Matthew chapter 24. Keep in mind
that we've already given an overview of the first seals of Revelation
6. And in those seals that we have
already discussed briefly, we have what is known as the beginning
of sorrows. The beginning of sorrows. I want
us to read the first three verses of Matthew 24 because we're going
to look very carefully at this chapter.
I think there is a vital connection between Matthew 24 and Revelation
chapter 6. I also am going to give you the
references both in Mark and Luke that I want you to read later
in connection with this, but only the first three verses this
morning. And Jesus, having gone out from the temple, was journeying,
and his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the
temple. And answering, he said to them,
Do you not see all these things? Truly, I am telling you, by no
means shall a stone be left in this place which shall not be
torn down. And as he was sitting on the
Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying,
Tell us, when shall these things be? and what is the sign of your
coming and of the completion of the age. Now the other two
passages you will want to read in the Synoptic Gospels are Mark
13, 1-4 and Luke 21, 5-7. You want to read those passages,
we will not take the time to do that this morning. Keep in
mind what we're discussing, the beginning of sorrows. Now for an overview of these
first three verses. The Olivet Discourse was spoken
just two days before the death of our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. It followed his announcement
of the woes upon the Pharisees, Matthew 23, verses 13 through
33, and the judicial blindness upon the nation of Israel, Matthew
23, 34, through chapter 24, verse 2. Now that's very important
for us to keep in mind. And we will review some of the
things in the last part of the 23rd chapter in a few minutes. This discourse, this Olivet discourse,
as it is referred to, may be called, first of all, apocalyptical. Apocalyptical, which comes from
the Greek verb apocalypto. Apocalypto means to uncover,
to open what has been veiled, to disclose or to reveal. Now it's used different ways
in different places. Now we're looking at the verb
apocalypto. The verb is used 26 times in
the New Testament. and its use falls under two different
categories, or heads. And this is very important. First
of all, that which is subjective, and secondly, that which is objective. Let's look at these two different
categories for a moment. When it is used subjectively,
Something is presented to the mind. It is presented to the mind.
I want to give you three passages of scripture for that, and we'll
look at them briefly. So when it is used subjectively, something is presented to the
mind or the heart or the innermost being of an individual. Matthew 11, 25 and 27, Matthew
16 and verse 17, and Galatians 1 and verse 16. Now let's look
first of all, beginning at Matthew chapter 11, verses 25 and 27. I have three verbs here we'll
be looking at, and they are very important. two verbs and a noun,
really. But let's look at this verb apocalyptic. Verse 25 of Matthew 11. At that
time, Jesus answering said, I am praising you, Father, Lord of
the heaven and of the earth, because you concealed these things. Notice now, concealed these things
from who? From the wise and intelligent. Now, an intelligent person today
in the wisdom of the world wouldn't like to be told that he's not
really smart in some areas. But God withholds His secret
things from these people. They're hidden from them. If
they do not have grace, they can't understand it. period,
and made them known to immature ones, babes or immature ones. Go ahead and look at verse 26
and then we'll of course emphasize verse 27. Yes indeed Father,
because it was pleasing in your sight. It is pleasing to God
to withhold or to hide His precious things from the people of the
world. They couldn't understand them anyway. Now look at verse
27. All things were delivered to
me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone fully know the
Father except the Son," now watch the last part, "...and Him to whom the Son desires
to reveal." That's the verb that we're talking about, apocalypto.
So God chooses to reveal certain things to His people, and that's
a subjective revelation. Now turn, if you will, to the
16th chapter, and all of us are familiar with this. We can't
emphasize it too much. You say, well, I've heard it
before. Sometimes I want to tell people when they say, well, I've
read that someplace, or I've heard that. Folks, when you read
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, When you read Luke, you find
he says a lot of things Matthew said. Mark says a thing both
of them say. And so we have a repetition.
