Matthew 24:1-35, Part 1, History is His Story

Matthew chapter 24 be reading from verses 1 to 35 hear the word of the Lord Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple

But he answered them you see all these do you not? Truly I say to you there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down as he said on the

Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying tell us when will these things be and What will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age and Jesus answered them see that no one leads you astray for many will come in my name saying

I am the Christ and they will lead many astray and You will hear wars and rumors of wars see that you are not alarmed for this must take place

But the end is not yet For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places

All these are but the beginning of birth pains Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake and and then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another and many false prophets and will arise and lead many astray and because lawlessness will be increased the love of many will grow cold

But the one who endures to the end will be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed

Throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come

So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel standing in the holy place let the reader understand then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house and Let the one who was in the field not turn back to take his cloak and alas for women who are pregnant and for those who?

Are nursing infants in those days pray that your flight may not be in winter or on Sabbath for then there will be a great tribulation

Such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now no and never will be and if those days

Had not been cut short No human being would be saved but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short

Then if anyone says to you look here is the Christ or there he is Do not believe it for false

Christ and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders So as to lead astray if possible

Even the elect see I have told you beforehand So that if they say to you look he is in the wilderness

Do not go out if they say look he is in the inner rooms Do not believe it for as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the

West So will be the coming of the Son of Man wherever the corpse is There the vultures will gather

Immediately after the tribulation of those days The moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken

Then will appear in the heaven the sign of the Son of Man and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the

Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send out his angels with the loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other

From the fig tree learn its lesson as soon as the branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves

You know that summer is near So also when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gates

Truly I say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away

And the Lord had his blessings the reading of his Holy Word What's the meaning of history?

Henry Ford is famous for saying that history is bunk That is he says it's just tradition and who cares about that that the he said the only history that's that's worth anything

Cleaning up his language a little bit is the history that we make today But by history,

I don't just mean, you know the events in the past, but I mean the whole story past Present and future, you know, where is it going?

What is it for the secular kind of atheistic person would have to admit that for him history is meaningless

His own life then it's pretty much meaningless. It's just one random event after another as Shakespeare wrote in Macbeth Life's but a walking shadow a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more

It is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing

But others have said that history does indeed have a meaning it has a goal It is going somewhere according to Karl Marx the father of communism

It is going toward the goal of the working people what he called the proletariat taking over and creating a classless perfectly equal society where everyone just shares

After the fall of the most of the communist countries, which kind of proved that theory didn't work But after the fall of most of the communist countries in the late 80s an

American scholar Francis Fukuyama published a book that got a lot of attention Entitled the end of history in this book

Fukuyama wrote that the early he kind of used the earlier ideas Philosophers like Hegel and Karl Marx and applied it to his times by now the 1990s, you know

He said the Cold War is over America especially now feels vindicated and apparently there would be peace and prosperity forever

Fukuyama said that finally all the struggle all the wars of history had been resolved

He wrote that we had fought quote the last bloody battle He believed that there was nothing else to fight for and nearly everyone in the world recognized that democracy and politics and capitalism in Economics were the undeniable victors the end result of history was democracy and capitalism

With that triumph the quest of history was an at an end time

Would keep ticking but there was according to Fukuyama nothing higher for which to strive

At about 9 a .m. New York Time on September 11th 2001 that fantasy of a human centered end of history

Went up in smoke with the World Trade Center It turned out that Muslims had a very different idea about the goal of history and we've been fighting wars

And heard lots of rumors of wars ever since What's the goal of history?

Well, that's a good Christmas question Because Christians have answered that question with Christmas, right we divide

History right in half at the very point that we believe Jesus what was born

BC before Christ AD on your Domini in the year of our Lord after he's born recently more secular people have tried to obscure this

You'll see that sometimes some recent history. Well, they'll say BCE That's before the Christian era and CE the

Christian era You're trying to eliminate, you know trying to cover up the any references to Christ But obviously that just kind of begs the question what what was it that happened in the year one?

