Let's take our Bibles this morning
and turn with me to the Gospel according to Matthew chapter
24. Matthew chapter 24. A few days ago, a subject was
providentially brought to me through a friend who asked me which I didn't know the answer.
And as I began to look concerning the question, my heart was drawn,
stirred to preach on this subject. And so I'd like to take Matthew
chapter 24. I'm actually going to start in
verse 1. I'm going to plan to go through verse 22. Many of these verses, I'll start
in verse 1, and I'm just going to hit the heart of what's being
said. And then when I get to verse
15 through verse 22, that's actually the subject that I'd like to
deal on. I've entitled this message, The
Abomination of desolation. And I pray the Lord bless this
message to our hearts. I pray that it is honoring to
our Lord that we might behold the wonder of the glorious grace
of God to a people who in themselves are undeserving In this passage, the Spirit of
God has recorded an amazing event. Historically, it centers around
the destruction of the Temple, the fall of Jerusalem, This is what I want to make sure
we grasp hold of. As I told you before, remember,
if all you see in a passage of Scripture is a historical event,
that's all you see, just history. I love history. I love studying
it. I like history. But, when we
look in the Scriptures, remember the Scriptures are alive. They're
for us, right now. Even though things are recorded
that happened years ago, what does it have to do with me, for
me, now? How can I see the glory of God
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ for me, right now? That's what we're looking for.
Now, the Scripture starts It says in verse 1 and 2, And Jesus
went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came
to him to show him the building of the temple. And Jesus said
unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you,
there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall
not be thrown down. And his disciples came to him. Now let me explain. Here we are,
Matthew 24. This is the last time that the
Lord Jesus Christ visited this temple. And he left it. He was going to return to this
temple no more. never came back to this temple. This temple was on everybody's
mind, on the Lord's, on his disciples, but there were some different
things that were being considered about this temple. The scripture
says that the disciples came to him for to show him the buildings
of the Look at this thing. This thing
is beautiful. Look at the carvings on that.
Can you just imagine? Isn't this thing lovely? Doesn't
it just feel good to be here? The disciples, like man in general,
was taken up with the outward beauty of that temple. Think about who they're talking
to. They were going to show the Lord the temple. But the Lord, concerning that
temple, spoke not of its beauty, but of its destruction. See ye not all these things?
Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone
upon another that shall not be thrown down." They said, this
thing is wonderful again. He said, this thing is going
to be torn down. And as he said, verse 3, upon
the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately saying,
Tell us, when shall these things be? What should be the sign of
thy coming and of the end of the world? These men, they knew
who He was. They knew who He was. You're
the Christ. You're God. You're God in flesh. They knew Him being God. They knew they were liars. They
had talked about how wonderfully beautiful it was. He said it's
going to be torn down. Therefore, Think about it. Boy, what a sign of life. The
Lord said, this is going to be torn down. Obviously, it's going
to be torn down. His words stirred their hearts
to inquire of some future events. They asked Him, Lord, tell us,
what are going to be the signs? What's it going to be when you
come back? What about the end of the world?
What about the destruction of this temple? Verse 4 says, And Jesus answered
and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. Mercifully,
the voice of the shepherd answered these sheep, answered their question,
by giving them a warning. Take heed. Did no man deceive
you? On the subject, here's what they
asked about that, three things. He said, it's going to be torn
down. They said, tell us when shall these things be? The sign
of your coming, the end of the world. They had a series of questions
there. Tell us, he said, take heed that
no man deceived you concerning those things. For many, verse 5, shall come
in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Take
heed, because concerning these things, the destruction of that
temple, the second coming of Christ, the end of the world,
these are things that we ought to be concerned about. Of course,
the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. How about the second coming? How about the end of the world?