So a little here and a little there. We can never hear God's
word too much. So look at verse 17. Now this
was after Peter had been questioned, whom do men say that I am? And
Peter of course gave the correct answer when he said in verse
16, you are the Christ. You are the anointed one of God,
the Son of the living God. Now observe verse 17. And answering,
Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because
flesh and blood did not reveal, that's apocalyptic, this to you,
flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in
the heavens." I'm talking about subjective revelation. People
may go to church for years and sit and hear the preacher give
the message objectively, but until God speaks subjectively,
they'll never understand the things of God, our spiritual
things. Now finally, And this is a tremendous
passage, Galatians 1. And verse 16. And I'd like to
go back to about the 11th verse to start. This is Paul's testimony. What are we looking at? Subjective
revelation. The first category of how this
verb is used in the New Testament. Verse 11, Paul said, For I am
making known to you, brethren, the gospel having been preached
by me is not according to man. For I received it not from man,
nor was I taught it, but through a revelation, now that's the
noun form, of Jesus Christ. Verse 13, for you heard of my
manner of life Then, notice that, in the Jewish religion, that
I was persecuting the assembly of God excessively and I was
harassing her. So folks, don't be surprised
if you're not harassed. And I'm not harassed for what
we believe. And then in verse 14, Paul says,
And I was progressing in Judaism, beyond many contemporaries in
my nation, being much more a zealot of my ancestral traditions. But when it pleased the One who
separated me, from my mother's womb, and call me by means of
His grace." Here it is, verse 16. Here is apocalypto again.
The verb. To reveal, and I'm translating
it here, folks, to make known. Because apocalyptico means to
make known. It's used in that sense. And
so I'm using that rather than reveal. Reveal is alright. That's
not doing an injustice to the Scripture. But I'm using the
translation to make known His Son, where? In me. In me. In order that I might
preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer
with flesh and blood. Now, what do we see in this? We see that God has to reveal
Himself to a person by regeneration, by the Holy Spirit, before He
can ever understand anything of a spiritual nature. That doesn't
mean He can't understand some things, but He cannot understand really who Jesus Christ is and
really what Jesus Christ has done. until that takes place
in his life. Now, when it is used objectively,
what do we have? Something is presented to the,
not mind or the heart necessarily, but to the eye and to the ear. To the eye and to the ear. And
I would like to give you some scriptures on that point. Romans
118. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Who
suppress or hold down the truth in unrighteousness? I don't know
how you feel. But folks, when I heard from
Chris's lips what that woman said about, we don't observe
that anymore. I'm here to tell you, I would
not have anything further to say to a person like that. What can you say? What can you
say? What I'm saying is, these are
the most serious days in which I have lived. They're the most serious. If
anyone had told me that a person would be told that, Even ten
years ago, it would have been hard to believe, but no longer.
No longer. So Romans 1.18, 1 Peter 1.5,
and 1 Peter 5.1, the message revealed objectively. The Olivet Discourse may also
be considered from the standpoint
that it is eschatological. Eschatological. Now let me give
you the passages for this. This comes from the Greek words.
Notice I said words. Ente eschate hamera. That's John 6 verse 39. Translated
in the last day, singular, in the last day. Also, this comes
from in eschatice hamerais, in the last days, 2 Timothy 3.1. So you go from the last day to
the last days. So folks, we're in the last days. But the last day is also coming. So last day is referred to eschatology,
and so does the last day refer to eschatology. Finally, the
discourse, I'm talking about the Olivet Discourse, may also
be called prophetical, which comes from the Greek verb prophetouos. And it means to proclaim God's
message or to predict the future. I must hasten to say that folks,
the basic meaning, usually first of all, it means to tell forth. And secondly, to foretell. I am not one, and by God's grace
I have not been one, to just look at one part of this great
division of our study this morning. I believe my responsibility is
to tell forth all of God's counsel. And in doing so, I will have
to tell forth what prophecy also states. I don't like men who
deal only in prophecy. I don't want to hear them. If
they cannot deal in practical things, I turn them off and I
won't go very far with them. Prophecy is only a part and about
a third, as it were, of the revelation of God's mind to you and me. Having said that, the study of
last things should be of great interest to the people of God. not to satisfy our curiosity,
but for our edification. I said for our edification. Last
things point to the final things which will culminate not only
in our perfection, but also the perfection of the world. I'd like to illustrate that.
