Jesus & the End of the "World"

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Gospel according to Matthew chapter 24 is where we're going to actually spend most of our time, but we'll start in Matthew chapter 23 just right above to get a little bit of context and to remind ourselves where we've been, where we're going.

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Gospel according to Matthew chapter 23, and we are going to start in verse 29.

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Matthew 23, 29, and I'm going to read through the Olivet Discourse so that it's always in front of us.

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We're very familiar with each part. We're going to unpack it verse by verse, but I want us to be familiar with the structure of the

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Olivet Discourse, where Jesus goes. As we work through this, particularly when we get to the points where Jesus is telling them what to expect, we're going to bring in the synoptics as well to make you familiar with those so you can combine them and have a full understanding.

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But for today, let's start in Matthew 23 and verse 29. Hear now the words of the living and the true

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God. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, 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 and the blood of righteous

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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 are not willing.

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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, and when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple, but he answered them, you see all these things, do you not?

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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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What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered them, see that no one leads you astray, for many will come in my name saying,

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I am the Messiah, and they will lead many astray, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

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See to it that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places, all these are but the beginning of birth pangs.

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Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my namesake.

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And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

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And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end will be saved, and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

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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.

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Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house.

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Let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak, and alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days, pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on a

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Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

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And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved, but for the sake of the elect, those days would be cut short.

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Then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Messiah, or there he is, do not believe it, for false

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Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

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See, I have told you beforehand, so if they say to you, look, he is in the wilderness, do not go out.

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If they say, look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it, for as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the

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Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather immediately after the tribulation of those days.

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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, then will appear in heaven the sign of the

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Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, from the fig tree learn its lesson.

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As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near, so also when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gates.

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

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Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Thus far is the reading of God's holy word, let's pray as a church.

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God, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, for this text before us. We thank you for these promises that you kept.

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We thank you for the glory of the Messiah. We thank you, Lord, for the beautiful sweep of redemptive history and your symphony, the story you held together.

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God, thank you. Help me, Lord, now as a brother, as a pastor to these people, help me to communicate in a way,

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Lord, that is faithful, that is true, that blesses, encourages, and causes us to be in awe of Jesus.

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Lord, let me decrease, Christ increase, in Jesus' name, amen. Matthew chapter 24, it's an amazing text, isn't it?

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Right? It's a powerful text, and it's a text, as we've been talking about, that has been used very, very often to abuse people.

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It's a text that becomes a platform text for the cults. I mentioned before that, in the last 200 years alone, many cults have actually sprung up on this soil, in this land, on the basis of the

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Olivet Discourse, the Great Tribulation, and leading into other texts in the book of Revelation, not

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Revelations, the book of Revelation. These texts are used to abuse people and bring them into cults and non -Christian religions.

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These texts are used by charlatans, who profess to be Christians, that sell books on eschatology and lead even

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God's people astray with bad views of eschatology and the future.

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This text, we must handle faithfully, and the way to handle it faithfully is to allow

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God's Word to interpret God's Word. I've challenged us, as we enter into this text,

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I've challenged us to all be willing, as God's people, to lay aside traditions, to let the text speak.

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We say all the time, as Christians, that we believe in sola scriptura, that Scripture alone is the sole infallible rule of faith and practice for God's people, for the church.

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We say that constantly, but there are moments, as Christians, where God, I believe, tests that commitment to His Word as foundational, as the rock, as the bedrock, as what we hold up consistently.

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We'll be tested many times in our walk with Jesus, according to our wisdom and our commitments to God's Word as supreme.

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We're going to be tested in terms of sanctifying moments with how we love one another, how we live with one another, how we actually avoid gossip, how we avoid slander, how we actually practice hospitality, how we mind our own business, how we love each other and sacrifice and give ourselves away.

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We'll be tested by God's Word there. Do I truly love God in this moment? Do I truly love my neighbor?

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But we'll also be tested at times in terms of our own theology, our own doctrine. Do we believe what we believe because we were taught it when we were 16 years old at youth camp?

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Do we believe what we believe because our favorite Bible teacher had a book on that and I read it once and I believed what he said about it?

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Or do we believe what we believe because it is from the Word of God?

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I know what I believe, I know why I believe it and I can show you how.

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So the challenge has been to allow yourself to be tested as you work through this text.

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Why do you believe what you believe about the future? Why do you believe it? Is it because you saw it in the

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Word of God or is it because you were taught it? You assume the integrity of the person teaching it to you and you adopted that as your position.

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Why do you believe what you believe? Here's my challenge to you. Don't accept what

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I say because you love me and I'm your pastor. Don't do that.

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Don't accept what I say because I've blessed your life as a minister and because I'm your brother, because we eat together and love one another and serve

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God together. When you come to this text, you need to allow the text speak and you'll know if the text is speaking through my teaching, if my teaching holds the text together.

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If it allows God's Word to be the definition, the standard, that's the test.

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I want to encourage you to test my teaching on this text by the Word of God. Do not simply accept it.

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Agreed? Yes? Deal? Yes? Let's go to the text. So Matthew chapter 24, the anchor part of this whole discussion of the

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Great Tribulation and the Olivet Discourse, I want to remind you very briefly here for those of you guys that missed it and are just getting into this,

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Jesus has already now come into Jerusalem and he's now, I mean from a human perspective, kind of wreaking havoc in Jerusalem.

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He comes into Jerusalem, he's condemning the leadership, he's come for the second cleansing of the temple.

