The Great Tribulation & End of the Age

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Hey, everybody. I'm Pastor Jeff Durbin with Apologia Church. I want to thank you all so much for watching the content right here on Apologia Studios channel.

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What you're about to watch is a sermon, a message from Apologia Church's worship service. And again, I want to thank you all so much for watching, for liking, for commenting, for sharing the sermon itself.

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We truly believe that it's important for the Christian church to have an engagement in the public square with the word of God.

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So we thank you so much for partnering with us to send this out across the world. I just wanted to say something before you actually watch this, and that is that I'm not your pastor.

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Though I'd love to be, I am not your pastor. And it's very important as you're watching this, you know that it's

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God's design for individual Christians to be part of a local Christian church under the care of qualified faithful biblical elders.

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And so as much as we love all of you watching these sermons and we're thankful to God that God uses them to bless you, to encourage you,

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I do want to encourage you as a minister of the gospel to get plugged into a local body of believers, particularly

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I think important a reformed church would be best. But we want to encourage you to get plugged into a solid biblical church where you can fellowship, where you can worship, where you can serve, where you can be connected.

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That is vitally important and actually a biblical command. And so as much as again as we love for your participation, your partnership, and we are so thankful to God that he's using these in your lives, we want to encourage you to get plugged into a local church.

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You can partner with us. And I want to say one last word about that. Do make sure that none of your giving and partnership towards Apologia Church interferes with your giving, your worship, your tithes, your offerings to a local body of believers in your area.

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So, thank you again so much for watching these and sharing them. God bless you. Your Bibles, to the gospel according to Matthew, chapter 23, near the end, and right near where 24 is beginning.

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That'll get you in the right spot. Matthew, chapter 23, right near the end.

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Of course, focusing today on Matthew 24 verses 1 through 3. But I'm actually going to start today the reading in verse 29 of chapter 23.

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So, Matthew 23, verse 29. Hear now the words of the living and the true

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God. Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!

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For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.

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Thus, you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

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Fill up then the measure of your fathers, you serpents, you brood of vipers. How are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

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Therefore, I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth from the blood of innocent

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Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

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Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

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O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it, how often would

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I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not.

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See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

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Lord. Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

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But he answered them, You see all these things, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

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As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be?

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And what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age? Thus far as the reading of God's holy word, let's pray together as his people.

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Lord, we come into your presence with humility, with fear, awe before you,

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God. Lord, thank you for the gift of your word. Thank you for this incredible, incredible prophecy.

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We pray, God, that you would teach by your spirit today, that you would get me out of the way. Let me decrease

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Christ, increase. Let everyone here leave remembering you, what you've said.

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Guard me from error, Lord, as I shepherd your people. I pray that, God, you'd bless us as we unpack this, as we read this amazing word spoken by you,

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God. I pray you help us to understand it. And more importantly, as we understand it,

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Lord, that we would grow in our love, in our obedience towards you, and that,

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Lord, you would cause this study to get us on our feet, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom.

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In Jesus' name, Amen. So, amazing text before us.

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This is called the Olivet Discourse. What's it called? Because the

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Lord Jesus, God in the flesh, leaves the temple, leaves the city there where he was, the denunciation on the religious leadership in Jerusalem.

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He makes his way east on the Mount of Olives to give this discourse on the

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Mount of Olives. Key thing to remember there. This is a section that people often talk about when they talk about the

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Great Tribulation. So people love this text because we talk about end times and eschatology and stars falling from the heavens.

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We talk about blood moons and all those things that sell tickets out at eschatology conferences worldwide.

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This text sells books, baby. If you go into a Christian bookstore, are there

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Christian bookstores anymore? Are there such things? Okay, I guess so. So stay away from them, mostly, because they're dangerous, generally.

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But if you go into Christian bookstores, they always have the eschatology section and it's new stuff all the time, new stuff, new books on blood moons and is this the time and you're living in the last days and we don't have a couple years left and 88 reasons why

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Jesus is returning in 1988 followed by 89 reasons why he's returning in 1989, right?

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It's always something new. This is an important section of scripture in terms of the symphony of scripture, but in terms of popularity, this is big time.

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This is where people love to set. This is where controversy begins. This is where cults are born.

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Cults are born in this text, a manipulation of these texts. These are texts right before us that atheists and agnostics and skeptics and critics of the

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Bible will use against you, I assure you. They will use these texts against you to say that Jesus Christ is not the

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Messiah, that he had false prophecies. This is also a section of scripture where orthodox,

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Christ -loving believers have had disagreement for many, many years.

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As a matter of fact, Dr. John MacArthur, a man whom I have lots of respect and love for, he has a different perspective on this text than we do and he had a different perspective on this text than his good friend

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Dr. R .C. Sproul. Now, just to show you in terms of how we should handle these conflicts and disagreements as brothers and sisters in the

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Lord, you have two believers who love the Lord, who preach the biblical gospel, who serve the true and living

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God, who had significant disagreements in this section, the Olivet Discourse, the area of the

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Great Tribulation. And yet you still saw Dr. John MacArthur at Dr.

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Sproul's funeral and still praising him for his work, his life. They served the

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Lord side by side together for many years. So in terms of how we should handle this, we need to keep the main things the main things.

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Who is God? What is the gospel? There are areas within the

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Christian faith where we can have disagreement with one another. It doesn't make you not a

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Christian because you get something like this wrong. But, however, that doesn't mean that this section of scripture is not vitally important to get right.

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We're holding the words of the living God. And when we have a section of scripture that actually is a big part of the symphony of all of scripture, and a section of scripture where the

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Lord Jesus gives definitive prophecy, specific prophecy, of things that were going to occur, we need to make sure that we are handling the word of God correctly.

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So my challenge has been, since the beginning of this study, my challenge has been this.

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Be willing to challenge your own traditions. Now, amazingly, as you see some of these sermons go up online and you hear me saying challenge your traditions, be willing to look at your traditions.

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You see people saying, and I, if I'm lying, I'm dying. I saw it a bunch of times.

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Pastor Jeff, I don't have any traditions. And the person who says that is the one who is plagued with the most of them.