We ought to be wondering about those things. Take heed. Many shall come in my name, saying,
I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Many will come. We could go and
look at the scripture. You could look in Jude. You could
look in 1 John, Peter. And you could see talking about
false preachers. I won't go, you know my heart
on this. This is a false preacher. Anyone that does not set forth
the glorious gospel of God's grace in Christ, anyone that
does not set forth salvation to be all of grace, all of God,
anyone that sets forth that salvation is dependent on any way in man
doing something in order to be saved. Anyone that preaches that
man must act in order to be saved is a false preacher. God saves
man and tells him. Take heed, many shall come in
my name and say, I'm Christ, and shall deceive many. And because there's been many
false preachers in all the ages Men have made great mistakes
trying to place an exact date on the second coming of our Lord,
and this is all because of a man's presumption. No man knows the
hour. I told you about a man who came
up to me a few months ago. Well, you know he didn't. He
called me. He called me. The Lord, He said, is coming
back this month, this month. I think, I think He said the
22nd of this month. or how he knew it. You see, he
figured it out mathematically. I said, that's strange to me,
when the Lord said no man knows. I can tell you this, let God
be true and every man's a liar. These things will happen. The end will come. The Lord will
return. And when these things come, At
that time, all men are going to stand before God. When are
these things going to be take heed? Take heed that no man deceive
him. He said in verse 6 to 8, he said,
you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not
troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end
is not yet. For nations shall rise against
nation and kingdom against kingdom. There shall be famines and pestilences. or the beginning of sorrows. With all of the turmoil, there's
always been events that men could look to and say, this is it.
Look at all this blackness going on over there. Look at all this
Middle East stuff. Look at all this oil stuff. Can
you imagine how many earthquakes we've had recently? Hurricanes
are stronger now. This has got to be it, isn't
it? The Lord said, you're going to hear wars and rumors of wars.
See that you be not troubled. All these things must come to
pass. The end's not yet. There's always been events in
every age that men look to and they start saying, this is it.
That's a sign. There's always been signs like
that. Signs were certainly obvious
in the time of our Lord. Look at verses 9 to 12. Then
shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill
you, and you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Then shall many be offended,
shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Many
false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. Because iniquity
shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." All of these
events have in all times taken place, but take heed that no
man deceive you. Many earthquakes, many famines,
many afflictions toward God's people And when persecution comes to
the church, the scripture says, the love
of many shall wax cold. Does that mean that a believer
can fall away? No. It means that these stony
ground or thorny ground here is those who profess to be believers. Those that profess to be followers
of Christ, those that appear for a while to love Him, to be
faithful to Him, to cherish His name, love His people, become
indifferent to Him. I understand. We grow weary. Brother Henry said this concerning
preachers, actually. He said, a preacher may grow
weary in the gospel. But never of it. Never. We may grow tired or we're frail,
we're weak. But God's people are kept by
the power of God through faith. God's people don't fall away.
God's people don't fall away. If a man, a woman can fall away,
then it really wasn't eternal life. I give unto them eternal
life, and no man shall pluck him out of my hand." No man,
that includes you. That's you too. No, we're kept. But whenever
things beget problems, Because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the
end, the same shall be saved. There's always in every age the
love of many who wax cold. There's always been a demon.
Paul says demons have forsaken me. You know, when you read that,
Demas hath forsaken me, I think about words like forsaken being used. I think of Peter
here. I mean, I think of that, you
know, when the Lord told him, he said, you'll deny me three
times before that cock croaks twice, you'll deny me three times. And there for a while, he did,
he denied it. I don't know him. I don't know
the man. I'm cursed. I don't know him. But that man got up. That's what scripture says. The
righteous fall, but they rise. But what it says here, Demas
hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. That's a
fearful thought. That's a fearful thought. And having loved this present
world encompasses everything. It encompasses everything else
save the Lord Jesus Christ. Having loved this present world.
Whatever it is. Family, work, pleasures, whatever
it is. Anything that takes the place
of Christ. Anything that's ahead of Him. But he that endures to the end,
the same shall be saved. Grace keeps us to the end. To the end of this age, yes,
the end of our lives, to the end. It keeps us to the end. And the sign of the approaching
end, this is the way it is. The sign of the approaching end
is this. No one knows what it is, but
the sign is this, and this gospel, verse 14, of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. Then shall the end come. I hear people say, well, you
know, we're on the internet now, television, you know, all these
things. The whole world is preached with
all the world of God's elect. God so loved the order of man.
