The Olivet Discourse (Part 2) ***

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

Look at Matthew 24, starting in verse 3, it said, Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying,

Tell us, when will these things be? That would be the first thing you want to know.

When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

So when they hear this, they want to know when. When will these things be?

Now listen carefully, okay? This is crucial in understanding what's going on here.

If you're going to interpret Matthew 24 correctly, notice the disciples, they ask more than one question.

Verse 3, they ask, When will these things be? That's one question.

Then they ask, What will be the sign of your coming? That's the second question.

And of the end of the age. So you have at least two, if not three, different questions being asked and then addressed.

Why does this matter? Because there's a group of Bible teachers out there known as preterists.

What's a preterist? The idea of preterism, you think of the prefix pre.

P -R -E means what? Before. So a preterist is someone who says these events have happened before.

They've happened in the past. So these are Bible teachers that read Matthew 24 and they say,

All of this has already happened in the first century. And here's the tricky thing about it.

Some of these things did happen in the first century. The temple was destroyed in the first century.

But there's a lot of other things stated that did not happen in the first century.

And remember, Jesus is answering one question with the destruction of the temple, but he's also answering the question of his second coming in the end of the age.

So where do they get this idea of preterism? Because the temple was destroyed.

That's true. Here's the proof that not all these events have taken place. Look at verses 29 through 31.

This is referring to the second coming of Christ. The scripture says, Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.

The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. I think if that happened, it would have been recorded in some history books.

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

Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from the one end of heaven to the other.

That has clearly not yet taken place. Jesus has not yet returned.

The tribulation has not yet begun. So if anyone ever turns on the news and says,

Oh, isn't it so crazy and chaotic? And look at the things that are happening. I think we're living in the end times.

What are you going to tell them? This is not the end times. This is not the book of Revelation.

Have you read the book of Revelation? It looks nothing like what's happening right now. Not at all.

And look at verses 21 and 22. Jesus says that this time period, the great tribulation, this will be the worst thing the earth has ever seen.

No one is going to have to wonder, Oh, gee, is this it? You're not going to wonder that. He says,

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened.

So the tribulation is a worldwide event. In Revelation chapter 3 verse 10, it's called the hour of trial that will come upon the whole world.

Not just something that happened in and around Jerusalem in Judea. When Jesus returns at his second advent,

Revelation chapter 1 verse 7, it says, Behold, he is coming in clouds and what?

Every eye will see him. You say, Well, how does that work? I don't know how it's going to work.

I know that's what the Bible says. Every eye will see him. So some of the things in Matthew 24 have happened.

Most of them have not happened. I was talking to a woman a while back, just again, about the craziness and the unrest in the world just the past couple of years.

And she kind of looked at me and she said, Oh, we must be entering into the tribulation, huh,

Mike? And I don't know if she was serious or might have been a little sarcastic as if she...

It sounded like she expected me to say, Oh, yes, yes. But you know, there are people who do that.

Anytime there's any major world event, This is it! The end is here!

That's it. They try to shoehorn every or any event into Bible prophecy.

That's dangerous. We can't do that. We can't do that. I absolutely do not do that.

You shouldn't do it either. People love to take events like Russia invading

Ukraine and say, Oh, it's a fulfillment of prophecy. And then you ask them,

Okay, show me in the Bible, chapter and verse, the specific prophecy. Well, you know, I don't know if I can do that.

But they can't because it's not a fulfillment of prophecy. You hear me say this? Russia and Ukraine, the things going on right now, is not a fulfillment of prophecy.

When I was young, maybe some of you remember this. When I was young, I remember hearing about the battle of Gog and Magog.

This is Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39. I remember hearing that Magog was the

Soviet Union. Was I the only one? Who remembers this? They said Magog is the

Soviet Union. Gog is the ruler. Magog is the kingdom that he leads.

But people said Magog is the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union is going to attack

Israel to kind of kick off the tribulation period.

So what happened? The Soviet Union dissolved. The Soviet Union broke apart.

And then there was the rise of Islam, and I've noticed now people are saying that Magog, well, it's actually

Turkey. It's funny how it was the Soviet Union, now it's Turkey. And now

I suspect with the headlines in the news, I think some people are going back to their original theory.