Everything has a goal. My life has a goal. And if you
do not have some goal in your life, you're in bad shape. Bad shape. I have a goal. The world has a goal. History
has a goal. Life has a goal. Now watch this. We are told by Paul in Romans
8 and verse 24 that we are saved, the King James says, by hope. But I beg to differ with the
King James translation of that. I will admit it can be either
locative from the standpoint of Greek grammar, it can be either
locative or instrumental. And the King James Translators
chose to use the instrumental case. But folks, there is also
the locative case to be dealt with, as well as the dative case. But the dative case doesn't make
sense here. So you have either the locative
or the instrumental. And I'll tell you how I believe
that it should be translated. We are saved in hope, and since
it is the locative case, and the locative can either be sphere,
place, or time. Now what would you say? I would
say sphere. So in the sphere, we are saved
in the sphere of hope. I won't explain that. But it's fulfillment. The fulfillment
of my hope and the sphere of hope in which I'm saved has its
fulfillment in the future. And folks, that's prophecy. We're
having to deal with the future. Let me use some illustrations
here. You can't hope for what is here,
what is present. I would be foolish to say I'm
hoping to be able to be in this building. I'm here, and the building
is here. I'm hoping now, I'm enthused
over it, moving into the house in three or four weeks. But I'm
not in it. Now, that's future. Do you see what I'm illustrating?
You can't hope for what is here. Now let me apply this from the
standpoint of prophecy. Is the kingdom already here? Come on. Is the kingdom already
here? Most people who talk about prophecy,
they believe the kingdom is already here. If it's here, I can't hope
for it, I'm in it. Well, folks, if I were in it,
if I were really in it, do you think the president would have
said what he said last week? See, this came to my mind when
I heard his little speech when they signed, you know, that
peace treaty. Peacemakers shall inherit the
earth. Folks, nothing disgusts me any
more than for politicians to use God's Word when they don't
even know how to use it. Do you think there is peace between
the Arabs and the Jews? If you believe the Bible, you
don't believe it. Well, let's look at something
else. If I am in the Kingdom, Watch this. I wouldn't be hoping
for it if I'm in it. What about a person like OJ Simpson? They say about him that he is
innocent until he has proved to be guilty. And the same kind of system that
shares that will turn right around and say that a person like our brother in this church family,
you're guilty until you're proved to be innocent. Where is there
any justice in that? Does that sound like the justice
of the Lord Jesus being done? Does that sound like the will
of God being done on earth as it is done in heaven? Look at the religious section
of either the Houston Post or the Houston Chronicle. You have
the Arabs, the so-called Christians, and others on the same page,
fellowshipping together. Does that sound like the kingdom? Will there be the Muslim religion,
the Christian religion, and the Buddhist religion, and
all these religions in the kingdom? Folks, that's so foolish. The proper approach to any biblical
subject is to seek to discover what God has revealed rather
than to defend a position which we may have been holding for
a long time. We live in a day in which it
is popular to decry theology. I didn't think I'd ever witness
it, but I am. I'm witnessing it. And really, I don't know
just how to cope with it yet. except to just continue to state
the truth, whether people like it or not. The only way I know
to cope with it. Hence, we should ask ourselves,
since this is truth, I'm talking about people decrying theology,
what about the other aspects of truth? Many say, this is truth. Watch this. Others say that is
true without considering that this contradicts that. That's pathetic, isn't it? But
that's the day in which we're living. Do whatever you feel
like doing. Do whatever makes you happy. We hear it all the time. This is the Olivet Discourse.