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One is in John's Gospel at the beginning of Jesus' ministry and one now is at the end of Jesus' ministry.

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Two cleansings of the temple, which by the way, holding the symphony of scripture together, is precisely what the law prescribed in terms of coming to a house to see if it was diseased, you would come back twice.

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And if at the second coming towards that house, finding it diseased, you would end up taking it apart, stone off of stone, nothing left.

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Jesus comes in as our high priest, comes into Jerusalem, they're holding up these palm branches, laying them down saying,

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Hosanna, Hosanna. And Jesus now does what? He comes to the temple. And what's he find there?

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Disease, corruption, the money changers. And now Jesus does what the high priest is supposed to do, he starts cleansing the temple and he departs from the temple, he gives to them a curse, ultimately with the fig tree, he says, let no fruit ever come from you again.

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That was them. That was his promise of destruction upon them.

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And then Jesus now comes into the temple now and starts challenging them and promising them judgment with the parable of the vineyards, the parable of the king sending the people to invite people to the wedding and they don't come, so he sends his armies, the king's armies, to destroy their city.

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Now the Jews know, he's talking about us, the leadership knows, this is us. They even say when he gives the parable of the vineyard, he says, what's the owner of the vineyard gonna do when he finds out they killed his son?

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They say, he'll destroy those miserable wretches and give the vineyard to others who will bear the fruit of it. He goes, yeah, it's gonna be taken away from you and given to others.

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And they perceived that he was talking about them. Right. Now Jesus comes into this moment where we have

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Jesus using the serrated edge. The millennial, hippie, surfer

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Jesus does not fit into Matthew 23. He does not, right?

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I thought Jesus is all, he's not loving your neighbor, right? Jesus is gracious. He would never judge or confront or condemn people.

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No, he only said that they were like graves with dead, stinking, rotting corpses inside them that were polished up on the outside.

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He only said that you guys are venomous snakes that kill people. Like that's

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Jesus. He confronts them, he condemns them for their swearing falsely, for their breaking covenant with God.

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That's behind us. Now check it out. He says, your house is left to you desolate. All the blood of all the righteous is upon this generation.

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That was them. And now he departs from the temple. He goes to the east. Remember that to the east, he goes to the

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Mount of Olives and he's there now after declaring judgment on the temple. Here is

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God in the flesh, Yahweh, tented among us.

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Now, departed east from Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives.

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And he says the temple's going to be destroyed. Now, if we know our

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Bibles, if we've read the Old Testament, if we've read

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Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and the prophets, and we're not just grabbing at the

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Bible and opening it up and just trying to be playful with it, we'll recognize what

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Matthew's doing. He's already told us judgment's coming on the first generation.

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And now Jesus says, your house is left to you desolate. All the blood on this generation, on you

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Jerusalem. And then Yahweh in the flesh, God in the flesh, leaves

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Jerusalem to the east and now he's in the Mount of Olives. The Jew who knows their

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Bible goes, wait a second. This is a big deal because in the

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Old Testament, we did this before in Ezekiel, when God was departing from the first temple before its destruction in the

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Old Testament, he departed for his glory, left the temple, went east and rested on the

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Mount of Olives before its destruction, the first temple. And now

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Yahweh is in the flesh walking among them, telling them they broke in covenant and that they're about to be judged.

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And he departs the same direction and rests on the Mount of Olives. Are you seeing it?

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This is the same story played out. They broke covenant with God. They're about to be judged.

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The difference is now God is walking among them in the flesh. It should have been terrifying to them.

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So the powerful thing is that Jesus talks about the destruction of the temple. Verse 35, on you may come all the blood.

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On you, Jesus says, may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous

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Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. Now look at verse 36 of 23.

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

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Notice, notice that Jerusalem in verse 37 is the focus.

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Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.

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Notice in verse 38, see to you your house is left to you desolate.

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The promise of destruction on Jerusalem and the promise of the destruction of the temple. Notice also in verse 24, verses 1 through 2,

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Jesus left the temple and was going away. And when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple, but he answered them, you see all these things, do you not?

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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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Notice that the temple is the focus. Jerusalem is in front of them. Their house is left to them desolate.

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All the blood upon this generation. All these things upon this generation.

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Not some other generation and not some things. All these things will be upon this generation.

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One quick note, if you're taking notes in your Bible, notice something very powerful here. Not only is

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Jesus very specific, you, this generation, all these things, your house left to you desolate.

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Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Not only is Jesus very specific, but note, you can escape this judgment.

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It's a local judgment. Proof, read 24 verse 16.

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Jesus says, then let those who were in Judea flee to the mountains.

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Then let those who were in Judea flee to the mountains. We talked last time about, you can compare

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Matthew 24 with Luke 21, and Matthew says, when you see the abomination that causes desolation, and Gentile Christians, be honest, you go, say what?

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The abomination of who? Spoken of by who?

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But if you read Luke 21, Luke says, very, he's helping Gentiles out. He says, when you see

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Jerusalem surrounded by armies, flee to the mountains. Let those who are in Judea flee.

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And by the way, what did the early Christians do when Rome surrounded Jerusalem in the

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Roman Jewish War as a matter of historic record? What did the Christians in Jerusalem do when

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Rome surrounded the city and then backed away? They fled to a town called

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Pella, and they escaped the judgment upon Jerusalem. Rome came back and re -sacked the city.