God so loved the world. And when it's preached to all
of God's elect, all the world, all of God's people in the world,
when God Almighty has sent that gospel to everyone that He's
going to save, Then shall the end come. Not because the gospel
was preached over somewhere, some country. Well, it's been
there. Maybe that elect hasn't been born yet. Maybe the parents
haven't had a child yet, that God's going to send. And therefore,
it hasn't been preached there. What are these things going to
be? Well, whatever the opposition, No matter what a man claims to
know, whatever, God Almighty is going to stand firm. His Word's
going to be preached. There's going to be wars and
rumors of wars. Here's the hope that we have. God's going to save His elect. Keeping them, enduring them.
When it's preached in all the world, Listen to the words of our Lord,
Matthew 28, 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Go ye therefore. I began to think
on that thing, Jim. It's like that woman of Samaria. She didn't She didn't go look for the Lord.
He drew her to Himself. Man will not naturally seek to
hear. Invite Him. Invite Him. Invite one to, who knows? God
may bless it. Invite somebody. Go ye into all
the world. Preach the gospel. Well, the
Lord's going to do what He's going to do. I agree with you.
You're not going to get an argument out of me on that. Almighty God's
got a purpose, and if the Lord's pleased, He'll do it. I know
it. I know it. What if He's pleased to use your
mouth? Invite somebody. Anybody ever invite you? My mama
invited me to go hear a preacher named Henry Mahan. Never heard
of Henry Mahan. Never heard of him. So, I went with my mom. This gospel is going to be preached.
And these verses that follow, our Lord is going to set forth
an answer to those disciples concerning what's going to happen. What's going to be the sign?
What's going to be the sign of your second coming? What's going
to be the sign of the end of the world? What about this destruction
of this temple? Remember, our Lord was answering
a question that was asked by those disciples. But what is
He saying to us right now? And here's the answer. His answer
concerning the end of the world, his second coming, the grace
of God, it starts, and he says in verse 15, when ye therefore
shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him
understand. I want you to turn with me to
Daniel. Let's just find out, what did
Daniel do? Right, Daniel chapter 9. What
did Daniel write? Daniel 9, 24-27. Now let's read these words of prophecy.
Remember, our Lord is answering a question. What's going to be
the signs of your second coming? What's going to be the signs
of the end of the world? What's going to be the signs of the
destruction? What does this mean, Lord? Daniel 9.24, seventy weeks
are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish
the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation
for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and
to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of
the commandment prince shall be seven weeks,
three score and two weeks the street shall be built again,
and the wall, even in troublous times, after three score and
two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. And
the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the
city, the sanctuary, and the inn thereof shall be with a flood.
And unto the end of the war, desolations are determined, and
he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in
the midst of the week, shall he cause the sacrifice and the
oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations
he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation, and that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Now let me tell
you, we just read something that you
are thinking, what did I just read? What? a firm conviction on the 70 weeks
and the 6 weeks and all the... You can try to match all those
things up, but I'll tell you what I did see in him. I'll tell
you what I did notice. I noticed that Daniel was speaking
of our Lord's sacrifice. I noticed that the end of rebellion
and the bringing in of righteousness and the judging of idolatry and
the restoring of peace, I could tell, I could pick up That Daniel
was setting forth that God was going to do something in absolute
honor and justice and in mercy. God was going to do something
for His people. Daniel had been praying about
the restoration of God's people from the captivity of Babylon. That's what Daniel had been praying
for. The restoration of the Jews from Babylon, from physical captivity. But the Lord opened up something
to Daniel in that passage of Scripture of infinitely greater
importance. That is, the deliverance of God's
elect from the power of sin, death, and hell. And that deliverance
was going to be by the blood and the suffering of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what Daniel was talking
about. Everlasting righteousness. Judgment of sin. Destruction
of the temple. Daniel was talking about something
that was much greater than just a physical destruction. This temple that the Lord came
out of, when they asked the Lord to come out of that temple, they
asked Him, what's going to be the size? Not a stone is going
to be left in this temple right here. What about that temple
out of which the Lord came? in Jerusalem. The first was built