The Lord's first discourse was on a mountain, Matthew 5, 6,
and 7. And His last discourse was also
on a mountain, the Mount of Olives, the Olivet Discourse. His first
was the Sermon on the Mount on which He looked back I'm stressing, he looked back. He is the fulfiller of the past. In the second, the Olivet Discourse,
our Lord looked ahead. He is the unveiler and fulfiller
of the future. Not only unveils, makes it known,
but fulfills it. Portions of this discourse, Matthew
24, are recorded in Mark 13 and Luke 17 and 21. Now notice what I said. Don't
just read Luke 17. Also read Luke 21. And I'll call your attention
to something very important there in a moment. Without which some
important points would be missing. in the study of the Olivet Discourse. So please study Mark 13, Luke
17, and Luke 21 in connection with Matthew 24. In Christ's last eschatological
discourse, he unfolded the prophetic program that describes the events
that intervene between His departure from the world and His return
to it as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Christ's predicted judgment upon
Israel's temple caused the disciples to raise some questions. And those questions are given
us here in verse 3 of Matthew 24. Did you know there are differences
of opinion? concerning the number of questions
that were actually raised by the disciples. Let me share them
with you. Some say there are only two questions. Others say there are three questions. While there are some others who
say there are four questions. Now put it down that I want you
to think about this when you do some study on your own. The disciples questioned, according
to some, and I'll give you the four that they say exist. When shall these things be? Number one. Secondly, what sign
will there be when these things shall come to pass? Now you have
to study the other Gospels, remember, that I've already given you,
like Luke 17 and 21 and Mark 13. Number three. What shall be the sign of your
coming? And number four, what shall be
the sign of the end or the conclusion or the completion of the age? Now some have reduced these to
two main considerations. Namely, the judgment upon Jerusalem,
which involves the destruction of the temple, and the return
of the Lord Jesus Christ to consummate the age. Now I gave that information. I have not positionized myself
yet. So that's information for you. That will save you having
to do a lot of research work. Now, this is very important,
so please don't miss this. Luke gives the answer to the
destruction of the temple. In Luke 21, 20 through 24. Verses 20 and 24 of Luke 21 do not appear in Matthew chapter
24. Let me state that again. Verses 20 and 24 of Luke 21 do
not appear in Matthew 24. So please keep that in mind.
The armies of verse 20 of Luke 21 must be those of Titus. Must be those of Titus. And of
course this refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Since
that time, the Jews have been trodden down by the Gentiles,
which will continue until, and Luke refers to this and no one
else does, until the fullness of the Gentiles, or until the
times rather, the times of the Gentiles are completed. So it's the times, not fullness
here. Times of the Gentiles are completed. After the completion
of The fullness of the Gentiles, and this is different now, there's
a difference between fullness and the completion of the Gentiles,
which is the last form of Gentile rule on earth, under the figure
of the ten toes of Daniel chapter 2, the image of Daniel, you remember
that. So the rule of the Gentiles will
terminate when? with the coming of Jesus Christ
in power and great glory. So you must make a distinction
between the times of the Gentiles and the fullness of the Gentiles.
Let me go a step further by way of amplification. The fullness
of the Gentiles, and that's what's taking place today, this is Acts
17, I'll give you the verses in a moment, spoken of by Paul
in Romans 11, 25, refers to Christ visiting the Gentiles to take
out of them a people for His name, that's Acts 15, 13 through
17. gives signs that point to two
different things. First, the present destruction
of Jerusalem. And secondly, the future arrival
of the consummation of the age. That is very important. From
the beginning of human history, man has tried to set up a kingdom
without God's King. That's what we have today, folks.
That's what we have today. That's why we have had the League
of Nations and now you know what we have. Don't forget that. This desire of man to try to
set up a kingdom without God's King began in Genesis 10 and 11. under Nimrod, who built the first
Babylon. But its conclusion is described
by John in Revelation 17, 10 through 12. Listen to this. John spoke of seven kings. Now
I have to bring these things together, even though we're not
in 17th chapter of Revelation yet. We have to be able to tie
these things together. John spoke of seven kings in
Revelation 17, 10-12, five of whom had fallen. One was at the time of John,
and one was yet to come. That makes a total of seven.