That started the Christian era well Christ was born and we're still back to Christmas history is his story and It's his story that we are right now right in the middle of and it is going somewhere

It's not just you know facts in the past Maybe kind of bored you in school or whatever or facts that we can remember fondly at Christmas time with nice Christmas carols and doing

It's not the bunk that Henry Ford said it was and it's not just repeating what has happened it isn't circular linear

It says it's a line. It has a destination. It's like a train track It has stations along the way, but there's a final station

It's going to it's going somewhere and we can remember where now we can remember fondly where we been Remember the great views back there when we turn that bin or we could remember that Jesus was born

At a certain time we could do Christmas and remember that that he was born to bring the kingdom of God on earth

But remember when we are remembering the past the future history is

Going somewhere. It has a goal God's goal and We see that in Matthew 24 where Jesus speaks of history that is to him in the future

It's coming and This is really a controversial passage somewhat difficult and I'm gonna handle a little bit differently than I do most passages

Gotta break it up topics rather than verse by verse It's a controversial passage now almost 2 ,000 years later because the question really for this passage is is this all

History that we just read for us Everything in this chapter. Has it already happened?

Jesus just kind of saw it coming but to him it already had already happened and and there would be some basis for that after All he says this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled

So in one sense everything in here at least happened in part Before that generation come that's how

I would answer that verse some people look at that verse say how could that have happened? How could all of these things been fulfilled?

Well, they were in some way. Maybe not completely but Everything here had some meaning in in Jesus's time

And so the question is has it all been fulfilled in the past in our past as some believe or all?

Still in our there are still some who read this say well, this is about Jesus is coming And so everything here has to Jesus has a come has to be in the future

And so they'll play with that that thing about this generation as well generation Maybe it means the race of Jews, but it's not very convincing.

Is it all in our? That's the main question to interpret this passage. Is it for us?

past or is it for us future Well notice the first question the disciples asked that gives us, you know, this long answer

Well, you understand this whole chapter fact actually this chapter and chapter 25 is an answer to their question

They are leaving the temple and that's symbolic Okay, because Jesus has just basically condemned that whole religion going on there chapter 23 temple was very impressive

You know, and it would be not just to them because they're peasants from this, you know, Judean village But it would be impressive to us today

The temple complex itself took up about one -sixth of the whole city of Jerusalem It dominated this hill if you coming into Jerusalem You would just see it at the top of this hill with a wall all kinds of things just be

Magnificent large structure some of the stones you see this no stone will be unturned We may have the idea of you know, like just kind of side stone stuck in there with mortar

No, the I mean you're talking like pyramid kind of style, you know But they used to build the pyramids with huge stones.

Some of the stones were 42 feet long 11 feet high That's a foot higher than a basketball goal.

Okay weighing over a million pounds Try to grasp how big these stones were it would be difficult today

To build with stones that are that huge I mean you'd have to get some kind of specialized very expensive cranes to move something that heavy and they did it without them

Don't ask me how they probably a lot of manpower and logs to roll it on whatever. However, they did it but they did it

Disciples so are impressed with the magnificence of this temple that they pointed out to Jesus and you know in Jesus response

You see these do you not truly I say to you and he's saying this as he's leaving the temple There's probably a lot of people around him truly

I say to you there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down Later in verse 3 so probably how many people heard him say that whoa

How's that gonna happen and later in verse 3 the disciples ask him privately and here's the key question.

Here's what they ask him This sets off this whole rest of this chapter. Tell us when will these things be and What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

It's into that question because to understand what he's answering you need to understand what the question is notice two things about it

Notice that they're asking two things They're asking first. When will these things be other words what

Jesus just said that this temple will be destroyed When is this temple going to be destroyed that we're so impressed by?

That's one thing they ask and to what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age now

They may have thought of these all gonna happen at the same time and whatever but they asked two things Now that last part sign of your coming in the end of the age that you think well, he's asking

They're asking three things Now it's actually two because that last phrase the sign of your coming in the end of the age

That is one thing that shows if you're reading Greek in which it was written It had one definite article on the words one

V there V right the way we say it in English What is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age we put into these because that's proper

English But in Greek it has one V What would be the sign of your coming and into the age which means it's one thing

Okay, so they understood that's one and and when Jesus returns it is the end of the age

Jesus returning This chapter actually these two chapters and and the two questions

To us we look back. Well, the destruction of Jerusalem is one thing and the end of the age is something entirely different Wait, that's the way we tend to think but really they're not the way he answers them shows that they're not

They are related the destruction of Jerusalem is such a calamity that it is like The end it's a preview of the end and really it's more so even than that It really is part of the end.