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Because if you believe you don't have any traditions, that means that you're not willing to examine them and you are in a dangerous place as a

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Christian. If you're not willing to test what you've been taught by the words of God, you should not believe what

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I bring to you about the Olivet Discourse because you love me and respect me as your pastor and as your brother.

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You need to believe what comes from this text. What is consistent with what is consistent with God's revelation.

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That's what you need to believe. Test all things. Hold fast to that which is true.

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Test even teachings that you learn from Bible teachers that are godly men. Test things that you learn from your most cherished

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Bible teachers. Ask the question, is this consistent with this text in front of me?

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Is it consistent with all of God's revelation? We say, last point here, as reformed

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Christians, sola scriptura. The scriptures alone are the only infallible rule of faith and practice, right?

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Brothers and sisters, that's a tradition. Sola scriptura is a tradition.

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It just so happens to be a biblical tradition. And so it's very good.

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You ought to believe it. Amen. That's based on the Bible. But sola scriptura says that the scriptures alone are the only infallible rule, the sole infallible rule of faith and practice.

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That's what the Bible teaches. That's what Jesus believed. That's what the apostles taught. That's why we believe it.

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But can we say as reformed Christians, sola scriptura, if we are not willing to test our traditions, even our most cherished, devoted traditions, why do

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I believe sola scriptura? Because the Bible teaches it clearly, plainly, throughout the entire

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Bible. Why am I a Calvinist? Because Jesus was a Calvinist. John 6,

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John 10, because Paul was a Calvinist. Ephesians 1. We can keep going, right?

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Oh, that's going to get some likes. I can guarantee you on that one. Okay, why do we believe these traditions?

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Why are we five -point Calvinists? Because we follow a man named John Calvin? I have purposely not spent time reading

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John Calvin. Purposely. Why? I'm sure it's a good idea to read him. I heard he has some great stuff to say.

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But I haven't read him because when I say I'm a Calvinist, it's got nothing to do with a dude named

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John Calvin. Nothing. I'm a Calvinist because Christians got together and fought against heretical teaching with the

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Bible and responded to a protest with five points to their five points and our five points were from the

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Bible. Ours are better. And so that's why I'm a five -point Calvinist. Not because of a tradition.

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Not because of a man. I follow the Bible. I follow Jesus. I want to make sure that my traditions line up with God's word.

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Traditions can be a good thing if they are biblical, but you need to make sure that they are biblical. Amen? What is the consequence of having a bad eschatology?

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Pastor James says theology matters. That's a good hashtag. Use it. It's true.

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Theology matters. I think secondarily, I think it's very important.

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Eschatology matters. Eschatology matters. It'll impact you. It'll impact your daily life. It'll impact your view of the future.

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It'll impact your ability to defend Christ, his ministry and the biblical gospel.

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Eschatology matters. It will impact you. People use eschatology to abuse people all the time.

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To take money from people. To draw people into their cults. This past week as Pastor James announced this, a

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Holy Land tour. I saw somebody actually say this in terms of eschatology mattering.

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They said, I don't plan to be here in 2019 because hashtag rapture.

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So, no thanks. Here's a person saying,

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I'm not making any plans for 2020. Sorry, 2020. No plans for 2020.

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Why? Because I'm being raptured out of here, baby. There's no reason to make plans for a

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Holy Land tour in 2020. I recorded her name so that at 2020 in September, I can go, how we doing?

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It matters. It matters a great deal. Listen, if you're not making plans for 2020 for personal things, you're not making plans for things in terms of the long -term vision of the future in the kingdom that Jesus and the apostles had.

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How are you thinking about the future and your role in God's kingdom and all your giftings?

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Here's the thing. If you think that you're being snatched out of here any moment to leave behind your shoes, undies, and pants, you're not making long -term plans for the gospel of the kingdom.

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It impacts us dramatically. And if you want to understand how that looks, look through history in terms of Christians, say like the

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Puritans, who held to our eschatology, our view of the future, and their perspective when they went into a nation was bring the gospel, bring the lordship of Jesus Christ into every area of life, every nook and cranny, the lordship of Jesus Christ everywhere.

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There's nowhere in the world that Jesus doesn't look at and say, that's mine.

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And so the Puritans went with the gospel in terms of, we need to bring the good news of Jesus Christ, bring salvation, win this entire nation to Jesus Christ, and have the lordship of Jesus Christ acknowledged from bottom all the way to the top.

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That's why they would name Jesus Christ in their treaties, and in their covenants, and in their law, and even the

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Puritans that went to Hawaii to win the Hawaiian Islands to Christ in 20 years.

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The Hawaiian Islands to Christ to the degree that in the Hawaiian Constitution, 20 years later, they actually say no law of the

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Hawaiian Kingdom can be in variance with the laws of Jehovah God. They had a long -term vision of the future, a biblical view of the kingdom of God, and a biblical view of the lordship of Jesus Christ eschatology matters.

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If you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, he is reigning now, and he is going to win the nations with his gospel, draw them up to the mountain of God, and put every enemy under his feet, you will live, and act, and breathe, and work like that's true.

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People look at a church like ours. We're not special. We're not mighty. We are not powerful. Trust me.

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But we have a mighty God, and we have a perspective of the future, and what God is doing in the world that impacts what we do.

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People look at Apologia Church, and we are not special at all. And they say, well, you guys are doing so many things.

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What is happening? How is this happening? We're not special. It's what we believe about the future. We build in such a way that it matches what we believe about what

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Jesus is doing in the world. If you believe that any moment you're escaping, and this world goes to hell in a handbasket, that's a good thing, because I'm getting out of here.

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You'll live like that. You'll evangelize like that. You'll work like that.

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Eschatology matters. It matters a great deal. So, as we enter this text with that foundation, brothers and sisters, remember where we've been.

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Go back and review the sermons if you need to. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on it today, except to say this.

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This is God's Word. Theanoustos, breathed out by God. There is a master storyteller behind this entire thing.

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All these books, all these letters, written over all these hundreds of years, by all of these authors, has one ultimate storyteller behind it.

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This is divine writing. This is inspired literature. This is

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God's story. It's His story. And so, when we think about this, we have to think about it in terms of God is the one holding this story together.