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Note, as a matter of historic record, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem escaped this judgment and went to Pella.

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Why? Because they were warned by Jesus. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, flee.

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Don't go back and get your coat. Don't go do this. Don't take time. Leave immediately.

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They did, and they escaped Jerusalem's judgment. So, questions. Notice, follow me here now.

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Come back. Are you ready? I know it's warm. Just remember this. There were people in Phoenix, Arizona, believe this, worshiping

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God on Sunday before there was air conditioning. What? That's actually miraculous.

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Did you know that Scottsdale was actually started by a Baptist pastor? Did you know that? Like, Baptist pastor planted a church in the desert, like in the dirt in Scottsdale, right?

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You're like, well, a lot has changed, right? Things have changed. But they worship God in the dirt, in the desert, in like July and August.

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It's a miracle, right? So, hang with me now. Watch this. Follow me, because this is very, very important.

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In Matthew chapter 24, look at the text. It says, 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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Pause. What is the question? Is it about the end of the physical world?

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What's Jesus talking about? Is he talking about the end of the physical world? He's talking to the

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Jewish leadership about them being judged and their temple being destroyed.

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There is no conversation here about the end of the physical cosmos. It is about Jewish temple,

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Jerusalem, covenant breakers, temple being taken apart. This leads them to ask a question or questions, and here they are.

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As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him. Remember the

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Mount of Olives is which direction from Jerusalem? East. East.

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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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What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? So here are the questions.

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Ready? One. When will these things be?

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Now stop with me for a moment now brothers and sisters. Let's make sure we're faithful with the text. Let's let God's Word be the standard.

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Let's let it teach us. When will these things be?

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Which things? Just pause for a moment and just consider that and let the text speak.

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Which things are in view right now? What has happened thus far from 22 to 24?

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Is there conversation here about the end of the physical cosmos? Who are the enemies before Jesus in this moment?

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Who are the ones that are antagonizing Christ in his ministry? Who has

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Jesus confronted in all these texts? This is

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Jerusalem. These are the covenant breakers. These are the

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Jewish leaders. These are the covenant breakers before him, and they say, as he says, house desolate and temple taken apart, they say, when will these things be?

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Notice Jesus says, the temple will be taken apart, not one stone left upon another.

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And they say, when will these things be? The context is the temple. Now notice, they hear

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Jesus say, the Jewish temple is going to be taken apart, stone off of stone, and they immediately associate it with the coming of the

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Son of Man and the end of the age. Now brothers and sisters, quick question. Follow me on this.

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Come back. Again, I know it's warm, so stay with me, okay? Follow me. The temple, which age does it represent?

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The old covenant age or the new covenant age? So they hear

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Jesus say, this temple is going to be taken apart, not one stone will be left upon another that will not be thrown down, and they immediately associate it with the end of the age.

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But brothers and sisters, the temple does not represent the Christian age. It represents the old covenant age.

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The Bible separates history into two sections, old covenant and what?

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New covenant. The Jews saw history divided into two sections, the age of the old covenant and the age of the new covenant.

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Jesus just told them, this glorious temple, which early writers said, was like a star glowing on planet earth.

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They said that you would be off in the distance and the sun would shine off the temple, and with all of its gold and all the majesty, at the daytime, the sun would shine off of it and it would reflect back light into the world that looked literally like a star was glowing on earth in the distance.

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And Jesus now tells the Jewish people, this place that you go to for forgiveness, this place that you go to to worship

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God, this place that you go to for sacrifice annually, it's going to be taken apart, not one stone left upon another.

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And they say, when will these things be? What's the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

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They associated the Jewish temple's destruction with the end of the old covenant age.

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Very, very important. The sign of your coming and the end of the age.

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Quick thing, ready? Number one, what things? The context of Matthew, from where we've been for about chapter 20, really, all the way to 24, these things of the promise judgment upon that generation.

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He told them they were going to be judged. He told them their house would be left to them desolate.

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Next, the sign of your coming. This is really important. Here's why. Come with me now.

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This is vital to get. We hear the coming of Christ, and what do you immediately associate it with?

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Second coming. And what do you think about when you think about the second coming of Christ?

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You think about the final resurrection. You think about the final judgments. When we hear the word coming of Christ, we think about final judgment and resurrection.

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However, it's important for us to recognize that throughout the gospel, according to Matthew, there is promises of the judgment coming of Christ that are not associated with final judgment and resurrection.

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Did you know this? We're going to do this a lot over the next couple of weeks. That Yahweh came in judgment many times in history, and it was referred to as the coming of Yahweh in judgment.

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Say in Isaiah chapter 19, verse 1, against Egypt. Let's take a look.

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Go to Isaiah. Quickly move to your left. That's Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 19.

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Isaiah chapter 19 is an example of a judgment coming of Yahweh.

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And this one is interesting because it's on the clouds. Isaiah chapter 19, verse 1.

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Here it is. It says, an oracle concerning Egypt. Behold the

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Lord. The text there is Yahweh. Behold Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the

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Egyptians will melt within them. Here, watch. Here's an example in Isaiah 19, verse 1 of Yahweh coming on the clouds to judge

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Egypt. Well, brothers and sisters, was Yahweh literally surfing on a cloud?

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Were they looking up, seeing God coming surfing on a cloud? No. And did the hearts of the

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Egyptians literally melt into their guts? No. This is dramatic, prophetic hyperbole that is used throughout the

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Old Testament that was a way of God describing the judgment that he was going to bring upon Egypt.

