I would like to ask you to turn in the book of Psalms to the 31st Psalm, and we'll read the first five verses if you'd like to join me. In Psalms 31, beginning at verse 1, we read, In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. What a way to start any Bible reading, any Scripture reading. In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be thou my strong rock for a house of defense to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for thy name's sake, lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me, for Thou art my strength. Into Thine hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth." What wonderful words we have in just these five verses. It just lights me up. Most of the time, I've got to flip through and read three or four different psalms, looking for something. This is the first psalm I opened to you tonight, and it goes so well with what we're going to be looking at. In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. And then those last words where it says, Into Thine hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth." How important those words are. I do suggest that you have your Bibles open to Matthew chapter 24. And we'll be looking at verses 1-14 tonight. But we're not going to read them all at one time. I gotta be honest with you folks, there's a lot of things in this 24th chapter of Matthew that I believe the Lord has set as an ensnarement to those who would be wise in their own ways. I think our best lesson that we can learn from these prophecies that some have already come true and some are still yet to be, our best lesson we can learn from these words in this chapter is to trust our Savior. To not lean upon our own understanding, but to lean on Him. So let's begin with verses 1 and 2, which are in our handout as well. And Jesus went out and departed from the temple. And His disciples came to Him for to show Him the buildings 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. What a solemn statement. We're in our handout, second paragraph. What a solemn statement. Jesus went out and departed from the temple. Just think about that for just a moment. Our Lord doesn't just put words in His word willy-nilly. Every single word has a meaning. And if you take that to its full, you can't take it too far. Jesus left the temple. He walked away from the temple. John Gill wrote this, he said, he not only went out from it for that time, but took his final leave of it. never to return more to it. Here a people who had all the oracles, all the prophets, even the presence of God among them, and they would not believe. Oh, for the truth of the depth of the fall. Total depravity. Whenever we approach any portion of Scripture, Lord help us to do so with deep humility. realizing that we are reading, studying, and seeking to understand the Word of God. Therefore, let us earnestly pray for the illumination, direction, and teaching of the Holy Spirit, who alone can give us understanding in the Word of God and the Word of Truth. When the Lord Jesus left the temple, that which He declared back in Matthew 23, 38, the previous chapter, was fulfilled. You remember what we looked at last week? Your house is left unto you desolate. He walked out. He left the church. He left the temple. It was now left desolate, as He said. As they, Him and His disciples, walked away from... The previous words must have echoed in their mind, in their ears. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. They turned back to look at this spectacular building with its great stones, its beautiful gates, and came to show it to the master. Look! To them it was a glorious thing to behold. As they left it as the disciples turned and looked at the beauty of this world, they simply didn't understand yet The world is cursed. Sin has cursed all that is in it. This is important for us to realize, folks. For us to understand the magnitude of God's grace, we have to understand the magnitude of our sin and what sin has done to God's creation. Now, I'm not saying it's done something without God's permission. That's not what I said at all. I believe every single step has been purposed by our Lord to be effected and happen exactly as He has purposed it to be so. But sin entering into the world is the cause of everything that is cursed. Everything shall be burned up in the end. That's a fact. Last paragraph of page 1. To the Lord it was a sad, sad sight. That which had been His Father's house which ought to have been the house of prayer, had become a den of thieves. But that place where once God dwelt and manifested His glory was now the object of His judgment and must soon be destroyed. Page 2. Our Lord's prophecy of the temple's destruction was fulfilled when Titus and his army destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. Not one stone of that magnificent structure was left standing upon another. Micah prophesied of it. In Micah 3, verse 12, it says, Zion, for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps. And this prophecy was fulfilled. Let every redeemed sinner, when he reads of the Savior forever abandoning that physical temple and finally destroying it, rejoice in the fact that he will never leave his people, his church, who are his true temple. Hebrews 13, 5, we read, For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28, 20. None shall destroy those He has bought with His precious blood. That's in Romans 8, verse 1, where it says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Also in Romans 8, verses 33-39, I know they're familiar words, but let me turn over there and read that anyway. 33, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is God that died, yea, rather than is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of God, of Christ? And after it goes through a bit there, it says down in verse 39, Or 38, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, or any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So we see the promises of God clearly. Nothing shall destroy those that He has bought with His precious blood. mid-page two. I will not pretend to have the answers to any of the questions that are raised about the prophecies contained in this chapter. Yet I do believe that our Lord did not intend for us to fully comprehend them until they come to pass. Otherwise, he would not have answered his disciples' questions so vaguely. Notice, as you go through and read this chapter in your own time, if you would, notice how it's not very clear. It's a very vague answer. And I think the whole chapter is the answer to the question that we see in verse 3, when shall these things be? If we see nothing else, Let us see this. Proverbs 3 verse 5 through 7. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil. My prayer is this, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe according to the working of His mighty power." That's almost the exact same words that he says over there, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 and 9. We are saved by grace through faith. It is a gift of God, not of works. Let's mention both. It seems to me, the last paragraph of page 2, it seems to me this entire chapter is the answer that our Lord gives to the questioning the disciples ask in the verse 3 where it says, when shall these things be? Page 3. What plain words our Lord uses to open His answer. Take heed that no man deceive you. That's in verse 5 of our text. Those are the first words out of his mouth in response to the disciples' question. Don't take them lightly. It is absolutely wrong to try to make the things described in this verse fit every single period of time. These things could be applied to every age, including the one in which we live in now. Therefore, this warning is needful today, as it was in the New Testament era, and as it shall be in the ages of time to come. I cannot imagine a more needful warning. Take heed that no man deceive you. Satan knows how easily men and women are deceived. Robert Hawker wrote this, he said, false Christ and false prophets are signs always to be noticed in the church history. Wars and rumors of wars are all ministering to Christ's kingdom. Every period in the church to the present hour have been marked with these things. They are exercises to the faithful and truly profitable under the Spirit's teaching to establish the heart in grace. My sister wrote me a note. I don't remember the exact words by our brother Chris Cunningham, but he wrote an article and posted it on Facebook. Something to this effect. Our first cause in all of our trials should be not to be concerned about getting through the trial, but to glorify our Lord by going through that trial. And she goes, what in the world is that supposed to mean? So I just referred her to several verses where Paul says he glories in his infirmities. He glories in his trials. Why would we glory in something that is so heartbreaking and so hard to go through? Because we know, according to our God's Word, that it is for our good. Sometimes it's a long time before we figure out what was good about it, but we do know this, it's for our good because the Lord says so. We must take heed, back in our handout mid-page, we must take heed not to be deceived by false Christ as it says in verse 5. The Bereans were mentioned as more noble in the Book of Acts in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. They didn't just trust the man standing in the pulpit. They searched God's Word. They looked at God's Word. They read along with God's Word to see if that's what God was revealing to them as well. There are many in the days prior to the destruction of Jerusalem who arose claiming to be the Lord's anointed one. Multitudes followed them, but there's a far greater deception than that. Modern religion presents men with a false Christ in the preaching of Arminian free will works religion. There is but one true Christ. He is that Christ who is according to the infallible testimony of God, the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures, God the Son. Listen to John 1, verses 1-3. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. That's the Son of God. That's the only God. The one and true God. Last phrase there in page 3. He who is the Christ is the surety of an everlasting covenant as we read in Hebrews 7 verse 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Page 4. The true Christ came to save His people from their sins. That's what we read in Matthew 1.21. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. And He has accomplished all that He came to this world to do. Listen to these words. from Hebrews 10, verse 10 through 14, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Oh, this is Galatians 3.13, I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, Galatians 3.13, and then by the witch will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, and every priest standeth daily ministering, and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sin, but this man, this one Christ, After he had offered, you know what the word Christ means? It means Messiah, Deliverer. After he had offered one sacrifice, for sins forever sat down at the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He who is the true Christ is the substitute and redeemer who shall be satisfied with the results of his redemptive work. Listen to these words from Isaiah 53 10-12 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." In other words, a Christ who tries to save but fails, who tries to redeem but fails, who seeks but does not find, who calls any who do not obey his call, is a false Christ, an imposter, an antichrist. Therefore, take heed that no man deceive you. Search the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. Lord, keep us from being deceived by the trials of life. we are called to endure, or by the opposition we endure from the religious world around us. And you can read, let's do that, let's read 6-11, shall we, of our text, Matthew 6-11. And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars, see that ye be not troubled. For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. I want to stop there for just a moment. How many times do we say to one another, oh, it's got to be close to time. It's got to be getting close. Look at all the wars that are going on. Why aren't we saying this instead? See that ye be not troubled. Instead of sitting here saying, oh no, time is getting soon. We're getting close. I just got the feeling it is. We should be saying this. We should be saying this. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Did you catch that? Go on, if you would, verse 7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrow. I have had those conversations. Oh, I think it's getting close. But you know something? It always comes back around to this. There's no difference between now and then. There were just as many people. We just don't have it recorded. in the word of God. How many people outside of the country of Israel are killing each other? We don't know. But there were plenty of fights and plenty of wars going on throughout the world through all time. There's plenty of of destruction through hurricanes and lava, those kinds of things, all kinds of things. Let's go on, shall we? Verse 9, Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. So, back in the finish of page 4 there, Lord keep us from being deceived by the trials of life that we are called to endure. or by the opposition that we may endure from the religious world around us. Page 5. When wars and famines and persecutions come, by which many fall away, Lord help us to continue looking to Christ, clinging to Christ, trusting Christ. There's another warning every bit as important as the last one. Far too often men get discouraged in the work of the ministry. and church members get discouraged in the service of Christ because they expect to see the fruit of their labors in this world. They expect their churches to grow. Some churches don't even grow. Some churches shrink. Do not expect peace on this earth until the Prince of Peace has made all things new. Do not expect moral purity from people who do not know God. Do not expect the world. to be converted to Christ. Our Lord teaches us plainly that these things will not happen while time shall stand. Turbulent times lie before us. Heresies and persecutions will continue to abound. Doors that are now open to us may soon be shut. These are the facts plainly revealed in these verses, but there are other lessons as well. I mentioned a moment ago that churches grow and churches shrink. Our church, a little church here in Rescue, has shrunk over the years. We have maybe half, maybe not even that, maybe a third of what we had at one time. Roger, you've been here a long time. We've had upwards of 80 people here at the church at a time. Kingsport is growing like leaps and bounds right now. Another church in Arkansas, David Edmondson used to be a preacher. I forget who it was that was preaching up to about three or four months ago. They had to shut the doors. He moved. He moved. I think he's out there in Florida under Greg Elquist now. We shouldn't be surprised at these things. Our Lord raises His people up and takes them down wherever He feels necessary to do so. And we should just praise Him that there's anybody at all, anywhere. Let's go on, shall we? Verse 6, it said, See that ye not be troubled. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass. None of these things will ever cause any injury to Christ, His church, or His people. Anything that appears to be injurious to God's elect or appears to be overturning His will and purpose will ultimately prove otherwise and will be seen to have been only the instrument by which our God has wisely and graciously accomplished His will and that which is best for His people. Listen to these words. The Word of God tells us plainly, for there must also be heresies among you that they which are approved manifest among you. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 19. Romans 11, 33-36, we read this, Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Who hath been His counselor? or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again. For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Isaiah 55, verse 8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are your ways. my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Speaking about our future, verse 13, it says, But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Though tempted, tried, persecuted, and troubled by many things, we must keep our eyes upon the prize. We must continue looking to Christ. If we are truly His, we will. Grace will keep us still. Listen to these words. The righteous shall hold on His way. Because all the righteous are held in the grip of God's omnipotent grace. We're held by Him, folks. We're held by the power of God. Listen to this. He says in John 10, 27-28, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. Why should we worry about the wars that are going on in the world around us? What's going to happen to Israel? What's going to happen to Russia? Why should we worry about these things? None of this stuff will harm God's people. I know we fear from pain and fear from troubles in those kinds of ways, but let us always remember to look to Christ as we go through those things. Listen to Philippians 1.6, being confident of this thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you, We'll perform it. Now listen to how long. Until the day of Jesus Christ. Until He returns. He's going to keep on doing the good work in us that He started. 1 Peter 1 verse 7. That the trial of your faith. See what troubles are to you and I? They're trials of our faith. Our Lord knows how we're going to act. He doesn't send these things to us to test us for His, I'm not sure, let's see what John's going to do today. He already knew what I was going to do. But to teach me, to teach me the weaknesses of the flesh and that there's only one place I can look to, and that's Christ my Lord. That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Every true believer shall endure in the pure doctrine of the gospel. Though many are deceived by false religion and enduring in the faith of Christ, being kept by the power of His grace, they shall be saved from all temporal trouble. and with everlasting salvation. Though we are weak, helpless, defenseless sheep, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is our Shepherd. Why? Good and strong. Because Christ is our Shepherd, we are secure in Him. This is what the Son of God, our dear Shepherd, says concerning all of His sheep, they shall never perish. With those words, the Son of God declares the absolute, infallible, unwavering security of God's elect in Christ. Page 7. Those who are born of God must and shall persevere. They will continue in the faith of Christ, God's elect, both believe and keep on believing. The true believer begins in faith, lives in faith, and dies in faith. The true faith never quits. Listen to Matthew 10, verse 20. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. John 8.31 Then said Jesus to the Jews, which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed. 1 Corinthians 15.1 Paul writes, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. Colossians 1 verse 21 and 22. And you that were sometime alienated enemies in your own mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. Two more if you would. Hebrews 3, 6. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house we are, are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Hebrews 3 verse 14, for we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. The word of God is very clear in this matter. Only those who continue in the faith shall enter into glory. This is the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints. Believers persevere in faith because we are preserved in Christ. Believers persevere in faith because we are preserved in Christ by Almighty Grace. Not one for whom he died shall ever perish. The Word of God teaches that preservation of the saints just as plainly, just as fully, just as forcibly as it teaches the perseverance of the saints. Perseverance is the believer continuing in faith. Preservation is God keeping his people in faith. Perseverance is the believer holding Christ by the hand of faith. Preservation is Christ holding the believer by the hand of grace. Now, I put next on page eight a section of scripture from Matthew 14, 25 through 31, which I'm sure you'll remember. And in the fourth watch, of the night, Jesus went unto them," this is top of page 8, "...walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out of fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid. And Peter answered him, and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he, the Lord, said, Come. And when Peter was come down off the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, notice what it was. He took his eyes off of Christ, and he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. That's him reaching out. It's him reaching out in persevering faith and saying, Lord, you're the one who can save me. Lord, save me. And immediately, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him. and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? I read those words, and that's every day of my life. Every day I need the Lord to reach out and grab a hold of me with love, everlasting love, loving kindness, and draw me unto Him. Don Fortner wrote, Jesus is our God and Savior, guide and counselor and friend. See how that psalm went with what we're reading right now? Went pretty well. He will never, never leave us, nor will let us quit, quite leave Him. Mid-page 8. Having Christ as our shepherd, all of God's sheep are absolutely secure in His hand. It is not possible for any true believer to perish because we are preserved by grace, by the grace of God in Christ. Listen to these words, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love were with he loved us even when we were dead in sin. hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith. and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Brother Don wrote this, and it's a rather lengthy one, but I wanted to put it all in there. He said, if we are to see this world in any way, I thought this was so well written, in any way, let it be as this, this world And everything in it is like scaffolding to a building. You know those scaffoldings that they stack up next to a building as they're building a building and they're going up and they're going up with it? Everything is part of a scaffolding to a building. This world exists only for the building of God's church and kingdom. Like scaffolding, it must come down once the building is complete. Then shall the end come." Long ago, Shakespeare wrote these words. He said, the world is a stage. Perhaps he said more than he knew. But he was exactly right. This world is a stage for action, a scaffold upon which God does His work, and a place for graves in which the bodies of sleeping saints are laid to rest in hope of the resurrection. Page 9. When the human race shall have performed their various predestined parts, when the building of mercy in the Church of God is complete, When the appointed day of resurrection has come, time shall be no more. That will bring on a long-awaited midnight cry, Behold, behold, the bridegroom cometh, Matthew 25, verse 6. Then this stage shall come down, the scaffolding shall be put away. All that sleep in their graves shall await, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt. Daniel 12 verse 2. At last, when all that it must be has been, the Son of Righteousness shall arrive. His glorious beams shall bring on the blessed morning of that great eternal day, in which the upright shall surely have dominion. Psalms 49, 14. In that day when the Son of God makes all things new, the wicked, the unbelieving, whom seem always to prosper in this world, shall be turned into hell, and the righteous, the believing, who seem always to suffer, shall inherit all things, as it says in Revelation 21, 5-7. Then shall the end come. The very last thing that shall be done, the very last act of Christ as the Savior of His people, shall be the deliverance of His church and kingdom up to the Father, perfect, complete, and glorious without spot or wrinkle, that God may be in all. 1 Corinthians 15, 24-28. then our God will make all things new. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. Verse 14. Last paragraph of page 9. This is the means by which God will save His elect. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you. that are at Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Page 10. And this will be the basis of divine judgment in the last day. Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the Savior of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish, to one we are the Savior unto death, and the other the Savior of life unto life. Who is sufficient for these things? We are not as many which corrupt the Word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. All the way my Savior leads me. Lord, help us to be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15, 58. And I close with Matthew 28, 18-20 where it says, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.