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That's why we can look in the Old Testament and see, at the time when things were spoken by inspired prophets, that they didn't even understand what they were saying, we can look back and go, look what he was saying the whole time.

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He was holding the whole story together. Whether it's with Noah's story, whether it's with the specific prophecies about Messiah, whether it's about Passover and lambs with no spot and blemish, don't break their bones, blood over the doorpost,

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Day of Atonement, high priest, temple, veil, all that stuff. We go, Jesus was there the whole time.

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He's the storyteller. We need to consider the entire story of Scripture.

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What did God say He was going to do with His covenant people? If you want to say, Pastor Jeff, give me the bullet point right now.

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Give me the highlight. Let me say this. I believe that the proper way to approach the

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Olivet Discourse is to approach it, listen closely, covenantally.

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This is about covenant. These are God's covenant people and God promised the covenant people that there would be a new covenant.

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And He also promised the covenant people blessings and what? Cursings. Blessings and curses, if they disobeyed

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His covenant, that He would come and He would judge them for their disobedience and that there was a new covenant coming.

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Jesus enters into the story now, Matthew, very Jewish gospel using very Jewish language, saturated with the

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Old Testament. Matthew is saturated with the Old Testament. How much connection to the Old Testament do we have?

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Well, Matthew chapter 1, you open it up. What are you getting? Here are the genealogies. Abraham, David, move it all the way down.

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Jesus has the royal right to the throne. Matthew is immediately quoting Old Testament text to show you this

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Messiah is not a novelty. This is God's story playing out in the flesh among us, in the dirt, in the air we breathe.

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He is walking among us. Jesus came in fulfillment of all that the storyteller said was going to happen all along.

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That's Matthew's story. But as Matthew opens up, he starts giving you all these images of Jesus and Israel fleeing into Egypt and all that's really about Jesus and then

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John the Baptist enters and lo and behold, lo and behold, John the Baptist is speaking the

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Old Testament story all along. Do you ever notice that John the Baptist, Matthew brings the story in,

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Matthew chapter 3, the first words out of John the Baptist's mouth are Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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It's at the fingertip reach. It's right here guys. And then immediately the forerunner of Messiah is doing hmm exactly what the storyteller had said long before he arrived.

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Malachi chapters 3 and 4 tells the specific prophecy that first before Messiah came there would be a forerunner and then

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Yahweh himself would come to his temple and there would be salvation and purification, but there would also be judgment upon the covenant breakers.

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So John the Baptist, Jesus, salvation and judgment. Sound like a familiar story?

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Sounds like Matthew 24. Sounds like the New Testament record. Well, it's interesting that John the

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Baptist comes in and he immediately goes to these covenant people and he says what?

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Who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come? Repent and he says his winnowing fork is in his hand.

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He's not going to get it. You don't even have that kind of time. He's not going to pick it up.

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It's in his hand. He says the axe is laid at the root of the trees.

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It's already swung and the judgment has arrived. And so he says repent to who?

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The covenant people. And as you move through Matthew, Matthew gives you all these moments where Jesus gives you explicit time indications about what was about to occur in their generation.

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One of Dr. R .C. Sproul's favorite texts when he goes through the same study that I'm doing now, which actually is free online if you guys want to go look at it,

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R .C. Sproul, Last Days According to Jesus, Ligonier has the entire series up for free.

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Highly recommended. But one of the things Dr. Sproul really liked was Matthew chapter 10.

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We did this before, go read it later. In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus tells his disciples in their day that they weren't going to finish going through the cities of Israel before the

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Son of Man comes. How's that for timing indicator? You're not gonna finish this whole thing before I come.

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Come for what? Judgment. Matthew 16. Again, another time indication. Go read that later.

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We spent time on it. So we're not gonna do it today. In terms of timing indication, you're not all gonna die before you see this.

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So you're not all gonna die before this occurs. And then Jesus now comes into Jerusalem.

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You have the triumphal entry. Jesus now comes to the temple, second cleansing.

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He cleanses the temple as was promised. He curses the fig tree, which is a symbol of Israel. No fruit's gonna come from you again.

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He comes in now to have interaction with all the religious leadership. And in all that religious leadership, you have these amazing little stories

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Jesus gives to them in these parables that tells them they're about to be judged.

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What's the owner of the vineyard gonna do? And he finds out these people have killed his son. He'll destroy those miserable wretches and give out that that that vineyard to other people who will give him the fruits of it.

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And he says, uh, yeah, that's you. That's what's gonna happen to you. And then the next parable, a wedding feast, and God sends his armies to destroy their city.

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That was them. And then Matthew 23, Jesus says all the blood of the righteous is going to be upon this generation.

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Brothers and sisters, what generation? 2019, right? No, who's he talking to?

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This is so critical. Brothers and sisters, please come with me now. I know that it's warm in this room. Okay, let's make it a church.

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We're all doing this. Okay, whatever you got to do. And if you do that too, it'll help me because it's hot up here.

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Okay, it'll get some wind my way. Just start blowing at me, whatever you have to do. Okay? This is Arizona though.

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So you decided to move here. Just consider in Matthew chapter 23 and 24, who is

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Jesus talking to? Guys, listen, what's the context? All the blood of the righteous upon you.

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Your house is left to you, desolate. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you.

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And then as you read through Matthew 24, who's he talking to? A 19th century prophet named

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Joseph Smith. No. He's talking to his generation.

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We talked last week about the very words that he's using here are used throughout the Gospels and they refer to that current generation.

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When Jesus says, truly I say to you in verse 36 of 23, all these things will come upon this generation.

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Two things. Ready? The word all and generation. Which things?

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Well, some things in Matthew 23 and 24. What's Jesus say? All. What?

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These things will come upon who? This generation.

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Which generation? His generation. As you look through Matthew 24, just quickly, you can run your finger through this text and you'll notice the disciples ask

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Jesus the question about Wow, the temple, all the blood upon this generation.

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He's leaving the temple now, resting on the Mount of Olives. So they say, well, Jesus tell us when these things will be and what will be the sign of your coming in the close of the age?