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Question, was Egypt judged? Yes. Did Yahweh come in judgment on a cloud against Egypt?

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Yes. Yes, he did. He judged Egypt. This is judgment talk.

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It is dramatic, prophetic hyperbole. It's like God saying, I'm going to turn your world upside down.

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I'm going to knock your lights out. I'm going to bring the clouds of judgment over your house.

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Get it? Dramatic, prophetic hyperbole. When we hear the coming of Christ, we associate it with resurrection and final judgment.

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However, Christ's coming is used throughout the New Testament to describe coming in judgment, not necessarily 1

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Corinthians 15 and the final judgment of the Son of Man. I'll show you.

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Matthew chapter 3, just mark it down. What does John the Baptist promise to those first century

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Jewish leaders? He says about the Son of Man what? He says his winnowing fork is in his hands.

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And he says the axe is already laid where? At the root of the trees. Watch. In order to take a tree down, you have to take that axe and bring it up first and then swing it down.

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Well, he's saying that the axe isn't being prepared to swing.

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It's already laid at the root of the trees. You have moments left.

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And so John the Baptist says, repent in a hurry. Repent in a hurry.

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He says this. Who warned you to flee from the wrath? The word is mellow in the

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Greek, about to come. John the Baptist promised them that the

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Son of Man was about to judge those covenant breakers. That's Matthew 3.

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In Matthew 10, 23, go there quickly. We're going fast today because I have a lot to give to you.

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Matthew 10, 23. We've done this before, but mark it down. Jesus says to his disciples, pay close attention.

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R .C. Sproul said that this was one of the most convincing passages in his mind about the judgment coming of Christ upon the first century generation.

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Matthew 10, 23. When they persecute you, his disciples that he's sending out, in one town flee to the next.

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For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the

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Son of Man comes. Brothers and sisters, let's be honest. There is no way out of that text.

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There isn't a way out, and we shouldn't look for one, because this is a vindicating passage.

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It proves that Jesus is the Messiah. He kept his word. You can trust him.

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He told his disciples they weren't going to fully finish their mission before he came back in judgment.

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Brothers and sisters, when was the destruction of Jerusalem? When was it? It was completed in 70

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AD. That generation did not pass away before Jesus returned in judgment upon that generation, as he promised.

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In Matthew chapter 10, verse 20.

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Actually, let's skip ahead here. Matthew chapter 16, verse 28.

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In Matthew 16, verse 28, Jesus says, truly I say to you, his disciples, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the

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Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Jesus promised.

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Some of them weren't going to die until they saw the Son of Man's kingdom come.

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Now, if we know our Bibles, Daniel chapter 7, 13 through 14, that's a glorious fulfillment of the messianic kingdom broken into history, and they were to see it before they all died.

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And it came, brothers and sisters, on time, as planned, as promised.

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Jesus kept his promise. Another one. Check it out. See if you noticed this. Did you ever notice this before? Go to Matthew 26.

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Go to Matthew 26. Did you ever connect this to all these promises of judgment?

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Go to Matthew 26, and start in verse 57. This is Jesus now before Caiaphas and the council.

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This is amazing. Take a look. Matthew chapter 26, verse 57. Then those who had seized

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Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest.

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And going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end. Now, the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none.

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Though many false witnesses came forward, at last two came forward.

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Check this out. Watch. Listen to the accusation. Two came forward and said, this man said,

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I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.

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And the high priest stood up and said, have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?

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But Jesus remained silent. What's that a fulfillment of? Isaiah 53.

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They brought him to judgment and he opened not his mouth. He went like a lamb led to the what?

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Slaughter. And they say to him, you got nothing to say? And he remained silent. And the high priest said to him,

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I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you're the Messiah, the son of God. Jesus said to him, you have said so, but I tell you from now on, you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

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Who will see it? Them. The son of man coming on the clouds of heaven.

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Brothers and sisters, we've read our Bibles like Gentiles. Because if we know

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Daniel 7, 13 through 14, we know why they get so angry next.

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He tears himself and does what? He says, blasphemy. Why? Because Daniel 7, 13 through 14 says this.

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I was looking in the night visions and behold one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven.

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And he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him.

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And to him was given a kingdom, dominion and glory that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve him.

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It's an everlasting dominion which will never pass away. A kingdom that will never be destroyed.

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Why do you think the high priest tears himself, says blasphemy? Because Daniel 7 is the divine son of man who receives the kingdom that draws all the nations to worship him.

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And he says to the high priest, you're going to see it. You, high priest.

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It's a powerful moment, but he says it to that high priest. Notice also in Acts 6, 11, quickly, in terms of the story of the early church,

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I need you to see it and mark it down. In terms of what did they understand? Remember the famous scene?

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Who's the first Christian martyr? Stephen. Now in Stephen's account,

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Acts 6, the witnesses that are brought forward, check it out in Acts 6, 12.

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And they stirred up the people, actually, sorry, 11. Then they secretly instigated men who said, we've heard him,

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Stephen, speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.

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And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and they came up upon him and seized him and brought him before the council.

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Watch this, watch. And they set up false witnesses. They set up false witnesses who said, this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law.

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For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.

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Now watch. They're bringing up witnesses against Stephen and what's the accusation against Stephen?

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They're saying, hey, hey, hey, we've heard this Christian evangelist on the street saying that this

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Jesus, who's already been crucified, resurrected, raised from the dead, ascended, that this

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Jesus is going to destroy this place and change the customs delivered to us.