Well, it's Russia. Folks, this is not how you handle the Bible. That is not how you interpret the

Word of God. It was said back in 1948, 1949, when Israel once again became a nation, it was said that people started reading the newspaper in one hand and the

Bible in the other. Well, you should read the Bible, amen. And you should be informed.

Read the paper and know what's going on. That's great. But we interpret Scripture with Scripture.

We don't interpret the Bible according to the newspaper or the current narrative in the news media.

What's the title of the message? Wars and Rumors of Wars.

What should be? So, based on all of this, what should be our response to the current crisis?

Somebody said to me, you know, just about ministry and preaching, you can't tell people what to do.

Well, no. Everyone has to do and think what they want, right? What should be our response?

You can respond however you want. But part of preaching is to give what the

Bible says. Here's how biblically I think you should respond. Let not your heart be troubled.

If you want to get all stirred up about it and worried and lose sleep, knock yourself out.

Not going to do any good. Let not your heart be troubled. God is still on the throne right where he has always been.

So be faithful to God. Keep doing what you're doing. Or if you're doing something wrong, don't do that.

Start doing the right thing. Now, if you can help, obviously we're supposed to pray.

If you can help, we're looking at ways right now to donate, the church to donate, to help the refugees.

So if you can help, help. If you can pray and you can pray, let's do that. But let's not get all fearful and worried about what might happen.

You know, when the COVID thing hit March 2020 and churches shut down,

I mean, that was their decision. People can do what they want. Stay home, do what you choose to do. I personally was convinced we need to keep on keeping on.

In some countries, if I did that, I realized I would have been put in prison.

Then I would have had a prison ministry. But you know, you keep on, you keep on keeping on.

Here's the thing. If, if World War III breaks out, you know what we're going to keep doing here at Morris Corner Church?

We're going to keep on keeping on. We're going to keep on ministering. We're going to keep on preaching the gospel.

We're going to keep on baptizing new converts, celebrating the Lord's Supper. We're going to pray for our country.

We're going to pray for leaders involved. We're going to certainly pray for an end to conflict and pray that innocent people would be spared.

But we're going to keep doing what we're doing. That is not going to change it.

So whether that happens or not, whether good times are ahead or rough times,

Jesus, the Bible says, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I'm reminded of the words of the

Apostle Paul in Philippians 4 verse 11. He said, I've learned whatever state I am in to be content.

We're not talking about stoicism where you're not affected emotionally or you don't show any emotions.

We're not talking about that. But whatever the world is doing, whatever is happening over there, it doesn't affect us in our faith.

Amen? Amen. Or our mission. The disciples in Matthew 24, I'm sure they were a little concerned to say the least when they heard about these things.

And they had questions, just like we have questions. But as for the question of the end of the age, is this the end?

Matthew 24 verse 36, speaking of the return of Christ, the day and the hour, what?

No one knows. Not even the angels of heaven, Jesus said, but my

Father only. So when will these things be? We don't know.

And you can't know. Jesus later in this chapter tells the parable of the ten virgins.

Some were wise. Some were foolish. His point is you need to be prepared.

You need to have the Holy Spirit and follow the Holy Spirit. Be prepared whatever happens.

Jesus will return. That's true. The end times will happen. The book of Revelation will be fulfilled.

But look at verse 4. And Jesus answered them and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, saying,

I am the Christ, and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

See that you are not troubled. For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

So in conclusion, let me leave you with this exhortation this morning. With all that's going on, let not your heart be troubled.

Pray for those who are involved. Pray for the leaders. You can pray.

Do what you can do. But make sure you are staying faithful. Keep moving forward in your

Christian walk. There are people that depend on us. If we're in a state of discontentment and all worked up, we're not going to be useful to anyone.

Never mind the Lord. So stay strong. Stay walking with the Lord. Don't be troubled.

Amen? Let's close. Lord, I thank you for your goodness towards us.

I just ask that you would give us wisdom and strength to know how to handle it.

There's no question that reports that we're receiving are concerning.

Things are pretty bad compared to the way they have been.

But, Lord, we know they can always be worse. We know they're going to be worse. But we know that you have also promised to spare and protect your people.

As your word says, that the Christian church is not appointed to wrath.

So, Lord, we just ask that you would give us discernment in all these areas and help us to remain faithful to the gospel, sharing that with others, sharing that with the world that needs it.

And we pray it all in Christ's name. Amen. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Moores Corner Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, moorescornerchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.