It is the end having come already In our past and and yet there is also still

The end that is not yet come that is still in our future So we live now in this world.

We're living in the middle of the end Okay, are we living in the end time people like to ask that question?

Yes Definitely. We've been living in the end times since Jesus came.

It's the last days Okay, last means there's no more after that. There are no more eras

There's not another era another step. There's no more revelation. Got a new revelation a new

Entirely new dispensation from God. There's no New Testament of Jesus Christ that you find out in golden tablets at the woods.

Sorry There's none of that and it between the time of Jesus's first coming and the end

So that's why this is the last days Matthew 24 then is about this

Time time we're still in right now and for us he tells us three things Okay about the past About the future and About the present and that's the way

I'm dividing up the things we find in this part of the chapter We read first 35 verses what's about the path?

What's about our path? What's for our future? And what about our present? first about the past the key idea

About what we learned from the past to believe believe that history is

His story and so he can he he can tell it in advance That's the reason he can tell history in advance

Because it's his story. We see here that Jesus knew what was coming before it came, especially from verses 15 to 20

Some after that but especially in those verses there because what he says there is is specifically about the siege of Jerusalem So it's a dire path from 80 67 to 70 a

Year before then 80 66 the Jews finally rebelled Jesus had told them a couple chapters earlier

Rendered a Caesar to things that are Caesars, but they decided not to believe him and instead in 80 66

They started this revolt throw out the Romans and the Roman general Titus then invaded Judea He laid siege to Jerusalem killing an enormous amount of people.

It's estimated that he crucified 500 people a day During that siege and when they finally broke through the wall of Jerusalem in July I heard

July I heard August But it was in the summer. He asked him to pray that it not happen in winter Apparently they did pray at God.

Does it happen in the summer broke into Jerusalem in the summer of 80 70? They slaughtered the

Romans did many Josephus estimates that 1 million People died from the war.

That's 1 million. That means every one of them killed by a sword thrust and arrow something like that We're not talking bombs 1 million and Enslaved another 100 ,000 all the way in chains what started for the

Jews It was it started to be a great struggle for independence and some thought that they were doing it based on faith and God's promises to Israel, but it resulted in a catastrophe that they never could have imagined unless of course

They had remembered the words of Jesus Because there were some of them That knew it was coming the

Christians at the time Many of them still Jews Earlier would have been living in Jerusalem.

They remembered Jesus's alarming words. I mean right he's telling us here You know, if you see it coming and you're on your rooftop

I mean you just jump down and you run don't go back inside, you know, get your Photo catalogs or whatever you your pet dog.

Don't do anything. Just run. Okay when he's talking that Alarming and the

Jesus the Christians just remembered that when they saw them this invasion starting to take place

Titus What Jesus refers to the abomination coming like what had been foreseen in Daniel or again sort of the same thing happening

Well, they fled the Christians took Jesus's instructions here. Literally they got out of there They did what

Jesus said with urgency. They believed him and So they saved their lives

There's no record I'm told of even one Christian being killed in that war

Remember, I said a million killed in the war, but the Christians were all gone

Because they they believed Jesus Believe in what God has done for his people in the past.

He came into flesh. He bore our sins He was raised from the dead History is not meaningless.

It's his story of him saving and protecting his people He protected them by warning the early church of the calamity coming on Jerusalem.

And so they got out of there lesson for us is believe and heed

Some could say well, that's interesting history nice history lesson would be nicer with a video

But we don't want to try any more technology right now What does it have to do with me now? It tells you that God protects his people if he protected them then

He will do so now and much of what Jesus says in this chapter is to warn us

Warn us of dangers will be facing of dangers of this entire time From his first coming to his second coming if we believe him will heed him

He warns us of the danger of false teachers Over and over again in this chapter. He begins at verse 4.