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Now they're using that accusation in a way that's malicious against Stephen.

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But notice the witness of the early church with the Jews was that they were telling the

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Jews that Jesus was going to come back to destroy the temple. That's what they were being told in the early church.

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Now, quick thing here, the end of the age. This is so powerful. Stay with me.

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Take notes. This is so important to get. Are you guys ready for this? Yes? Are you ready? Yes?

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Everyone awake? Yes? Take your fans. Let's make this like an old school black Baptist church. Let's do it like this. Okay?

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Do it. Now, listen. The end of the Jewish age. My argument is this, is that they were not asking about the end of the world.

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The word for world in the Greek of cosmos is physical world, cosmos.

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The word used here is not cosmos, physical world. It's ion, age.

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It does not mean physical world. It means system, time, order.

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It does not mean physical world. Watch. Some might say, well, then wait a minute.

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How come the King James Bible says world? Because sometimes we in English do use the word world like that.

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Like I could say this, in the world of the Republicans, we don't mean that there's a physical world made up of Republicans, right?

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We mean in their time, in their order, right? Or in the world of the

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Democrats, right? We don't mean the physical world made up of Democrats. We mean in their world, in their order, in their space, right?

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So when Jesus says the temple's going to be taken apart, not one stone left upon another, which happened by the way in 70

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AD, they associated immediately with judgment and the end of the age.

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Now watch. Why did they associate these things with the destruction of the temple?

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Why did they associate the temple's destruction with the end of the age?

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What age were they talking about? Now here's where we need to know the symphony of scripture.

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This is vital. It is critical that we actually know our Bibles, that we're not reading our

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Bibles piecemeal. Can I ask you this question? Don't say it out loud. I want to be a pastor to you right now, a brother.

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Now don't say it out loud, but I'm going to ask you and answer it before God and yourself honestly.

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How many of you guys have dedicated time, hours, days, to reading

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Old Testament books? How many of you guys have dedicated yourself to reading, say, the book of Ezekiel like you've read

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Romans? How many of you guys have dedicated time to reading, say, the book of Isaiah like you've read

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Philippians? How many of you guys have read Daniel like you've read the gospel according to John?

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We need to know our Bibles. Remember that Jesus doesn't drop into history as a novelty.

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He comes as the promised Messiah. He comes as the one they anticipated was coming.

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And what was anticipated? Listen closely. This is going to get very interesting, so follow me.

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Number one, Isaiah 9, 6 through 7. It's our favorite verse at Christmas, right?

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What's it say? A son, a child, he shall be called what? Wonderful what?

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Counselor, he will be El Gibor the what? Mighty God. He is the everlasting father.

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That's the father of eternity. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.

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Hashtag dat post mill. Did you get it? Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.

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Whoever told you that the church was going to lose in history? They didn't read Isaiah 9, 6 through 7 to get that.

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But it says that God's coming with a kingdom that's going to increase and grow.

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It'll have no end. That's what it says. That's what they anticipated. But then there's more.

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How about Daniel chapter 2? Be honest. You don't read it and it's confusing because we don't understand it.

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Nebuchadnezzar, right? Interpretation of dreams. It's kind of weird.

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You say there's a statue. It's got all these different parts. And then Daniel comes in. I got it. Here's the interpretation.

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There's a stone. Knocks this stuff out. All these things. And what's it mean? Daniel 2.

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There's four kingdoms. How many? How many?

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Four. Daniel says there's four kingdoms coming. And he says during the time of the fourth kingdom,

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God, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. It'll be like a stone cut out of a mountain that rolls and fills the entirety of the earth.

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Hashtag dat post mill. A stone that becomes a mountain and fills the entire earth.

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But he says, watch, that the Messiah's kingdom is coming during the time of the fourth kingdom.

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Now question. Test your Bible knowledge. When does Daniel give this prophecy? Who is ruling then?

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Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar. So if you count down from Babylon, you count down the kingdoms and you land on, lo and behold,

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Rome. Now question. At what time in history do

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John the Baptist and Jesus enter in proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven is at hand?

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Who was ruling then? Come on now. Rome. What did

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Daniel say? Four kingdoms and then God sets up his kingdom that will never be destroyed.

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When does Jesus come and bring his kingdom? During the time of Rome. So notice also Daniel 7.

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We already did. It's the son of man coming on the clouds of what? Come with me.

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I want you to do this now. Don't let me just preach at you. Come with me now. He comes in the clouds of what? Heaven, right?

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And where does he go? Up. What is he given? A kingdom that will never be what?

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Destroyed. And who comes to worship? All the world, right? Now that's

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Daniel 7. And now, you didn't know you were coming to church for this today, but you're going to get it.

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We're going to do Daniel chapter 9. Not the whole thing. I'm just going to show you some critical parts of Daniel 9.

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Now I've got to tell you, listen closely. When I was in Bible college, I remember being in class for Daniel chapter 9.

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And I remember my Bible teacher going through Daniel chapter 9, and it was dispensational premillennialism.

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And if you're like, I don't know what in the world that means, I'll just say left -behind series, okay?

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Kirk Cameron, which he is very sad about now, okay? He's changed his eschatology, by the way.

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Wouldn't you hate that to be the guy that now, like, you're Post Mill now, and your face is the poster child for bad eschatology, right?