by, turn to Jeremiah 52. Jeremiah 52. The first temple was built by
Solomon. It was destroyed by the Babylonians. Laid bare for 400 years. That's
Solomon's temple. Jeremiah 52, verse 12 and 13. This is the destruction of the
Temple of Solomon. The reason I'm showing you this
is to show you, yes, the physical, no doubt, but the spiritual significance
of what happened. Jeremiah 52.12. Now in the fifth
month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth
year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuchadnezzar,
then, captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, into
Jerusalem, and burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house,
and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great
men, burned he with fire." Now, that's what happened at the Solomon's
Temple. At that great temple, it was
burned, laid bare for 400 years. And the scripture says, "...in
the first year of Silas at Babylon, the Jews were permitted to return
back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. And that second temple
of which the Lord came out of was built 500 years before the
Lord ever came into this world in His incarnation. And that
second temple of which the Lord came out of continued until the
Lord came and fulfilled this prophecy in the book Haggai,
let me just read this to you, Haggai 2.9, the glory of this
latter house, the second temple that the Lord came out of, shall
be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts. I'll
tell you, that first temple that Solomon built, oh, glorious,
glorious temple, gold. But the scripture sets forth
that the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the
first one. But though that second temple
was said to have greater glory than the first temple, this is
what I found out. The second temple, of which the
Lord came out of, this is what the second temple lacked. It
lacked, I found out, the Urim and the Thummim. Now that, those,
the Urim and Thummim, you've heard those say, what those were,
were precious stones that were borne by the priest going in. On that high priest he would
bear those stones. And he'd go in as a picture. of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
was the representative. He would bear those stones with
the names of God's tribes written on them. The Urim and Thummim.
And he would go in bearing those stones, representing the glorious
high priests of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Urim and the Thummim
was not in the Second Temple. enthroned in human flesh. That ark, you remember, is made
out of a shed of wood. It was covered with gold oak.
There it is, the base and the glorious. Base meaning not Him
being base, but in the form of sinful flesh. There was no ark
of the covenant in that second temple. The ural and the thummen
was not there, and the ark of the covenant was not there. The
fire upon the altar, which never went out, glorious life, God's
glory in Christ, wasn't in the second temple. The Shekinah,
that glory, or the manifestation of God's presence, wasn't there. The spirit of prophecy, we found
out, was not in that second temple. You say, five things, but he said that
the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former?
How can that be? The realization of what was pictured
in the first one, that was in that first one, the glorious
setting forth of the substance of those types walked into that
second temple. The Lord himself was there. God
Himself was there. The Lord Jesus Christ, that Urim
and Thummim, that Ark of the Covenant, that fire that never
went out, all of those things were types of Him. But He Himself
walked into this temple. There for the glory. Haggai's
prophecy was fulfilled in that so much was gone in picture and
type out of the Christ was there. But here was
the awesomeness of this realization when he walked out of it. When
he left it. There was nothing there anymore
except that which deserved what happened. Look at this beautiful
temple. The disciples said, look, take
a look at that thing. there is not going to be one
stone that is left. In the destruction of that second
temple, and historically speaking, by the Roman army, we know that
actually what happened was that the Lord of Glory put an end
to legal worship. man thinking that he was able
to approach God on his works, on his merit. The glory was gone. Our Lord prophesied of the horror
of that time. I want to read verses 16 to 21
for you. And we're going to actually read
something in here, historically, still happening, but we're coming
to the consummation of the spiritual. He said, he told them that it
would be destroyed, when ye therefore, verse 15 we just read, shall
see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet,
stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand.
Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Let
him which is on the house top not come down to take anything
out of his house, neither let him which is in the field return
back to take his clothes. Woe unto them to them that ye
have sucked in those days, but pray ye that your flight be not
in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be
great tribulations such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, nor ever shall be." This is what the Lord
said will historically take place. This temple is going to be destroyed.