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These are questions related to the denunciation He just gave to the leadership in Jerusalem.

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So their questions aren't questions about the end of the cosmos world, the physical world.

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He just told them their temple's gonna be destroyed. He just told those covenant people your house is left to you desolate.

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So their questions are about that. No conversation here about the end of the physical cosmos.

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It's about Jewish temple covenant people. As you look through here,

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Jesus tells them what they will see and you'll notice a couple of things. Just quickly.

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Go to verse 15 to 24 in terms of who is being spoken to. 24 15.

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So when you see, who's he talking to? You? Who's he talking to?

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You? He's talking to those first century disciples.

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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.

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Where? Where? Let those in Phoenix, Arizona flee to the mountains. No, thanks.

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Right. Let those who are in Sedona flee to the mountains. They can stay there.

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Okay? No, let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

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What is this? Very localized. Judea. Watch. Get this.

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Watch. You can escape this tribulation by getting out of Judea.

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Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. So in terms of judgment, this is a local judgment upon a covenant people.

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Now go back here to Matthew chapter 23. Now I want you to see here,

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Jesus, as he promises them judgment, all the blood of the righteous upon them, in verse 35, he says, all these things, verse 36, are going to be upon this generation.

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Jerusalem. Jerusalem. The city that kills the prophets, stones those who are sent to her.

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Jesus says there, your house is left to you desolate. Very specific, very specific people.

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Watch what happens. Jesus now, after this denunciation, after the promise of judgment upon that generation, after all the parables about judgment on these covenant people, he then departs to the east.

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Hold this together with me. Which direction? Say it again. Very important detail.

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And watch this. We almost don't even know why. But it's very important if we know our

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Bibles. This is a symphony with one master storyteller.

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This literally happened, but here is Yahweh, God in human flesh, now coming to the covenant people and he's confronting them and he's promising judgment.

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The forerunner has already come. Judgment has now arrived. Here's the axe laid at the root of the trees.

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Now God, after cleansing the temple, departs from the temple to the east and he's on the

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Mount of Olives. Why is that an important biblical detail? Come with me because this is awesome.

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And if you missed it last week, I need you to get it because it is so powerful in terms of these little tiny details that God carries together through his story.

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Jesus, denunciation, depart to the east, Mount of Olives, the Olivet discourse.

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Why is it interesting? Well, we know our Bibles and we are Jews who have these things in front of us and know our history.

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We know that in Ezekiel this took place. This took place in Ezekiel 11, 22.

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I want you to see it. So finger in Matthew and now move back to Ezekiel.

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Old Testament, Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 11 verse 22.

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This is the scene in Ezekiel where Yahweh's glory departs from the temple before its destruction and rests where?

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I want you to see it. Ezekiel 11, 22. Then cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them and the glory of the

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God of Israel was over them and the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city.

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Which mountain is that? Mount of Olives. So here now we've already had a temple judgment where the glory of Yahweh leaves the temple before its judgments and the glory of Yahweh God rests there on the

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Mount of Olives. Here is Jesus now at that temple in the flesh confronting his covenant people, promising them desolation, them judgment.

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He promises to them and then he departs from the temple to the east and here is Jesus now God incarnate.

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Now on the Mount of Olives before the second temple's destruction.

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The glory of it isn't the first one. It's the glory of God resting the Mount of Olives and now it's

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God in the flesh standing on the Mount of Olives promising the second temple's destruction.

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It's a powerful moment. We're going to consider now this is covenantal.

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Consider now that there's a master storyteller behind this. Consider now that this has already been played in history.

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Consider now this has already been predicted to happen and consider now that Jesus promises local judgment upon that generation and he says all these things will be upon this generation.

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Brothers and sisters, it's time to let traditions go. If they do not actually stay consistent with what the text itself actually says.

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Now brothers and sisters to whet your appetite for a second because I know there's questions running and I want to ask you for your patience as we go through these texts.

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I know there's a million questions. Well, Pastor Jeff, if this is true, if Matthew 24 here, if this all occurred in the first century and I'm open to believing that then

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I have questions about what does it mean to be caught up in the air together with the Lord?

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What about the heavenly city in the New Jerusalem and what about the horror of Babylon and what about the

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Beast of Revelation and who's the Antichrist? It's George Bush. Right.

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I was years ago on Mill Avenue doing evangelism right around the time of 9 -11 and I talked with a group of guys and they were adamant.

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They were adamant and they were trying to use the Bible to prove it that George Bush was the

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Antichrist, right? And then what happened? Next, President Obama was the

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Antichrist and now you better believe it. Donald Trump is the Antichrist. You know it, right?

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Every time it's a new leader. He's the Antichrist. Who's the Antichrist? Where's the Antichrist? You're the Antichrist. You're the

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Antichrist, right? Who's the Antichrist? I want to tell you this. We're gonna answer all those questions but to whet your appetite in terms of answering some quick questions about how does this all tie together and work?

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I'm gonna whet your appetite with this just to get you ready for this. In Matthew 24, 39, 29 24, 29.

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It's a famous scene, famous text. It says immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

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Someone sees that and they say, all right, Pastor Jeff, how does that occur in the first century? The stars falling from heaven, the sun, the moon not giving its light.

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How does that happen? The sun being darkened. You're saying that occurred in the first century.

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No, I'm saying Jesus said that it would occur in the first century. You want proof of that?

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Keep your finger on 29 and just move down a few verses to verse 34. What does

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Jesus say? Truly I say to you, who's he talking to? Those disciples.

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This generation, which generation? That generation, will not pass until what?

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All. What things? These things. Is the sun being darkened and the moon not giving its light and the stars falling from heaven part of these things?

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Yes, you can say it. Yes, and you'll learn to say it with confidence. Yes, it is.

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And so we say, okay, then how do we view that? Well, I would say this. We start viewing it like people who read the

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Old Testament. We start viewing it like Jews who received the inspired revelation of God.

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We start viewing it like people who have read the book of Isaiah. We start reading it and viewing it like people who have read

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Isaiah chapter 13, where Yahweh used that exact language.

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Do you know what would work better here in this text? Is if that section there was in quotations.