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Dispensational premillennialism. Now, listen. Dispensational premillennialism doesn't know what to do with Daniel chapter 9.

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So they say there's a gap in Daniel 9 where God stops the clock.

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Watch. Listen. Some of you guys are like, I have no idea what you're talking about. Listen. The angel gives, the angel gives a clock about Messiah, about his kingdom, about the end of sin, about atonement for iniquity, about anointing the most holy.

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All that is there in Daniel 9, and it predicts the destruction of the second temple, and it predicts that Jesus dies before that second temple's destruction.

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Now, watch. This Daniel 9 passage is insane, and it makes atheism look stupid, because it is a prophecy about Jesus long before he comes, hundreds of years before he comes, and it tells you the whole story, including the destruction of the temple in Daniel 9.

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But I remember being in Bible college, and I believed it. I believed dispensational premillennialism.

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I was on board. I was the guy at the pool in the summertime, reading Left Behind series, wishing myself into rapture.

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Like, now. Now. Right? So excited. Ask my wife. She will, she'll give you, she'll, hallelujah, testify, right?

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She'll tell you that I was a freak about end time stuff and rapture stuff. I used to,

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I used to wait. I, forgive me, but I used to watch

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TBN and the Hal Lindsay reports, so excited, just with my notepad, like waiting, like,

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Candy's cooking food in the back, and I'm like, we're not even going to finish dinner, babe. It's coming. That was me.

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That was me going into Bible college, and I'm in Bible college, and I remember saying to my Bible teacher, as we're doing

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Daniel 9, he says, now there's a gap here in Daniel 9, where God stops the clock, and he restarts it later, before the seven years of tribulation, and I was like, and I believed it.

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I said, uh, professor, um, where, where's the, the gap? So I can make a note.

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They're like, where does it say God puts the gap there? To stop the clock.

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And I remember my professor says, well, Jeff, um, we know that from other parts of the

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Bible, that there's a gap in Daniel chapter 9. There's a gap, and God stops the clock. I said, okay, where, where's it in Daniel 9?

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He goes, we'll get to that later. We never got to it later, because it's not in Daniel 9, or nowhere else in the entire

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Bible, but I'm going to take you to it. So go to Daniel 9. I cannot, forgive me, I cannot take you through all of Daniel 9, but I want you to see that God predicted what

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Jesus is talking about in terms of the end of the age in the Old Testament. They understood it.

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Now, quick thing here. I did do, I think, two or three messages on Daniel 9.

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If you download Apology at Church's app, and go back into the eschatology series, you can listen to the longer sermons on Daniel 9.

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Today, I want you to see this, and show you how incredible it is, and associate it with the end of the age, and then we're done for today, okay?

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And talking about the end of the age. Now, notice in Daniel 9, and again, I can't unpack everything.

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In verse 10, he's confessing the sins of Israel, and here's what it's associated with.

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Listen closely. Ready?

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Ready? God promised the Jewish people, this is my law, I'll give you blessings, and what?

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Curses. Bless you if you obey, I will curse you if you disobey. Daniel now, is there, the temple's destroyed.

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They're in Babylon now. Daniel is weeping. He's praying out to God, God, we've sinned against you, we've sinned against your law, we've broken covenants, and now your curses, like you promised, have fallen on us, our temple's destroyed.

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Watch. First temple, destroyed. Why? Covenant unfaithfulness.

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Just like God promised. And now watch what happens. The angel Gabriel, very reliable angel, verse 20, says this, while I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin, and the sin of my people

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Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man

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Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision of the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.

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He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, oh Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.

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At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved, therefore consider the word and understand the vision.

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First thing I love about this, watch, is that Daniel's there, he's like weeping and fasting, and God, please forgive us and help us, we've sinned against you and your law, and Gabriel comes and says, um, yeah, like when you started praying,

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I was sent. In a long period of time, it happens. So Daniel, watch, remember this as you pray.

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Sometimes you're praying and you're grieving and you're weeping before God, and the word's already been sent out to take care of your needs.

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It's already happened, it's already on its way, you just need to keep weeping and breaking and crying out to God and all the rest, but the word's already gone out, the decree's already gone out, you have to trust

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God in the midst of pleading with God and asking Him for help. But watch what is said here, 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city.

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I can't do it all today, just know this, this is a space of 70 weeks of years.

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It's a specific time period of years, and you can count down and start counting at the decree.

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Watch. To finish the transgression, one. To put an end to sin, two.

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To atone for iniquity, three. To bring in everlasting righteousness, four.

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To seal vision and prophecy, five. And to anoint the most holy, six.

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So here now comes a prophecy of time about some very specific biblical things.

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Notice again, finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.

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Watch. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build

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Jerusalem, to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.

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Quick thing, is Jesus the anointed one? Yes. What's he called?

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The prince of what? Peace. So, from the going forth of the decree to restore and rebuild

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Jerusalem, to the coming of the anointed one, a prince, there should be seven weeks. Then for 62 weeks there should be built again with squares and a moat, but in troubled time.

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Again, we can't do this all today, but just follow the main points here. After the 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

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Quick thing, who was the only anointed one talked about so far in the text? The messiah, the prince.

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And so messiah, the prince. It says after 62 weeks, the anointed one should be cut off and shall have nothing.

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The word here for cut off in the Hebrew is the same word used to describe the animal sacrifices in the

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Old Testament. It describes a violent death. It says the anointed one, the messiah, will be cut off and shall have nothing.

