking
at this absolutely stunning. Feature. The beautiful temple,
and we’ve spent an entire Sunday just looking at the description
of the temple, the beautiful stones, the size, the ornate,
the opulence of it. And yet Jesus says to them that
this temple, this very temple, not to mention the entire city
is going to be destroyed. And they were utterly stunned
and shocked. The disciples didn’t quite know
what to do with that. Verse five says they were talking
about the temple, even in the midst of their conversation,
even as they’re enjoying the view. that it was adorned with
these beautiful stones and votive gifts. Jesus breaks the news
to them. In verse six, he says, as for
these things which you are looking at, the days will come when there
will not be one stone. Upon another, which will not
be torn down. We saw that there was a little
literal fulfillment to that. In 70 A.D., we spent an entire
Sunday looking at that, not only the beauty of this temple, but
the utter destruction of it. As one said, Jesus words received
a very literal, terrible fulfillment in 70 A.D., the temple was actually
destroyed by fire, contrary to the order of the emperor Titus,
who had hoped to spare the edifice. But later he gave orders to demolish
the entire city and the temple. Another remark that The temple
walls were destroyed so thoroughly they were dug up to the very
foundation. There was nothing left to even make those that
came near believe that the city had ever even been inhabited.
Utter destruction. Jesus points out to the disciples
that, yes, this is a beautiful temple, beautiful architecture,
magnificent structure. And it’s going to be utterly
destroyed. God allowed it all to be destroyed,
the temple, the city and all, all it is, as I said, except
the people. He allowed the destruction of
the place of worship, the beautiful temple, even the Holy of Holies.
We read last or two weeks ago how those things were carted
off, even the furniture of the Holy of Holies. Carted off. and placed in another temple
of all places called the Temple of Peace. Not only that, he permitted
the destruction of the entire city. The walls, the buildings,
everything. All except a remnant of the people
of Israel. Most of whom were carted off
into slavery. The Jews. There are estimates. We looked at estimates of how
many Jews were killed. easily eclipsing the million
mark. It was an utter massacre. And God easily here could have
wiped out the nation of Israel, and he did not. In God’s providence,
they were not wiped out. They weren’t. They were saved.
They were spared. And Schaff, as we closed out
looking at his great description of the destruction of the temple,
offered one final paragraph. He said, but the Jews still have
the law and the prophets and the sacred traditions to which
they cling to this day. The nation of Israel lived. The
nation of Israel is alive today. In 70 A.D., the temple, the entire
city of Jerusalem was reduced to unrecognizable rubble, but
the people live. And God has a plan for them.
As one said, a closer look at the whole discourse reveals that
the most important aspects of Jesus prophecy were not fulfilled.
In the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the great tribulation
Christ described involves cataclysm and suffering on a global and
cosmic scale, not on a local scale, a Holocaust in Jerusalem
only. It’ll be a time of distress and
hardship that would be unique in all the world’s history. The
destruction of Jerusalem was indeed a great disaster. But
in no sense can it be said that the Roman siege of Jerusalem
in 80, 70 fulfilled the prophecy of great tribulation. Major aspects
of Jesus discourse there, therefore, clearly await a future fulfillment. And he closes with these words,
Christ’s warnings about false messiahs, wars, rumors of wars,
famines, pestilences and earthquakes may have seemed to foretell what
took place on a limited scale, 80, 70. But many clues throughout
this context suggest that the precise and final fulfillment
of these prophecies awaits a yet future cataclysm. That will be
worldwide rather than local and apocalyptic rather than merely
historic. The nation of Israel survived,
the nation of Israel survived. And God has a plan for them,
as I shared in both in Sunday school and in the ensuing Sunday
night service, where we laid out some of these things through
the PowerPoint presentation. For me, the greatest argument
of all, that Israel exists, that Israel still is, and God still
has a plan for Israel, is rooted in the very nature of election.