That's the first thing That he starts with to warn us see that no one lead you astray

It says in verse 5 many Will come in his name Some of them will say

I am the Christ It was so common for Jewish leaders to rise up against Rome That when the

Apostle Paul's arrested in Acts chapter 21, the Roman officer thinks hey, you're the Egyptian, right? You're that guy that led 4 ,000 assassins out into the wilderness

Paul goes no, no I'm 80 44 a man named Theodos Declared himself to be the Messiah taking 400 people with him into the desert when the

Romans caught up with him They beheaded him Lost his head more ways than one when the

Jews didn't learn their lesson Unfortunately after the devastation of 80 70 about 65 years later

Another man rose claiming to be the Messiah man named by the name of Bar Kokhba who started another revolt

It was again crushed and much the same way with thousands more killed Israel was almost made barren of trees because the

Romans cut them all down to make crosses out of And we've had the same thing happening in our day, you know just this year in September I think

Sun Myung Moon who claimed to be Messiah died. He led many astray Including into mass arranged weddings

You know, they have like thousands tens of thousands of couples getting married at the same time, but they arranged them

I they never met each other before their wedding and which I suppose a mass arranged wedding is better than I'm the mass suicides that some false messiahs lead their people into although you could joke that a

Mass wedding and a mass suicide are pretty much the same thing Well 20 years ago a man by the name of David Koresh really is original name was

Vernon Wayne Howell He renamed himself David taking said says he's inheriting the promises to David and Koresh Which is actually just an alternative spelling or pronunciation of the name

Cyrus Whom God calls his anointed in Isaiah. He claimed to be a new

Christ He led a cult the branch Davidians that resulted in the deaths of at least 82 people including 26 children

And there are many others who claim to be the Messiah. No, it's Jesus said many will come claiming to be the

Messiah Well, certainly he's been right hasn't he a man by the name of John Nichols Tom who lived in 1799 to 1838

It was a Cornish tax rebel. He claimed to be the Savior of the world and the reincarnation of Jesus and he in 1834 he was killed by British soldiers at the

Battle of Boston den wood on May 31st in 1838 in Kent Eaglin Our man

American man by the name of Arnold Potter. I believe he was living in Washington State from year 18 404 to 1872

He was an early Mormon leader and he claimed that the spirit of Jesus entered into his body and he called himself

Potter Christ Son of the Living God he attempted to he died because he attempted to ascend to heaven by jumping off a cliff believing that he would keep flying upwards instead gravity took him down or There's Ernest Norman who lived from 1904 to 1971 an

American electrical engineer who co -founded the Uranus Academy of Science in 1954 he claimed that he was

Jesus in the past life Okay, by the way Bible teaches against reincarnation right die once after that the judgment

But anyway, besides that he didn't he said he was Jesus in a past life. He also said he was the reincarnation of Confucius Socrates Mona Lisa, which is a strange one

Benjamin Franklin Queen Elizabeth the first and Tsar Peter the first Tsar of Russia and and others and Then there's

Jim Jones live from 1931 to 1978 founder of the People's Temple who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Akhenaten one of the pharaohs

Buddha Vladimir Lenin why he would want to claim that I don't know father divine who's another cult leader in the 1970s

He led his followers in a mass murder -suicide at Jonestown Guyana on November 18 1978 killing 918 people

Or there's Marshall Applewhite who lived from 1931 to 1997 who? Posted an internet message when internet's been great for people like this, by the way started with I Jesus son of God So Applewhite in his

Heaven's Gate cult committed mass suicide on March 26 1997 and Ordered what they thought would help them to rendezvous with what they believed was a spaceship hiding behind the hale -bopp comment

And there are many others. I mean you could just go on and on The list

I just picked out some of the more notable ones here with what Jesus calls false Christ false prophets in verse 24 who will lead many astray

Even he says if possible verse 24 even the elect and the implication is there

You can lead a lot of people astray But you can't lead the elect astray. It's not possible

Possible they would but it's not it's not possible because God protects his people. That's what the past Teaches us false

Christ lead their people and to suicide and disaster Jesus leads his people into life

Jesus kept his new church from being destroyed in Jerusalem by warning them of the disaster that was coming ahead of time and He'll keep his people throughout all of history because history is

His story of how he is saving people from every nation While so many others are deceived