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And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Now watch, follow me in a timeline here.

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If you guys want to capture the power of this, follow this. It says that there is going to be a finishing of the transgression, an end of sin, atonement for iniquity, everlasting righteousness, sealing up vision and prophecy, and anointing the most holy.

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And it says this, it says what's going to happen is a decree is going to go out. And then it says that messiah, the prince, is going to come and he is going to die a violent death.

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And then it says that the Jewish temple is going to be destroyed. Now think about it in time.

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The first Jewish temple now has already been destroyed. It's gone. The Jews now are in exile.

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Daniel is pleading for mercy from God. God please help us. And the angel comes and says what?

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God is going to finish the transgression. The sin against him, it's going to be made complete.

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He is going to bring in what? He's going to bring in everlasting righteousness, put an end to sin.

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He's going to atone for iniquity and anoint the most holy. That's what's going to happen in this prophecy. And it says now with no temple, watch, there is no

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Jewish temple. It says the messiah is going to come and die a violent death and then the temple is going to be destroyed.

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Wait a minute. There is no temple. So this is predicting, watch, that the messiah is going to come and make an end of sin, bring in everlasting righteousness, atone for iniquity, die a violent death before the destruction of the rebuilt second temple.

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Can I ask you a question? Follow me now and you'll see the power of this and the end of the age.

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Did Jesus make an end of sin? He offered one sacrifice for all.

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Did Jesus atone for iniquity? Yes. Did Jesus bring in everlasting righteousness?

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Was Jesus anointed as messiah? Did Jesus seal up both vision and prophecy?

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Did he accomplish it? Did he fulfill it? Yes. Did Jesus die a violent death?

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Did Jesus send his armies to destroy the second Jewish temple? Yes.

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Precisely as he promised the Jewish leadership in Matthew 22 and Matthew 23.

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Brothers and sisters, listen. Daniel chapter 9 is one of several texts that promises the end of sin, the everlasting righteousness, atonement, the end of the

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Jewish age associated with Jesus' death and the destruction of the

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Jewish temple. So watch. When the early followers of Jesus heard him saying that this

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Jewish temple is going to be destroyed, they understood the end of the age was upon them.

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They understood atonement was on its way. Everlasting righteousness, end of sin, all of those promises were now being fulfilled in Jesus.

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Final things here. Jeremiah 31, 31 says what? God's going to make a what covenant?

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New covenant. Not like the old one that they broke. Even though he was a husband to them, the new one, he'll take his law and he'll put it where, brothers and sisters?

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Within them, right? And it says in Ezekiel 36 that God's going to sprinkle clean water on people, make them clean.

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He'll cleanse them of all their idols. He'll remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of what? And he's going to put his spirit where?

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Within them and cause them to observe his statutes. The Old Testament promised, listen closely, that there was an old covenant age and now a new covenant age on its way.

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They understood with the destruction of the Jewish temple that the old covenant age was now passing away, making room for the new covenant age.

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And I'm going to give you two verses to wrestle with this week and one final passage to show you them talking about this in the

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New Testament. One, Hebrews 9 26 and two,

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First Corinthians 10 11. Hebrews 9 26 and First Corinthians 10 11.

01:00:02

I'm going to read them to you quickly and again I want you to go this week and read them yourselves. This is what the early

01:00:09

Christians said about the time they were living. Hebrews 9 26. For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world, but as it is, he,

01:00:22

Jesus, has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

01:00:33

Brothers and sisters, when did the writer of Hebrews say Jesus appeared at the beginning of the age or the end of the age?

01:00:43

At the end of the age, he appeared at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

01:00:51

The writer of Hebrews saw Jesus' death and resurrection and atonement as something occurring at the end of the age, not at the beginning of the age, at the end of the age.

01:01:02

And next, First Corinthians 10 11 to show you when the apostles thought they were living.

01:01:08

Here it is, First Corinthians 10 verse 11. It says this. Now these things happened to them in the

01:01:17

Old Testament. These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, the first century

01:01:27

Christians, and of course to us, but they're written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.

01:01:36

Two texts from the New Testament to demonstrate that those early Christians believed that they were living at the end of the age, at the very end of the age.

01:01:48

They were at the end of the old covenant age. That's the moment of time that they were in.

01:01:54

Now finally, and this is powerful, go to Galatians 3 so you can see how the early

01:02:00

Christians viewed themselves in time. I'm going to encourage you to wrestle with these this week.

01:02:08

Actually, Galatians 4. Now watch. This is one of my favorite things.

01:02:15

You know races where people have a baton, right? It's a relay race.

01:02:23

They have a baton and they pass it off one to another, right? You ever seen those races where the person's holding the baton and they're running with it like crazy, and the person who's going to get that baton sort of sits there and as they see him come around the corner, they already start running, right?

01:02:42

So you actually have two people running at the same time, right? And one is passing the baton off to the other, but they're running at the same time, but one's holding the baton.

01:02:55

In the first century, you have something unique happening. Think about it. Jesus, when he died, what did he say?

01:03:04

He said, it is what? Finished. Brothers, sisters, was he telling the truth?

01:03:13

Yes. In that moment, what happened? The veil is torn as a symbol to the world that our high priest went before us, before the throne of God.

01:03:23

He offered himself and he made an end of sin, atonement for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness.

01:03:30

It is finished, but there's a problem. What's the problem? While the new covenant has begun, it is in motion, that old covenant symbol, everything associated with it is still there.