You and I, most of us, believe in the doctrine of election,
that God, for no cause in us, for nothing motivating him to
choose us, God, purely motivated by His own will and desire, set
His love upon us for salvation and in time brought that election
to us and awakened us out of our deadness and brought us to
life and made us to look upon Christ and gave us the faith
to place in and on Him. The very nature of the doctrine
of election is at stake. Because the instant that you
say that God brushed his hands and did away with the nation
of Israel, you have a whole new nature of the doctrine of election. And now, instead of resting in
the fact that God set his love on you, God chose you and saved
you, now you have to hang on for dear life. And your performance
here in this life better be perfect. Because if it isn’t better than
the nation of Israel’s, you will be in no better place. You are
in no better condition than the nation of Israel. If Israel cashed
in their promises, if they failed and God took back his promises
to them. Woe to us that even with the
grace of God and the word of God and the spirit of God living
within us week after week after week, if not day after day, moment
by moment. We have cause to confess to the
Lord for many failings. It is the very nature of election.
That makes me look at the promises of God’s word and say, God did
not wipe out the nation of Israel, not in 70 A.D., not at all. God
still has a plan and he still will put that plan into effect. I alluded several weeks ago to
many promises that stood out to me as we did our study in
the minor prophets. Many promises that God made.
And I want to take you just on a brief tour. If you would, I
want you to find the cleanest part of your Bible, the minor
prophets. Specifically, the book of Hosea. Find the big prophets. If you find the Psalms and drift
to your right and just begin flipping, you’re going to find
it. The book of Hosea. And in the book of Hosea, we
have our first of the minor prophets that offers us just these precious,
the series of precious promises to the nation of Israel. Turn
to chapter 14 of the book of Hosea. It’s clean, isn’t it? They’re usually really clean. Chapter 14, verse 1. Return,
O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because
of your iniquity.” No one ever said the nation of Israel didn’t
sin. You’re not ever going to catch me saying that the nation
of Israel is pristine. There are more godly people than
all the others. The nation of Israel sinned dreadfully. Not only up to the time of Christ,
but ultimately in their rejection of Christ. They sinned. Peter
and Paul in the book of Acts in preaching to the Jews, they
didn’t take the edge off of that. They both acknowledged the sovereignty
of God in the whole plan that sent Jesus to the cross, but
neither one of them took anything off the edge in pointing to Israel
and saying, you nailed Him to the cross. Return, O Israel, to the Lord
your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity Take
words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him, take away
all iniquity and receive us graciously that we may present the fruit
of our lips. Syria will not save us. We will not ride on horses,
nor will we say again our God to the work of our hands for
you in you, the orphan finds mercy. There will come a day. When the nation of Israel, not
the entirety, but those that God saves, There will come a
day when they will turn. They will turn and recognize
Christ. They will turn and repent. They will turn and again seek
mercy. And God’s promise is this in
verse four, I will heal their apostasy. I will love them freely
for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the
dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily.
He will take roots like the cedars of Lebanon. His shoots will sprout
and his beauty will be like the olive tree and his fragrance
like the cedars of Lebanon. Now, that hasn’t happened yet.
There’s never been a time like that. Never in the history of
Israel has there been a time like that. Turn, if you would,
one book to the right, to the book of Joel. In the book of
Joel, we have promises as well. Turn, if you would, to chapter
3 in Joel’s prophecy. And in chapter three, we find
just an intense prophecy of God spoken to the nation of Israel. Look at verse 17 and back up
to verse 16, the Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from
Jerusalem and the heavens and the earth tremble. But the Lord
is a refuge for his people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel.