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Because Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 13. Only in Isaiah 13, when

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God used that dramatic prophetic hyperbole, which he often used, often, very often, he was using it about a pagan nation,

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Babylon. And this was God using dramatic prophetic hyperbole against Babylon about turning their lights out, destroying their world.

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And the amazing thing is when God made that promise to turn their lights out, he did.

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Now Jesus takes what is a prophecy about a pagan nation and word about a pagan nation and its destruction.

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He takes it, watch, watch the power of it. He takes what was something said about a pagan nation and he says it about these people.

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We're God's covenant people. We're the Jews. We're God's covenant people.

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We're in a relationship with him and you're also breaking covenant with him and you're persecuting his Messiah.

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And now Jesus uses language about a pagan nation and he turns it on the covenant people.

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Do you see the power behind that? Another example here. You say stars of heaven. What does all this mean?

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Well, I would say there's more language here that's interesting. Like for example, to whet your appetite, we talked about it last week,

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Matthew 24 verse 36. We talk about two men in a field.

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One was taken, one is left. Two women at the mill, one is taken, one is left. And the story of Noah is brought in.

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We talked about how we have literally read this text backwards in terms of who is taken away.

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In Noah's day, the ones who were swept away were not the righteous. The wicked were swept away and the righteous remained.

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So if we take the story of Noah and we think about two men in a field, one is taken and one is left.

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Well in Noah's day, the wicked was taken, the righteous was left. We've read that text as a secret rapture text that says that the righteous will be taken away and the wicked will be left.

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If we know our Bibles in the story of Noah, we would never read it like that. Amen? So there's another whetting your appetite.

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Let the text speak. But also we have questions about, what about this this thing about Jesus and the clouds of heaven?

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What about this thing of Jesus and the clouds of heaven and angels and gathering

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God's elect? Well, I would say there's another example of where that should be in quotations.

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Anyone want to guess where there's a story in Scripture about a son of man and the clouds of heaven?

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Where is it at? Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 through 14 and in Daniel 7 13 through 14, it says the son of man comes where?

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Up to the ancient of days and is presented before him and to him the son of man is given a kingdom, dominion, that all the people's nations and men of every language might serve, who?

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Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

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Here's Jesus promising judgment upon the covenant breakers and then reaffirming his kingdom, his rule, his reign, quoting

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Daniel 7 and the son of man on the clouds of heaven being given what? The world?

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Every tribe, people, tongue, nation, language. The promise in Daniel 7 was that all the nations were going to be brought to God through this messianic king and here's

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Jesus saying to the covenant breakers, your house is left to you desolate. This is the close of the age, which age?

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The old covenant age and reaffirming that he is the son of man who will send out his messengers to gather his elect from all over the world.

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Daniel 7 is being quoted there by the Lord Jesus. Is that powerful stuff?

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That's all the Old Testament in the mouth of the Lord Jesus. But here's what else is interesting.

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Another wet -your -appetite moment as we go through this text. I love this one and I have been so excited to share this with you.

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So Matthew chapter 24, people are like, well, what's the abomination of desolation? How does that fit first century?

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What does that look like? What's it mean? Well, brothers and sisters, this is where we have to test all things.

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Let the Bible speak. Let the Bible define. Let the Bible interpret. Let's go to Matthew chapter 24 verse 15.

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Jesus says, so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet

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Daniel standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. Then let those who were in Judea flee to the mountains.

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Let the one who's on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house and let the one who's in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

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And alas for those 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 the

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Sabbath. All right. What's that mean? What's the abomination of desolation?

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Daniel, what does all that mean? Well, brothers and sisters, we have an amazing inspired interpretation of the abomination of desolation.

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And for that, one finger in Matthew and turn over to Luke 21. Whatever does that mean?

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Luke 21. Luke 21. This is part of the synoptic

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Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. You can see them together. This is Luke's wording of the

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Olivet Discourse. And when Luke gets to this space about the abomination of desolation, here's what

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Luke says through divine inspiration. Luke 21, verse 20.

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He doesn't use such Jewish specific language. He says this, but when you see, here it is,

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Jerusalem surrounded by armies, again, what surrounded by armies?

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Jerusalem. Very local. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

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Then let those who are in, where? Judea. When you see

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Jerusalem surrounded, flee. Here he says this, flee to the mountains and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it.

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For these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.

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And Jesus, of course, says here, Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days, for there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.

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Which people? Jerusalem. The Jews of his day, the covenant breakers of his day.

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Now, how do you hold this together? Well, I think it's powerful. The Lord Jesus is telling them, your house is left to you desolate, all these things upon this generation.

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Here's what you're to look for. Here's what's gonna occur. When's it gonna happen? Before you all pass away.

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And he says this, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, he says, flee. Don't go back to get your coat.

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Don't waste time. Get out of the city. When you see it surrounded, flee. Do you want to know amazing facts of history?

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Who were the ones to escape the judgments on Jerusalem? Who do you think they were?

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The Christians. And why? Because they were told, through a prophecy of the

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Lord Jesus, that when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies, it was time to flee.

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Now, what's amazing is in history, you have examples of Christians who were using

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Matthew chapter 24 as an apologetic against the

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Jews who rejected Jesus as Messiah. Consider that for a second. If that word throws you, they were defending the faith and they were defending the message of Jesus, watch, by using

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Matthew 24 as something that had happened already. So rather than taking the text like Matthew 24,

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Mark 13, Luke 21, and saying it is future, they were applying Matthew 24 as something that already occurred, and they were using it to defend

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Christ as Messiah against people who rejected Jesus as Messiah. Now, Eusebius was an early

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Christian, and I encourage you to read his stuff. Specifically, he has a church history book.

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It's book 3, chapter 5. Book 3, chapter 5. Listen to what

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Eusebius writes as history of the church. He says this,

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But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation vouchsafed to approved men there before the war to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called

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Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come there from Jerusalem, then as if the royal city of the

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Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles and totally destroyed that generation of impious men.

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Here's what happens. You know where Jesus says something? He says,

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You'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. Now watch this. If I said that to you today,

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I said, guys, I'm gonna prove to you all that I'm a prophet. I'm from, I'm from God, sent from God. I've got a prophecy.