This temple will be laid bare, and there will be destruction
like you've never seen before. The scripture sets forth that
our Lord prophesied of that. Josephus, the historian, the
Jewish historian, records he was not a believer, never claimed
to be a believer, he was a historian. But he claimed that there was
over a million people killed when the Romans came in. People would flee, they had to
get away. In verse 19 and 20, He said, Woe
unto them that are with child, to them that give suck in those
days. Pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on
the sabbath day. Historically speaking, physically speaking,
those words set forth that there was some that were placed under
tremendous Turnoil. Can you imagine trying to get
away from an advancing army and here you are a nursing mother
and it's just... But when our Lord and His mock
trial was brought before those Jews, Pilate asked them, what
would you that I should do, Jesus of Nazareth? And these words came from their
mouth, let his blood be upon us and upon our children. And
physically it was. That temple was destroyed. Jerusalem destroyed. Legal Mosaic
law destroyed. It was over. passage and the mercy of God
for his own. Everything that I've said up
to this point, I've given you a historical event of what happened. This is what happened. That's
what the Lord said. When you see that abomination
of desolation, I looked up abomination of desolation
just to figure out what is being said. What does that mean? The abomination of desolation.
Abomination means idolatry. That's what it means. Idolatry. Desolation means to bring to
ruin or to judge. So what our Lord actually said
was, when you see the destruction or the ruin or the judgment against
idolatry, When you see that, when you see that, this second temple, now here
is where it relates to me and you. This second temple was a
picture, it was a type of legal, free will, Those Jews, by and large, would
not have that man rule over them. You crucified him. Give us Barabbas. Crucify that man. They questioned
him. They scrutinized him. He claimed
to be the Son of God. See if God will help him now. They wanted him taken down so
that they wouldn't desecrate their holy day. religious, religious. That second
temple, a picture, a type of free will, false man-centered
religion. And God is going to destroy it. The Lord said, when you see the
abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel. Remember, Daniel
at first, he was He was talking about salvation
by grace. The Lord said in verse 15, when
you read about this, when you see that abomination of desolation,
that is the judgment of idolatry, let him that reads, let him understand. Here's what he's saying. There's
more to it than what you're just looking at. Listen. When you
see that, when you see the abomination of desolation, the actual destruction
of idolatry. When you see of a man stripped
of his treasure because of his idolatry, when you see him stripped
of his eternal soul because of idolatry, when you see that,
man as he's fallen in Adam was stripped. Stripped. The Lord told Adam in the day
that you eat, you're going to die. Strict of life, presence
of God, fellowship of God, because of idolatry. He disobeyed God. the man's rebellious, religious
hatred of God Almighty. They were religious people, but
they hated God. They hated God! The glory was gone. The Lord
told the Pharisees, He said, you're just like white encephalicas,
you're full of dead men's bones. Oh, this idolatrous generation,
who shall deliver you?" The Lord told his son, what's going
to be the sign? What's going to be the sign of
this? He told him, he said, when you see the abomination of desolation,
when you see the destruction of judgment or the ruin because
of idolatry, Let me ask you this. When does
a man see that? When you see it. I do understand
that they were talking about a physical destruction of the
temple. I understand that. Now, that
part that says, Whoso readeth, let him understand. Let me ask
you this. When do you see the abomination of desolation,
the destruction against idolatry? When do you see it? I'll tell
you when you see it. When Almighty God gives you a
new heart to see and to behold by faith what God Almighty, number
one, did to Christ when He was made sin. When you see that what He bore,
He bore as my substitute, made sin, God forsook Him, I see By
faith, I know what God's going to do. I know what God's going
to do. I know what He's going to do
against sin. I know what He's going to do. He's going to judge
it. The wages of sin is death. Would ye therefore see spiritually
the destruction that is due against sin and rebellion and idolatry? That temple? to be judged. I'm saying that God destroyed
everything that was legalistic, mosaic, false, thinking that
we have approached God on our own merit. He tore it down. But
for you and I, right here, we that are born thinking this going to be torn down. When you
see it, when you see the abomination of desolation, when you see the
just consequence of destruction coming upon the rebellion against
God, when you see it, when you see what we deserve as being
rebels born in Adam, what are you going to do? Look at verse 16, Then let them which
be in Judea flee to the mountains. I know physically, I know they
did. I understand that. But listen to this. Psalm 143.9. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies. I flee unto Thee to hide me. When you see by the grace of
God what is deserving, when you see by faith, when you know in
your heart what God Almighty is going to do, all left to themselves
in idolatry, flee to Christ. Flee to Him. When I am made to
see something with a spiritual understanding of leaving this
world without a substitute, every time I hear somebody leaving
this world, and as far as I knew, showed no interest whatsoever, in a substitute. My heart aches. My heart aches. The Lord told me, He said, when
you see the abomination of desolation, when you see what God's going
to do, when you see the destruction of idolatry, that's what it means.