Then you will know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in
Zion, my holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy and
strangers will pass through it no more. And in that day, the
mountains will drip with sweet wine and the hills will flow
with milk and all the brooks of Judah will flow with water
and a spring will go out from the house of the Lord to water
the valley of Shittim. Egypt will become a waste and
Edom will become a desolate wilderness. Now, I don’t know how many of
you have actually been to Israel. I haven’t, but I’ve seen the
pictures and it is no garden. It is no beautiful, luxurious
place that not like what’s described here, but the thing that stands
out to me In this passage is when it says strangers will pass
through it no more. There are not going to be heathen
nations occupying the very promised land of God no more. No more Ishmaelites stomping
around on the land that God promised to another nation, no more. Turn,
if you would, to the right, to the Book of Amos. Amos. To chapter nine of the book of
Amos, if you would. I told you in nearly every one
of the of the minor prophets, there are these sections, these
sections of restoration and return and promise. And in Amos, chapter
nine, look at verse eight, behold, the eyes of the Lord are on the
sinful kingdom. You never have God taking the
edge off of his indictment of Israel. You never hear him saying,
boy, did I get a great deal with this people. Just like you and
I. God got with us exactly what
he got with the nation of Israel, sinners. Behold, the eyes of
the Lord are on the sinful kingdom and I will destroy it from the
face of the earth. Nevertheless, I will not totally
destroy the house of Jacob, declares the Lord. For behold, I am commanding
and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve. You know what that sounds like
to me? That sounds like 70 A.D. I am going to utterly shake them
and destroy them. Look at verse 11. In that day,
I will raise up the fallen booth of David and wall up its breaches. I will also raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as the days of old. If you jump down to verse
14, I will restore the captivity of my people Israel and they
will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. Then they will
plant vineyards and drink their wine and make gardens and eat
their fruits. I will also plant them on their
land and they will not again be rooted out from their land
which I have given them, says the Lord your God. Turn if you
would to Obadiah. Just keep traveling to the right.
The book of Obadiah. Only one chapter, you can’t get
lost here, go down to verse 19, then those of the Negev will
possess the mountains, a mountain of Esau. And those of the Shephelah
in the Philistine Plain also possess the territory of Ephraim
and the territory of Samaria. And Benjamin will possess Gilead
and the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel who are among
the Canaanites as far as the Zarephath and the exiles of Jerusalem
who are in the Shepherad will possess the cities of the Negev.
The deliverers will ascend to Mount Zion to judge the mountain
of Esau, and the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” Now, those are
all some really obscure places. Call those the suburbs, right?
All told, it says that God is going to come, that this is going
to be the Lord’s kingdom. Turn, if you would, to the book
of Micah. Two books to the right. You’re passing through Jonah.
Don’t think that Jonah is all about The blessing of the gospel. Of
repentance going to the heathen, but turn to Micah. The book of Micah. Go to chapter
seven and I’ll begin to pare these down a little bit. Chapter
seven, we want to pick up just a couple of verses. In chapter
seven, verse 18. If you want to go back and read
verse 14 and following, that’s fine. We’ll pick it up in verse
18. Who is a God like you who pardons iniquity and passes over
the rebellious act of the remnant of his possession? He does not
retain his anger forever because he delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion
on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. Yes, he will cast
all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will give birth,
pardon me, you will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love
to Abraham, which you swore to our forefathers from the days
of old. Please, if you would turn to
Nahum, the book of Nahum. In the first chapter, look at
verse 15. Behold, on the mountains, the
feet of Him who brings good news, who announces peace, celebrate
your feasts, O Judah. Pay your vows, for never again
will the wicked one pass through you. He is cut off completely. Turn, if you would, to Zephaniah.
It’s the most beautiful sound in the world, turning the Bible
pages. Zephaniah chapter three, if you
would. Chapter three, verse eight, among
others, therefore, wait for me, declares the Lord for the day
when I will raise up a witness. Indeed, my decision is to gather
nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation,
my burning anger for all the earth will be devoured by the
fire of my zeal. God is going to go after the
enemies of Israel ultimately. Turn, if you would, I think,
finally to Zechariah. How did we do? We stayed together?