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And you say, all right, what's the prophecy? And I give you a prophecy and you say, what are the signs before that occurs?

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And I say, in 2019. All right, ready? There's gonna be wars and rumors of wars.

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You'd be like, that is not at all impressive. Because that is happening all the time.

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That's not an impressive prophecy today in 2019. You know when it is an impressive prophecy?

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When Jesus gave it and he says, you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars.

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You know why? Because this was time, this is during a time in history known as the Pax Romana.

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It was called the Peace of Rome. And Rome was enforcing peace.

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You were not allowed to fight or to be at odds and to battle against each other. It's called the

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Pax Romana. And so Jesus says on the Mount of Olives, you're gonna hear of wars and rumors of wars.

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People were like, what? This is the Pax Romana. What do you mean wars and rumors of wars?

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Jesus, this is the Pax Romana. It's the Peace of Rome. So Jesus is predicting the

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Pax Romana is going to break. And he says to his people in that very same text, wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilence, persecution, he says all that.

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And he says when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then flee. Don't go back and get your coats.

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Pray that it's not on the Sabbath or in the winter. And what's amazing is this, when the war broke out between the

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Romans and the Jews, as time went on, the city was surrounded by the

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Roman armies. And the Christians in Jerusalem, this is a matter of record, when they saw

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Jerusalem is surrounded by these Roman armies, they knew it was time to go. The Roman armies then backed away from the city.

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And do you know who escaped the city? The Christians fled to a town called Pella.

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And the Roman armies sacked that city and then was the war between the

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Romans and the Jews where they were decimated. And the Jewish temple was destroyed and they set fire to it.

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Now imagine this, people describe that second temple, they described it as a magnificent feat.

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They said that in the distance when the Sun was shining on that second temple, in the distance, it looked like a star was on the earth glowing in the distance.

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Like the Sun was literally set on the earth and it was shining. It was spectacular.

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It was glorious. It was, to the Jews, their glory. This is our thing. This is the temple that God gave to us.

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This is where we go for mercy and for forgiveness. This is where we have a priest who represents us.

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We've got a veil, of course, but we have access to God in a way because this beautiful temple and the presence of God and sacrifice and atonement and all of this glorious temple.

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This is where we go for mercy and for forgiveness and it's right here on this earth. And now the Roman armies come against the

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Jews as Jesus predicted. They slaughtered the Jews so that blood was flowing like rivers through the streets.

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Josephus records that as the gold and silver and everything was melting from the temple being set fire to, he said that you could see it pouring like water, like rivers flowing down.

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He said, but the blood was flowing deeper than the metal and everything melted.

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And as this all melted down, here is now this temple left to them desolate.

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And we know as a matter of historical record in 70 AD, after the destruction of the Jews, after they scattered them, after the famines that were so bad that people were recorded as to eating their own infants.

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Famine. And after all the earthquakes, all the earthquakes, one of the most massive earthquakes in history, that temple was destroyed and the

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Roman armies literally took the temple apart, stone off of stone.

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And there wasn't left, as Jesus said, one stone standing upon another.

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Jesus said to his generation, all these things are going to be upon this generation.

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And brothers and sisters, we're going to unpack this a lot more and really go into this question that they asked.

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They said, the sign of your coming. What does that mean, the coming of Christ?

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The Greek word behind that is parousia. It's actually a very technical term from the

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East that refers to the royal appearing of a king or a dignitary.

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It describes a coming with a consequential presence. Not coming to go away, but coming with a royal appearing to be presence.

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We're going to talk about that word. But Jesus noticed, and we're going to spend here for it, spend some time here for just a moment.

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Jesus is asked the question about the clothes of the age. How many of you guys have a KJV in front of you right now,

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King James Version? Okay, King James Version, great Bible to have. It's amazing, a little bit of Old English in some areas.

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We love the King James Version. Well, I think there's some better English translations today, but it's a fantastic translation

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God has used with his people for a long time. But in the King James Version, it's an

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English translation, an older English translation. The word being translated there in the

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Greek and the King James is aion. Not cosmos. And the

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King James Version has thrown some people who don't go into what is that word. In the

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King James Version, it says, and the end of the world. And people have interpreted that to mean, well,

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Jesus is asked, is being asked here about the end of the physical cosmos, the world, the physical world.

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But the word there in the Greek is not cosmos, referring to the physical world.

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It is aion. Jesus is asked about the end of the age.

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And brothers and sisters, let me just give you a little bit of a taste as we unpack this a lot more later.

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Remember this, in the Old Testament, there is the Old Covenant and then there is the promise of the what?

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New Covenants. What do we know about Jeremiah 31, 31? God says he will give them a new covenant and he will do what with his law?

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He will write it where? Within them. No longer on stone tablets outside the people of God.

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Now the new covenant, God says he's going to write it inside his people. They're going to be empowered by his spirit to obey

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God, to pursue God from the inside. Not stone tablets external, bringing pressure on top of them.

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Now God dwells in his people and he's empowering them by his spirit to obey his law.

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He'll forgive their sins. He'll remember them no more. And now we've got

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God writing now inside of us his law. A new covenant, better than the old.

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We know Ezekiel 36. We love it as reformed folks. It's a promise of God in the new covenant.

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He says this, I'll sprinkle clean water on you so that you'll be clean. I'll cleanse you of all your idols.

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Praise God. Praise God. And then he says this, I'll put my spirit within you and I'll cause you to observe my statutes.

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So we go now from an old covenant to a new covenant. The promise of God is that he's going to bring judgment upon the covenant breakers and he's going to bring salvation.

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Malachi chapter 3 chapter 4 describes that. Isaiah 65 describes that.

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He says to his covenant people, listen, he says you're gonna be hungry. They're gonna eat.

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You're gonna be thirsty. They're gonna drink. I will give my people,

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God says in Isaiah 65, a new name. God has promised this all along and now

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Jesus comes in and he's bringing it. Watch. They hear their Savior saying that the temple's gonna be destroyed, not one stone upon another, and they're gonna be judged, all the blood upon them, and that piques their curiosity.