The five fallen at John's time were the kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria,
Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. And folks, the Old Testament
teaches that, as well as ancient history. The one that was in
existence during the time of the Apostle John, when he gave
us the book of Revelation, was Rome. And the one yet to come
will be the revived confederacy. The seventh shall be governed
by a spirit so distinct from the preceding six, that he shall
be the eighth. Or I should say, even the seventh,
because he's going to be the last, and that'll be the antichrist.
So he'll be the 8th. As the 7th, he shall make a friendly
treaty with Israel. That'll be the 7th. But as the 8th, he disannulls
the terms of the treaty and causes, according to Daniel 9.27, causes
sacrifice and oblation to cease. So the seventh head continues
only a short time. That's future. That's future
to you and me, as well as the eighth. But he shall be revived
in such a diabolical character. I'm talking about the Antichrist.
as to make the head another altogether, an eighth. Folks, I won't take
a lot of time this morning, but I can remember some 40 years
ago, 45 years ago, in the study of Revelation, when I came to
Revelation 17, 10, forward, I didn't know what in the world five have
fallen, one is, one is to be, and then that If the eighth one
would be such a diabolical character, he'll be the eighth? I didn't
know what in the world to do with that. Did you? The first
time you read that in Revelation, did you know what to do with
it? No, you didn't. It isn't difficult at all. It
isn't difficult at all if one has a good understanding of the
prophecy of Daniel. He has a good understanding of
the book of Revelation. It's no problem at all. The sign of Christ coming to
consummate the age was of the greatest interest to the disciples,
and you can understand that. And I'm thinking about the first
three verses that we read of the Olivet Discourse. There are
three Greek words to which we must give diligent study in connection
with the disciples' final request. And what are those three words?
Let me point them out. First, parousia. Oh, the debate
over parousia. Which can mean either his coming
or his presence. Either his coming or his presence. That's all I'm going to say at
the present time. The second word is suntalia. Suntalia. And the third word is tell us. So parasia, suntalia, and tell
us are three words I beg you to point out in the study of
this 24th chapter and make a study out of because it's an absolute
necessity to understand those three words. We'll look briefly this morning
at the word parasia. The Greek word parousia is used
four times in Matthew 24, verses 3, 27, 37, and 39. And it is used 20 times in the
other books of the New Testament. Now I'm not going to give you
those references because that would take too long. I'll do that during
the course of our study. Now I want to show you what is
involved in the study of that one Greek word, parousia. Pre-tribulationists and post-tribulationists. You know what I mean by pre and
post? Those who believe that Christ is coming before the Great
Tribulation, and those who believe that Christ coming will be only
after the Great Tribulation. I am a pre-trib. Without any
apology, I'm a pre-trib. Pre-tribalationists and post-tribalationists
both use parousia to advance their respective views. And there's
a lot of difference between pre and post. Both use the same word
to try to prove or to prove or to advance their respective views.
The word parousia means presence in 2 Corinthians 10-10 and Philippians
2-12. I want you to know it is used
in that sense. When you read those verses, you'll
see that it is. In all the other references,
it means coming, arrival, or advent. That's a challenge for
you. to study. But my conclusion is,
in all the other references, it either means coming, arrival,
or advent. It is a compound word, parousia,
made up of parah, comes from the verb par-ay-me, par-ay-me. the prepositional prefix which
means beside basically it means beside I me means to be beside
so if he were present he'd be besides but if he's if he's coming
he's also going to be besides so parasia comes from par I mean The parousia of the Son of Man,
of Matthew 24, has in view the coming of the Son of Man to deal
with conditions on the earth. To deal with conditions on the
earth. Judgment and carnage are related
to the parousia, the coming of the Son of Man. Now let's make
a distinction. The first advent of the Son of
Man was to minister and to give His life a ransom for many, Matthew
20, 28. He came not to judge, but to
save, John 12, 47. at the parousia of the Son of
Man, Matthew 24, 27, He will come to judge, not save, because
all judgment is committed to Him, John 5, 22. To Israel, watch
this, to Israel, Christ is the Son of Man. because he is the
son of David, and he's also the seed of Abraham. Romans 1, 3
and 4, and Galatians 3, 16. Now for a question. Is there
a parasia before and another after the tribulation? That's my question. Please get
the question. Is there a parasiel before the
tribulation and another subsequent to the tribulation? That's the
question. Pre-tribulationists say yes. I say yes. So I've identified
myself. And post-tribulationists say
no. They say no. So that shows you
what to study. Post-tribulationists do events instead of three. And they claim that we talk about
three events. Pre-tribulationists believe the
Bible teaches a pre-tribulation rapture. But we as premillennialists
deny that the Olivet discourse, listen closely, gives us an account
of the rapture. It does not give us an account
of the rapture. So the debate goes on between
the pre's and the post's. But folks, I want to know as
much as I can know about the subject, as much as I can find
out, and hopefully you do too. Now let's go a step further.