Zechariah, just keep traveling to the right. Zechariah chapter
1. Look at verse 12. Then the angel
of the Lord said, Oh, Lord of hosts, how long will you have
no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which
you have been indignant these 70 years? The Lord answered the
angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting
words. So the angel who was speaking to me said to me, proclaim saying,
Thus says the Lord of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for
Jerusalem and Zion. But I am very angry with the
nations who are at ease. For while I was only a little
angry, they furthered the disaster. Therefore, thus says the Lord,
I will return to Jerusalem with compassion. My house will be
built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and a measuring line
will be stretched over Jerusalem again, proclaim saying thus says
the Lord of hosts, my cities again will overflow with prosperity
and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem. Look at chapter two, if you would,
of the same book. Chapter 2, verse 10. Sing for
joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I am coming
and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. Many nations
will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become my
people. Then I will dwell in your midst
and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.
The Lord will possess Judah as his portion in the Holy Land
and will again choose Jerusalem. And finally, Zechariah chapter
14. In Zechariah 14, verse 9, the
Lord will be king over all the earth. And in that day, the Lord will
be the only one that hasn’t happened. That’s not the earth situation
right now, is it? And his name will be the only
one All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimen,
south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem will rise and remain
on its site from Benjamin’s gate as far as the place of the first
gate to the corner gate and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s
wine presses. People will live in it and there
will no longer be a curse for Jerusalem will dwell in security. Not only Do I believe that God
will preserve Israel because I think he says it here plainly
in this passage? He says it in the minor prophets. I suggested the other day that
I did just numbers and numbers of word studies over the last
several years. One of the most amazing is the
word, just the word everlasting. Look it up sometime. Repeatedly,
God declares his everlasting covenant. And yet the disciples are just
stunned, fixated on this news. Let’s get back to the text of
Luke. God has a plan for Israel, I think. You know where I stand
on that. Let’s get back to the text and
find out where the disciples are with this whole thing. The
destruction of Jerusalem, they’re still hung up. They’re totally
hung up on it. Jesus disciples respond to this
shocking news of Jerusalem’s destruction with a series of
questions. They’re incredulous at what Jesus
has just told them. Nothing fits. Nothing makes sense. This is the Messiah. They had
placed their faith in him. That fact had fully convinced
them. But they also believe that they
were coming into Jerusalem, they were taking Jerusalem by storm.
They thought that they were going to establish the Messiah as their
earthly king and conqueror, spiritual and political ruler. And now
all of a sudden, nothing makes sense. All they had were questions,
all kinds of questions, and they come in rapid succession. And
as I suggested several weeks ago, all three of the gospel
writers record these questions. Some record different questions. They ask a series of questions.
Not just one and not all of the gospel writers record the same. In fact, Luke and Mark record
the first two. When will these things happen? These things here quite evidently
are referring to the destruction of the temple here in the gospel
of Luke, they turn and they say, what are you talking about? When
when is this going to happen? Not only is it a surprise, but
they want to know exactly when. And it’s a general question,
but then they move in on it. Both Mark and Luke record the
second question. What will be the sign when these
things are going to take place? What can we begin to look for?
This is news to all of us. You never told us any of this. First question is general, just,
you know, approximate when. Almost like a stunned why, what
are you talking about? But the second question wants
to know all the little details that are going to point to these
things. Certainly, it’s not going to come on us just suddenly. When are things going to go downhill,
when will society begin to unravel, when is the end of the world
going to happen, because that’s to them is exactly what they
equated it with. If the temple in Jerusalem are
going to be destroyed, it’s got to be the end of the world. They didn’t want to be caught
off guard. They wanted some data. But Matthew records two additional
questions that are very telling. And it is those two questions
that really let us in on the mindset, not only of the disciples.