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What are these things gonna be? What's the sign of your coming in the end of the age? Jesus, if this temple is gonna be destroyed, this temple,

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God gave that to us. He made a covenant with us. That's where we go when we want mercy and forgiveness.

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This is where we do sacrifice. This is where we have a priest who represents us. This is a physical manifestation on earth of this covenant we have with God and his presence with us and our approaching

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God. You're saying this is gonna be destroyed. It's all gone. What does the end of the old covenant age bring with it?

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Everything the New Testament documents tell us. Watch. In the old covenant, when you wanted mercy and forgiveness, guess what you had to do?

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You go to that temple. There's sacrifice that happens there. You go to a physical temple for mercy and sacrifice.

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When you need a mediator, where do you go? You go to Jerusalem. That's where my priest is. He goes to represent me before God.

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Yom Kippurin, he goes there on the Day of Atonement. He offers a bull for himself, and then he's got the goats, and he's got the one scapegoat, and one has to die.

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He lays his hands on one. They drag it away from the people of God. You've got all these dress rehearsals happening, all these things happening over and over and over, and there's always a reminder of our sin every year.

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It's a reminder. You're not okay. And when you need mercy and forgiveness, you go to that temple and Jesus says it's gone.

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How's that better? Well, how about this? In the new covenant, when we need mercy and forgiveness, we don't go to a physical temple.

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We go to Jesus, who is the temple. Something greater than the temple is here,

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Jesus says. And Jesus says this about himself. You destroy this temple, and in three days,

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I will raise it again. Christians don't go to Jerusalem to a physical temple for mercy and forgiveness.

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When we want mercy and forgiveness, we go to Christ. I don't have an annual reminder of my sins, because I have a high priest who lives forever for me, that has made a once -for -all sacrifice for me.

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You see, in the new covenant, I go from having stone tablets on the outside of the people of God to now

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God writing it inside of me. I go from a physical temple with the presence of God there to now

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Jesus drawing me into himself, and God now residing in me.

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I go from always a reminder of my sins to now the Bible saying there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

01:00:07

I now have a temple now that's in the heavens forever. I'm part of a city now that can never be destroyed.

01:00:16

I'm part of the Bride of Christ, which the writer of Revelation says is the new

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Jerusalem that was coming out of heaven from God to hit the earth.

01:00:28

The harlot was judged, the old Jerusalem, to make way for the new

01:00:35

Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ. Now we have a heavenly city. Now we have a priest who never dies, always lives to make intercession, no more reminder of our sins, no more condemnation, once -for -all sacrifice.

01:00:53

You see, the disciples knew if you're saying that temple's destroyed, you're saying the new covenant is here, the old covenant age is over.

01:01:03

Well, then when are these things gonna be? What's the sign of your coming in the end of the age? And Jesus says to wrap it all up, all these things before this generation all passes away.

01:01:17

And brothers and sisters, my contention is this. Jesus kept his word. It happens, and I say to that, praise

01:01:25

God. You see, this text should not be a text that is used to abuse

01:01:31

Christians in terms of saying Jesus is a false prophet. This should be the text that we're standing on to prove to the world that he is the

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Messiah, because it all occurred on time and as plans. And here's,

01:01:44

I think, the response. Watch. Jesus says to covenant people in the first century, it's gonna happen to you.

01:01:51

It's gonna happen to you. All these things, this generation, not one stone left upon another, won't finish going through the cities of Israel before the

01:01:58

Son of Man comes. Before you all die, this is taking place. Jesus says, your house is left to you desolate.

01:02:04

And they said, eh, maybe. Whatever. I don't have to respond.

01:02:14

It's amazing, too, because watch. Jesus was even raised from the dead. And can you believe this?

01:02:20

Can you? It's almost like it doesn't even belong in the text, because it's nuts. It's crazy.

01:02:25

It says that some saw Jesus alive from the dead, and it says, and some doubted.

01:02:30

What? What? So I guess we can't use the resurrection as the ultimate proof of Jesus as Messiah, because it says some people saw him alive from the dead, and it says, and some doubted.

01:02:44

Are you nuts? He's alive! At least you gotta love Thomas's response, right?

01:02:52

He's like, now let's say I put my finger, and Jesus is like, go ahead. He says, ha -kirios -mo -ha -ka -ha -theos -mo, my

01:02:59

Lord and my God. That's his response. But amazingly, watch.

01:03:05

People can hear Jesus make predictions about the future. They all occur. People can see his miracles and his signs, and not respond.

01:03:13

They see his physical resurrection, and not respond. And the amazing thing is, listen. What happened in the first century, with the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the

01:03:24

Jews around the world, was one of the most graphic destructions of a people, imaginable.

01:03:32

Imaginable. The stories recorded by Josephus about what happened in Jerusalem are disturbing to read.

01:03:41

They said, no, not gonna happen, and Jesus brought that judgment as he promised.

01:03:48

They didn't believe it could happen to them, either. And we live like that. Final word here.

01:03:53

We all live like that, right? You hear warnings from God, repent, believe the gospel, and you go,

01:04:00

I'll get to it. I'll think about it later. Or, you hear the call to come and believe in Christ for eternal life and salvation, and you think,

01:04:09

I have time to think on that. Or, as a Christian, you see, as a child of God, calls of God to come to him, to put your sin to death, to flee sexual immorality, and to turn away from all your idols, and come and be obedient to Jesus Christ.

01:04:26

And you think to yourself, I've got time. I've got time. I've got time. You think that you have time, and so did they.

01:04:36

They thought they had special pull with God. Jesus says, you're gonna be judged. They're like, we can't.

01:04:43

We're God's covenant people. I'm God's people. I'm part of his people.

01:04:49

That's my temple. God gave that to me as a gift. And the amazing thing is, is they didn't know the hour of their vegetation.

01:05:02

They didn't know the axe was laid at the root of the trees, or believe that it was. And so my question to you today, as you hear this message, is this.