Our millennialists also use parousia. Let's see how they use it. They
say there is no secret parousia that is coming of Christ for
the saints. No parousia, no secret parousia. It will not come upon the Christian
as a thief, they say, and their proof text is 1 Thessalonians
5.4. The believer should be ready
for it whenever it comes. I'm telling you what they say.
And he should be able to interpret the signs of its approach. All
millennialists accuse the dispensational, and I'm not a dispensationalist
but I am a rapturist, but they accused the
dispensationalists of surrendering the rapture at any moment or
at the any moment principle by attempting to prove by signs
that the signless any moment rapture must be near at hand. That's their basic argument.
A more detailed study of parousia will be given in subsequent lessons,
but I wanted to state that. So we will investigate the various
eschatological views on the word parousia and the ways in which
it is used. Now let's look briefly at the
word suntalia. What does it mean? Completion,
consummation, Or it is also translated in your King James in many places
as end, E-N-D. This word is used five times
by Matthew. Chapter 13, 39, 40, and 49. Matthew 24, 3, so paraseah and
suntaliah are used in that same verse of Matthew 24 that I've
already referred to. And also Matthew 28, 20. and in Hebrews 9 and 26. Now
the verb form is used seven times, Matthew 7, 28, Mark 13, 4, Luke
4, 2 and 13, Acts 21, 27, Romans 9, 28 and Hebrews 8, 8. Matthew 24, 6, 13, and 14, and in these verses the
meaning, end, termination, or conclusion. So the word is used
42 times and it is translated by the word end, custom, ends,
plural, uttermost, ending, and finally. It is believed by some
scholars that telos, that's the third word, means the actual
end. Luke 1.33, John 13.1. Like Revelation 1.8, we could
give others, but that will suffice for the time being. And Suntalia
means the concurrence of the events which lead up to the conclusion
or the end of the world or the end of the age, or I like better,
consummation of the age. Now the phrase of the end of
the world, And that phrase is Suntelius to Ionus. And that demands much study,
folks. I said much study. Both Suntelius
and Ionus must be considered. They are in the genitive case,
the case of description. So the word for world is Ionus. Genitive singular of I own means
a period of time of significant character, life, an era, an age,
the material universe, or eternity. Quite a word to study, folks.
So when you look up the word translated for eternity or forever,
that's the word. The phrase should be translated,
I think, The instance in Matthew 24 of the completion of the age. In the light of the context,
what age is under consideration? That's the question. What age
is under consideration? Is there an age to follow the
one that is to be completed? Did not the Jews expect their
Messiah to complete the present age and introduce A new one? Yes. Yes. Will not the end of
the age witness the manifestation of the kingdom? My answer, folks,
is yes. Yes. We'll stop here and continue
tonight. Read and study the first three
verses of Matthew this afternoon. especially the third verse, and
we will look at the destruction of Jerusalem. Who really describes it? Does
Matthew describe it? Or is Luke the only one that
describes the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.? ? Let me
state that again because I want you to think about it during
the afternoon. Does Matthew really describe the destruction of Jerusalem
that took place in 70 A.D.? ?