But the mindset of the Lord, because the Lord almost deals. The temple completely out, he
sets it aside, it’s not even his main focus. Matthew says, what will be the
sign of your coming? That’s what he records, Jesus is saying,
what will be the sign of your coming? That’s not what Mark
and Luke record. Mark and Luke have the disciples
is focused on the temple. Matthew zeros in and he says
what they really wanted to know is when are you coming back? We know we understand this whole
program about a crucifixion and you’re going to be buried. We
understand that resurrection and then you’re going to go away.
But when are you coming back? What is going to be the sign
of your coming? And the second question, what will be the sign
of the end of the age? Even if we can glimpse a little
bit that there’s going to be some time, you’re going to go
away for a season. How are we going to know when
it’s all coming about? Jesus. Jesus begins to answer
them. As we suggested a couple of weeks
ago, the disciples assumed they made all kinds of assumptions.
They assume that the destruction of the temple is going to be
a prelude to the Messiah’s return to consummate the end of the
age, to sit on his kingdom. Jesus doesn’t completely unravel
it for them. The relationship between the
events They assumed and they assumed
incorrectly that the end of the world would immediately follow
the destruction of the temple. And Jesus doesn’t immediately
correct it. Jesus doesn’t let them in on
the entire program. He gives them glimpses. As one
said, the question about when these things will happen assumes
that the destruction will be part of the complex events culminating
in the consummation of the age and the establishment of the
messianic kingdom. They were eager to know what
sign, what warning would enable them to recognize the beginning
of these cataclysmic events. Clearly, they did not foresee
the long interval between. It is clear that as these disciples
interpreted the Lord’s words about the fall of Jerusalem and
the destruction of the temple, they thought it would mean the
end of the world and they were mistaken. Partly. It would all begin to set things
in motion, but it was going to unfold much more slowly. So of these three questions,
four questions rather, Jesus ignores those first two for a
moment anyway, as to when the temple would be destroyed. As
I said, looking back now, we know when that was, 70 AD, total
destruction, precisely as Jesus had said. But in beginning to
answer these four questions, when will these things be? What
will be the sign when these things are about to take place? What
will be the sign of your coming? And what will be the sign of
the end of the age? Jesus begins by answering the questions recorded
in Matthew’s gospel. What will be the sign of your
coming? What will be the sign of the end of the age? It is
if he intends to address the other two questions regarding
the temple in time. The destruction of the temple,
even though this would occur first in history, Even as dramatic
as it sounds, Jesus says it’s secondary. Even though Jesus
has just foretold of its destruction, the temple and its place in prophetic
history is a distant second. What is first and foremost in
Jesus mind is what Matthew records, the end of the age. Now, while
they ask for signs, Jesus doesn’t immediately provide them. In fact, what I have suggested
is that you might even say that Jesus tells them what the signs
won’t be. False signs, if you will, these are the things that
will confuse people into thinking that the end is near. Came across
a number of illustrations I’ve collected over the years of people
that, you know, entire cultures, cities, groups of churches that
caught wind of a date. that they established on the
return of the Lord. And they began selling all their
possessions and locked on to that date. And time after time
throughout history, those dates have failed. Jesus here is telling them not
so much what the signs are, but what the signs won’t be of the
immediacy of His return. These are the things that are
going to trick people. What is the question Jesus is answering?
It is absolutely crucial. To be clear on that, first of
all, he is not answering questions about the temple. He’s not talking
about the temple and its destruction, look down, if you will, to Luke
chapter still in twenty one, look down to verse nine. Twenty one, verse nine, Luke
records, when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified
for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow
immediately. It’s a long way off. Then he
continued by saying to them, nation will rise against nation,
kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes
in various places, plagues and famines. There will be signs,
terrors, great signs from heaven. It’s a long way off. Don’t be
tricked. Again, this destruction, this
cataclysm that he talks about is going to be global, not local.