The destruction of idolatry. The Roman army wasn't the abomination
of desolation. They were God's means of judgment. The judgment was on that false
legal worship. Thinking that you merited a standing
before God because of your works. It wasn't the Romans. They weren't
the abomination. The abomination was in the heart
of those false worshipers. It's judgment when you see it. When by faith, God has given
you a heart to understand what God will justly do. Flee to Christ. When they said in verse 17, 18,
let him that is on the housetop come not down, take anything
of us, neither let him that is afield return back to take his
clothes. What do you say? Give no place
or thought to worldly goods, or cares, or comforts. flee of
Christ. Paul said, all of these things
that I counted, I was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and Stockholm
Benjamin, I was concerned with the law, I was blameless. Don't
ever run back, Paul, and try to grab those clothes. Don't
ever come off a housetop, run inside, and grab yourself before
you know. He said, I count those things,
but don't. That I might win Christ, and be found in Him. Oh, but
in the midst of this world's calamities, the Lord, who cares
for His own, remembers mercy and wrath. I know what God's
going to do to this world. When I say this world, I mean
all that's left to themselves in rebellion and sin Deception. I know what's going to happen.
He's going to judge him. But I'm in this world. I'm in
this world, man. Listen to Habakkuk. Let me just
read this to you. Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 2. O Lord, I've heard thy speech
and was afraid. Oh Lord, revive thy work in the
midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known in wrath,
remember mercy. I'm in this world. Lord, I know
what rebellion deserves. I know what it deserves. You've
taught me this out of your Word. You've given me a heart to understand
some of it. I don't understand it as I ought.
I know that. But Lord, I know this. Lord, would you have mercy on
me? Lord, you were talking to your
disciples. You told them about a historical
event that was going to take place. Abomination of desolation. When you see the destruction
because of idolatry, what do I do? Flee to the mountain. Flee
to the haven. Look to Christ. In the last verse,
verse 22, it says, ìThose days shall be shortened, there shall
no flesh be saved. But for the electís sake, those
days shall be shortened.î I looked up that word ìshortenedî. Restrained by the mercy of God,
theyíll be restrained, shortened. What's going to be the sign,
Lord, of these things? Well, here's what you can be assured
of. God's going to judge sin when you see it. And I realize
that some won't see it until that day. And they'll stand before
God and they'll try to plead their own cause. They'll try
to plead their own case. We've done many marvelous works.
We prophesied your name. We cast out devils. And he'll
say, depart from me, you workers of inertia, I don't know you.
Well, they're going to see it. But for some that God has shown
mercy to, they're going to see it before. They're going to see
it by faith. When you see it, when you see
that abomination of desolation, God's going to judge sin. I know
that either in a substitute or in a sinner, one of the two.
Secondly, those that have been given eyes to see these things,
who read and hear and understand the just due of sin and rebellion
against God, they're going to flee to Christ for refuge. And
they're not going to cling to the things of this world. Don't
come down from the high stuff. Be in the field, let her go.
Flee to the mountains. Remember that abomination of
desolation, that destruction of idolatry, stripped of your
treasure. what a man deserves. The destruction of that temple was evidence, a picture, a title
of what God is going to do to our rebel against him. As you
realize the mercy that has been shown to any sinner who has been
given a heart to flee to that mountain, realize this, it was
all according through electing grace. God showed mercy because
it pleased Him to do so. When you see, flee. When you perceive, come to me. Come to me. All of you that are
weak, heavy laden, I'll give you rest. May the Lord add His
blessings on the proclamation of his glorious gospel for Christ's
sake. Amen.