01:03:48

It's still hanging out. When Jesus says it's finished, the temple didn't go, right?

01:03:55

The veil ripped, but guess what happens the year after Jesus died and rose again?

01:04:00

Guess what happens? They continue to try and offer sacrifices before God.

01:04:06

That was offensive to God, that they were now offering sacrifices that were obsolete.

01:04:13

It was over. So now watch, you've got the old covenant hanging out in the first century, but the new covenant is already in motion, right?

01:04:24

Now watch how Paul talks about it in Galatians 4 verse 21, and we're finished after this.

01:04:33

He says this, tell me you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

01:04:39

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.

01:04:46

But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.

01:04:53

Now this may be interpreted allegorically, these women are two covenants.

01:05:02

One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery, she is

01:05:08

Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, she corresponds to the present

01:05:15

Jerusalem. For she is in slavery with her children, but the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

01:05:26

For it is written, rejoice O barren one who does not bear, break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who is a husband.

01:05:38

Now you brothers like Isaac are children of promise, but just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit, so also it is now.

01:05:51

But what does the scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.

01:06:01

So brothers, we are not children of the slave, but of the free woman. Now watch, I hope you heard it.

01:06:08

In the first century, here's Paul dealing with people who were saying, go back to temple, circumcision, law, do all that, that's going to justify you.

01:06:18

Be circumcised and have faith in Jesus, but go, this is our covenant, this is our temple, this is our stuff.

01:06:26

And what Paul is saying is, no, if you say it's faith in Jesus and circumcision, you want the law, then go under the curse of the law.

01:06:35

He says, Christ has become of no benefit to you, whosoever of you attempts to be justified by law, you've fallen from grace.

01:06:43

And he says, if you want to know what's really happening right now in my day, Paul's day, not our day, he says, this is what's happening.

01:06:50

Two sons. One's the son of a slave woman, one's the son of a free woman. That's two covenants.

01:06:57

Ready? The slave woman corresponds to present Jerusalem. What Jerusalem? Temple still standing, all the sacrifices, all that.

01:07:06

He says, you're all slaves. He says, but not us. Who? The Christians. We're part of the new covenant.

01:07:13

Our Jerusalem is from above. We're sons of the free woman. And he says, guess what's about to happen?

01:07:20

He says, the sons of the slave woman, they're about to be cast out. That Jerusalem's about to be destroyed.

01:07:28

You got two Jerusalems. What? Yes, a physical one that's about to be rocked and one that is a heavenly

01:07:37

Jerusalem from above. Want me to whet your appetite?

01:07:45

Did you ever read the book of Revelation? Did you ever notice in the book of Revelation, you have the tale of two cities.

01:07:53

One's a whore, a harlot, the whore of Babylon, who's wearing the priest's colors, who's drinking the blood of the

01:08:02

Christian saints and the martyrs of Jesus, who's riding a seven -headed ten -horned beast, who's going to turn on her and make her desolate and burn her with fire.

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And then another city that's the bride of Christ, the new

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Jerusalem that's comes down from heaven to hit the earth, to invite the world to come and drink of the waters of life, to come experience new life.

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Do you ever notice the tale of two cities in the book of Revelation of the harlot and then the

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Jerusalem that's above? The harlot is cast out while the Jerusalem comes down from heaven, hits the earth and invites the world to come and drink from the rivers of waters of life.

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Are you seeing the story come together now? Are you seeing the tale of the two covenants, the old covenant versus the new?

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Are you seeing now the old age versus the new age and how when Jesus says their temple's being destroyed, they say, when shall these things be?

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What's the sign of your coming and the end of the age, the Jewish age? You know the glory we have now that the

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Jewish age is over? You know what it means? If you're in Christ, your sins are forgiven.

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Now watch, don't let that be a pithy Christian, amen, right? Do you get it? You deserve hell.

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You deserve and I deserve to go to hell forever. You deserve and I deserve to be separated from God forever, but because we have this new covenant, because that temple's gone, watch, there is an end of your sins.

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You have eternal righteousness. Your sins are atoned for forever.

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You've been brought into the throne room of God covered in Jesus' righteousness and now you have a high priest that lives forever, forever to intercede for you.

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There is no more reminder of sins. You stand in Christ's righteousness. You belong to God.

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Your sins are forgiven. That temple is gone. No more reminder. The end of the age is over.

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Praise God that temple's destroyed, amen? Praise God it's done and I want to say one final word here.

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We should tear our clothes and be horrified for every

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Christian that prays for the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. Do you hear

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Christians today, modern evangelicals, praying for the Jews to rebuild their temple?

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Excited about a rebuilt Jewish temple? Do you know what it means when the Jews rebuild the temple?

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It is throwing their fist up in God's face, saying, we reject your Messiah.

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We reject his atonement. We reject his work. We should praise God that temple is destroyed and leveled and we should hope that it never gets built again.

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You know why? Because we have a temple now forever in the heavens and guess what? When we need forgiveness now, we don't go to Jerusalem to get it.

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When we need forgiveness now, we don't go offer more sacrifices. When we need forgiveness now, where do we go?

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To Jesus. He's the temple. To Jesus, the high priest, to the one who offered a sacrifice that's done, never to be repeated.

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That's your Savior. That age is over. Praise God, amen? And now we have the new covenant and a

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Savior who loves you, who will never die again, and forever lives to make intercession for you.