Jesus is not focusing on the destruction in Jerusalem, the
temple. Instead, he is answering the third question as recorded
in Matthew’s gospel. What will be the sign of your
coming? As I said. Now, as we begin to consider
it. We may as well note here that
I clearly see the second coming as what I would call a dynamic,
complex event. An event that begins with the
rapture of the church out of the world, Then followed by an
unspeakable time of trouble called the tribulation at the culmination
of which Jesus returns to establish his millennial kingdom. For me,
that is what best explains the biblical data. Let’s ponder the
idea of the rapture for a moment, if you would turn to First Thessalonians,
chapter four. First Thessalonians, chapter
four. And look at verse 13. where Paul
was writing just such a church that was so rattled. That they
thought that maybe some people had already been raptured and
they were left behind. Verse 13 of chapter four, but
we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are
asleep dead. So that you will not grieve as
the rest who have no hope. They thought that those who died
prior to the rapture now were hopeless and merely dead. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those
who have fallen asleep in Jesus. All they do is precede us. The
soul goes immediately to be with God. But one day, their bodies
will too. For this we say to you, by the
Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the
coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
You know what? If you died first, you get to go first. I don’t
know why. Somebody said that maybe because
they got longer to go, they’re six feet down, they got further
to travel, so he starts with them. I find that amusing, but.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God and the
dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with
the Lord. I mean, as if he even needs to
say it, therefore, comfort one another with these words. I think
one of the takeaways that I have from this whole study is great
comfort, encouragement, this joyful stuff that God is going
to come back. He’s sending His Son and He is
going to draw us out in time. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
15. Just a couple of verses, and I’m not going to spend my
time building an entire case to defend the doctrine of the
rapture. I’m just going to tell you that’s
where I am. That’s what I believe. These are a couple of verses
to hang on that. First Corinthians, verse chapter
15, verse 51, behold, I tell you a mystery. It’s a mystery
because it hasn’t been unveiled in the Old Testament scriptures.
It is new. It is new doctrine. There were
things that they couldn’t fit together. They didn’t know exactly
how it was going to work. Paul’s going to tell them. Behold,
I tell you a mystery, we will not all sleep. We’re not all
Christians in the world are not going to die and then wait for
the Lord to come and resurrect our bodies to match up with our
souls in heaven. We will not all sleep, but we
will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at
the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will
be raised imperishable and we will be changed. I found immense help. If you want a great book on the
subject, I said it two weeks ago in Sunday school, MacArthur’s
book, The Second Coming, just excellent work. And I quote him when he says,
Scripture suggests that the second coming occurs in two stages.
That’s what I mean when I say a dynamic event, a complex event,
not just a point in time, if we’ll see in a moment. He says
it occurs in two stages. First, the rapture when he comes
for his saints and they’re caught up to meet him in the air. And
second, his return to earth when he comes with his saints to execute
judgment against his enemies. That is the only scenario that
reconciles the immediacy of Christ’s coming for the saints with the
yet unfulfilled signs that signal his final glorious return with
the saints, the entire church. will be removed from the earth
before the tribulation begins. And I absolutely believe that.
The nation of Israel, not the church, will be the focus of
God’s earthly program. The onset of the tribulation
marks the start of a painful process by which the nation of
Israel will be grafted back into the olive tree. The significance
of the tribulation pertains to ethnic and national Israel, not
the church. Sometimes sometimes people struggle
with this idea of the second coming being a dynamic event,
a complex event, they want to say second coming trumpets, clouds,
boom, he’s here, we’re gone. Right? It’s all over. But it’s an event that it’s not
limited to a point in time. It’s a dynamic, complex event.
And it’s an unfortunate and unreasonable position to maintain that it’s
got to be this point in time, second coming. When we speak
of Jesus first coming. It would be absurd to limit that
to his birth, right? It would be absurd, a baby in
a manger and no more. That’s his first coming. The Jesus first coming includes
not only his birth. But the prophecies and the events
that lead up to it, the entire ministry of Christ that ensued
up to his crucifixion, his resurrection, ultimately his ascension into
heaven. He came and it was a very dynamic, complex event. He is coming and this too will
be a complex, dynamic event. It will include not only the
gathering of the saints out of the earth, but a terrible seven
year tribulation as well as a thousand year millennial reign with elect
Israel. And ultimately, it will be the
creation of a new heaven and a new earth That said, what unfolds
here in the Olivet discourse is future. It hadn’t happened.