01:05:10

Have you responded to the gospel, the good news, of what God has done, becoming a man, taking on human flesh, living a righteous and blameless and perfect life, dying for the sins of his people, taking the wrath of a holy

01:05:27

God, and rising again from the dead. Have you considered the good news, and the call of Jesus to turn from your sin to the living

01:05:37

God, to put your faith in him for salvation and for forgiveness, for the gift of eternal life.

01:05:44

Have you considered it, and will you turn from where you sit? You see, we need to consider the holiness of God.

01:05:54

We don't believe it anymore in our country. We used to be a nation that was so influenced by the gospel, the pure gospel, that it was in the atmosphere.

01:06:03

God is holy, and I'm not. I deserve hell. I deserve his wrath, his punishment.

01:06:11

I'm not good in his eyes. He's a holy God to be feared.

01:06:16

We don't talk about a God like this, that says, I will delight in your destruction.

01:06:23

Do you know that he says that to his covenant people? He promises them, read them, Deuteronomy 27 and 28.

01:06:30

Read what he says. He says, when I bring these curses upon you, I will delight in it.

01:06:37

When God comes and acts as judge and brings justice, he, like any good judge, is satisfied in the justice being dealt.

01:06:49

And we don't think about God as a holy God anymore in our nation. We don't think about a Jesus who says to them, these are the days of vengeance.

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All the blood is going to be upon you. You're going to be destroyed before this generation all passes away.

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We don't like a Jesus like that. We have a hippie, surfer Jesus who wants to be your friends.

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We have a Jesus, we want to be our friend, not a Jesus to be feared. And I want to say, even if it's an evangelical church, that's a false

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Jesus. If he's not to be feared, he's not the biblical Jesus.

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Because this Jesus comes and he destroys a people. And so the question is, where do you stand with him?

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This is not to cause fear and to simply scare you with judgment so you run to Jesus.

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It's to tell you the truth. He's a holy God. We are not holy.

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And you need to be reconciled to God. Today is the day of salvation. They thought they had time.

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They didn't believe it either. The question is, will you respond to the call of the gospel? Repent and to believe the good news.

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Will you come to Jesus? If you don't know him today, I want to plead with you. Turn to Christ and live.

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Receive the gift of eternal life. Be saved. And if you are in Christ, if you are in Christ, you belong to him and you're never going to be lost.

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How's that? Amen? Is that the most beautiful thing ever? This judgment, this wrath is not for you.

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It never will be. Why? Because he took it on the tree. There is now no condemnation.

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You are not seen by your father as guilty. Stop for a second. Stop. Let it hang there for a second.

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You are not seen as guilty. Not condemned. Your father doesn't see you as broken and with blemish and corrupt.

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He sees the righteousness of his son. That's why you stand and you don't fall.

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And that's forever. He'll never lose you. He'll never forsake you. You're in his hands. Double grip and you'll never be lost.

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Eternal life means forever. And you have that because of what he's accomplished.

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You belong to him. He resides within you. He will finish what he started.

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Which means you're a child in his house right now and he's the father. You're not an enemy outside the house.

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You're not a stranger outside the house and you have a father who has you in his home and he disciplines you like a father disciplines his child.

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He sanctifies you. He grows you. So the question is, are you responding to your father's hand of discipline?

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You see the God that he is. He keeps his word. He doesn't lie and he's always on time.

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And so the question is, as a child of God, are you responding to his fatherly correction and sanctification?

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That's my call to brothers and sisters in the room right now. Are you responding to your father's call to repent, to hand things over to him?

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He says this, watch, I'll cleanse them of all their idols. I'll cleanse them of all their idols.

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So what idols is he cleansing you of? Where's your idol? Where's your false worship? Where is it?

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Where's your false worship? Because he's cleansing you. Like, Pastor Jeff, I don't, I feel so convicted and so challenged.

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Praise God for that. Praise God for that. People are like, I don't know if I'm saved.

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I don't know if I'm one of the elect. Pastor Jeff, I don't know if I'm elect. I just want God. I love God. I'm so sick of my sin and I'm just worried

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I'm not one of the elect. I'm like, you sound like the elect. Because that's how they think.

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Why? Because God's there. And I would say this, if you hate your sin and long for him and his holiness, then you need to praise

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God for the fact that you're not condemned in Jesus and praise God for that hatred of sin.

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And the call is this, if your father is correcting you, he's correcting you as a loving father.

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So brothers and sisters, what are you gonna hand over to him from where you sit? What are you struggling with this week?

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Wives? Mothers? What is God calling you to give up? What is he calling you to turn over?

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What is he calling you to repent of? What have you been struggling with for 10 years of your marriage with your husband or with your kids?

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It's always been a perpetual cycle. What do you need to hand over? What do you need to give up? Fathers, what do you need to turn over to him?

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What has God been challenging you on all these years as a father, as a husband? What has he been calling you to repent of?

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Now is the day. Today is the day. To turn from that sin. Children.

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Same call to children in the room right now. What is God calling you to hand over to him?

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To be obedient to him in single people. What is God calling you to? What is

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God calling you to in terms of faithfulness and obedience as a single person, as a single

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Christian? I'm gonna say I think that as a single Christian, if you love the

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Lord and you're pursuing marriage one day, I think the thing you need to focus on before the idol of marriage, because believe me, you'll realize that it's an idol.

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It's not your salvation. I think one of the things you need to focus on as a single person is giving up marriage as an idol and realize that God may be preparing your heart first and foremost to be satisfied in him first.

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Before another person. Maybe he won't give you that person he has prepared for you until you're first settled and satisfied with him.

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Where's your idol? What's he cleansing you of? Respond. He's a God that keeps his word and he shows up on time.

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Matthew 24 proves it. Let's pray. Father, I pray you bless the word that went out today for the glory of your

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Son. Please bless us. Lord, I don't know the details that you know about what we're all being called to individually and corporately.

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I just pray, Lord, in this moment by your spirit, you would give us understanding. Lord, I pray you would move in your people even now to draw us out of any disobedience and into obedience and worship.

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I pray, Lord, for anyone in this room that doesn't know you, that you grant eyes to see to the blind, hearts that are soft, understanding to our minds, and I pray,

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God, that you would be glorified in the worship we are about to engage in. In Jesus' name, amen.