It hasn’t happened yet. Jesus isn’t laying out the things
that would take place prior to 70 A.D. Jesus most intimate followers
here. They couldn’t conceive of these intervals, these points,
these lengthy time periods between events. An interval between a
crucifixion and the destruction of the temple. They assumed that
they would be concurrent, that the whole thing, once they crucified
Christ, the whole city was going to just get wiped out. They couldn’t
see an interval between the destruction of the temple and the second
coming of Christ. They couldn’t see an interval between the rapture
of the church out of the world in Christ’s establishment of
his earthly kingdom intervals. All of those questions stem from
a misunderstanding of the timeline of events. When will these things
take place? They wanted to know exactly when
and where and how. God doesn’t let them in on everything. As I close this past week, I
had a brother come to me with some feedback. That’s so rare,
and I’m thankful. Because many times people, if
they have a concern at all, will tell you only on their way out
the door for the last time, right? Anyway, the feedback was that
I haven’t yet told you what’s in it for you, how this relates, what you should
do with it, if you will, the application. And you know what?
That’s fair. Absolutely fair. I don’t always
do that. It’s not my strong point. Sometimes I have my reasons for
holding back. In this case, I was building
to it. But I’ll try to keep you in the loop more as we go along. So just thus far, what are your
takeaways from this passage, how do you apply the destruction
of the temple? How do you apply 70 AD? How do you apply a literal
Israel signs of Christ return? How about all? How about just
an absolute awe of God that is unfolding plan of redemption
lays out before us, how about praise? We should be so thankful
and so worshipful, so utterly worshipful that in a moment Christ
could return. That in a moment, Christ could
come and call us. How about humility? These are
difficult things. I told you how we ended up in
this predicament, I took when I came face to face with Luke
21, I took a four year hiatus to begin to study, and I’m not
suggesting for a moment that I’ve got the final word. About
humility. How about gratitude for God’s
sovereign election? We talked about it a moment ago,
and I told you that the nation of Israel, that their future
hinges on the nature of that doctrine. If you think that God
can willy nilly cut anybody off at any time, if he willy nilly
cut the nation of Israel off because of their disobedience,
then you better hang on. But if you believe, as the Scriptures
lay out the doctrine of election, that God said his electing love
on you and there is nothing that can take you out of his hand.
Then what is our response except humble gratitude and falling
on knees of praise? We talked about some of this
in Sunday school and our Sunday evening service. That there’s
excitement. That there’s thrilling, heart
palpitating, joyful excitement about the wars? No. Earthquakes? No, of course not. But excitement
about the thought, the very thought of the coming return of Christ,
regardless of how all those details are going to work out. That one
day we will see him face to face. Any Christian has got to be absolutely
thrilled at the thought of that. And if you’re not a Christian.
And I think about a great number of our young people, if you are
not a Christian. What a great motivator to get
you to consider Christ. A Christ who could return at
any moment and it’s over. Today is the day of salvation,
it is a slender, ever closing window of opportunity. to respond
in faith to the call of the Savior. Let’s pray. Lord God, You are
indeed so merciful. And Lord, as we come to these
deep and weighty things, we are humbled. We are made to feel
small as we were looking into the Grand Canyon. Yet, Lord,
we are in awe because of the greatness of our God A God who
has worked out the very plan of redemption. Lord God, we thank you for giving
us a glimpse. We pray for grace, grace to be
humble. Grace to be joyful. Grace to
proclaim the greatness of our God. It’s in Jesus name that we pray
all of these things. Amen.