As I said this morning, we're
going to do a study tonight on times or the evidence and signs
of Christ's coming. I'm not going to go into great
depth into Millennial theories and prophecies and so forth,
but just as this will be just a brief overview of some clear
evidences. That our Lord gave in Matthew
chapter twenty four. The first of all I want us to
read together this passage. That tells of Christ going back
to heaven. After he rose from the grave
first one. Luke says, The former treatise
have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to
do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up. And after
that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the
apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself
alive after his passion or death, by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them forty days. That is, after he died and rose
again. And speaking of the things pertaining
to the kingdom of God, and being assembled together with them,
he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but
wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, you have heard
of me. For John truly baptized with
water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days hence. And when they therefore were
come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said
unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons
which the Father hath put in his own power, but you shall
receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and
Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. And when he had
spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a
cloud received him out of their sight and while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven As he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, ye men
of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus,
or one, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come
in like manner. as you have seen him go into
heaven. There is a verse of scripture
that says, He cometh with clouds. This same one shall so come in
like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Now turn
with me back to Matthew twenty-four. As I said and tried to emphasize
and stress this morning that we don't need to be so taken
up with the second coming of Christ nearly as much as we need
to be taken up with the Christ who is coming. Because there
are many people who are taken up with the things and the events
that surround the second coming of Christ who are not taken up
with the Christ who is coming. So that's vital, that is salvation
first. When is Christ coming? Well, in verse thirty-six here,
Matthew twenty-four, Christ said, of that day and hour, and I believe
he's actually speaking about a twenty-four hour period and
right down to the hour, the date, knoweth no man. No, not the angels
of heaven, but my Father only. And I'll draw your attention
to 2 Thessalonians 2. If you want to turn over there,
you can turn. I'm sorry, 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. He said, It's not for you to
know of the day and the hour, no man knoweth. But the times
and the seasons or those things leading up to his immediate coming.
We can know. Yes, sir. Look at it with me
here in First Thessalonians five, and we'll turn right back to
Matthew. Keep your place in Matthew twenty five, because in a minute
we're going to do a verse by verse study through that. Here
in First Thessalonians, look at verse sixteen, chapter four,
with me. The Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel. And
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first,
and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words." Now they're saying there is some sort of
rapture. I'm not going to go into that, but you read it, didn't
you? All right, verse one, "'Of the times and seasons, brethren,'
you have no need that I write unto He doesn't say here, I'm
not, that we don't need to be looking into these things. He
says, you shouldn't have any need that I should write unto
you. For yourselves know, verse two, perfectly that the day of
the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. And when they shall
say peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them.
as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape.
But you, brethren, you're not in darkness that that day should
overtake you as a thief. You see that? You understand
what he's saying there? You're not in total darkness
that you don't know an approximate time when Christ is coming, the
times and the seasons. You, brethren, are not in darkness
that that day should overtake you as a thief. You're all children
of light, children of the day. You're not in the night or in
darkness. So let us not sleep as do others.
Let us watch and be sober and make sure that we have oil in
our lamps, those five virgins, five with and five without. Now,
the scriptures, back to Matthew 24. Now, the scriptures are very
clear, very clear concerning the approximate time of Christ's
coming. I really believe that they are.
And as John Newton once said, he said, each succeeding generation
has more light than the other or should have. If they're watching
the time, if they're discerning the times, if they have learned
the parable of the fig tree and they see that the leaves are
coming out, they ought to know that it's near. Matthew 24, look
at verse 32 through 35 with me. Now, learn this parable. I said,
learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender,
and put it forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh. So
likewise, when you shall see all these things, know that it
is near, or he is near, even at the doors. What things? Well, we're going
to look at them. He said it all here in this chapter.
When you see these things, know, you ought to know, he is near,
even at the door. Verily I say unto you, this generation
shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. Do
you know that there are basically, that a generation is basically
two thousand years in Scripture? Do you know that much? Basically. Remember that. All right, now
back to the first of the chapter here, and let's go through it
quickly. And remember this while we read this. This is difficult,
like I said this morning, maybe a bit off more than I can chew
here, but I had a wonderful time studying this, and it's profitable,
and I think it'll be interesting, edifying, and those that long
for and look forward to his coming, this will be exciting. And remember
that the Scriptures are bifocal. All right? The Scriptures are
bifocal. Nearly every verse of Scripture
has at least a bifocal meaning. That is, it has a primary application
and a secondary application. Okay? It has a typical application,
a pictorial, a picture, and then it has an actual. Some of them
have trifocal and more. And needless to say, Scriptures
have an infinite meaning, as infinite as God Himself. But
much of what is said here, it refers to Christ's first coming
and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. OK? But there's a spiritual application
that we need to apply here, we need to see here, of the second
coming of Christ. All right? I hope the Lord will
open this up to us as we go. Now, he said in verse three,
as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, disciples came unto him privately. He's talking to his people here,
his disciples. And they said unto him, Tell
us, when shall these things be? Now, he didn't upbraid them for
asking this, did he? He didn't admonish them. He didn't
rebuke them and say, No, you don't have any business meddling.
You remember back in Acts 1, they asked the same thing again,
didn't they? Will you restore the kingdom to Israel at this
time? He seemed to gently rebuke them there because he had already
told them a lot, didn't he? Do you reckon that's the reason
he rebuked them over there in Acts 1? Because he'd already
told them all of this. They forget so soon. Spent a
great deal of time talking to you about it. Well, tell us when
these things so he didn't rebuke him that gives me that tells
me that. We can look into these things.
We can. Peter said. Peter said in the
first Peter chapter two is that we have a more sure word of prophecy.
In other words, we have more prophecy even than this. And
much of this has been fulfilled all right. So they said, Tell
us when shall be the sign of thy coming, thy second coming,
and of the end of the world. And he says in verse four, And
Jesus answered and said unto them, Now take heed that no man
deceive you. Take heed that no man deceive
you. And men today show their ignorance
by giving exact dates and times. Because Christ said the times
are in the Father's hands, the dates, the exact time no man
knoweth. Didn't he say that? Well, I hear
these fools go through these little, you
know, go through their dates of prophecy, you know. Most of
them already passed. They had the 80s plumb filled
up, didn't they? Is this definite that Christ
was coming? Boy, they had to eat so much
crow. What's those fellows like, crow? They sure eat a lot of
it. But Christ plainly said, nobody knows the day or the hour. Matthew Henry said this, he said,
Christ will come when it pleases him just to show his sovereignty
right up to the end. He's going to come when it pleases
him to show he's sovereign even over his second coming. When
he pleases. People me and say we've come
in this certain certain day you can count on he's not coming.
J.C. Ryle said this uncertainty about
the date of the Lord's return. Is to keep believers in an attitude
of constant expectancy. And to keep them from despondency. To catch that. keep believers
in an attitude of expectancy and keep them from despondency.
I'll illustrate because if we knew what if we what if we knew
that in the year two thousand let's say real thing. Nineteen hundred and ninety seven
Christ was coming no doubt about it we knew that for a fact what
would we do. Come on now, you procrastinators,
you. What would you do? 1997, you've
got, that means you've got five more years to whatever. Right? And we'd do it. You better believe
her. Men wouldn't be seeking the Lord.
Got five years. Why? Let's wait until then. Eat, drink,
and be merry, and live it up, and then we'll get serious. That's
what men do. They live 70 years. not knowing
if they're going to die the next day. You know, but they live,
go through life 70 years and all of a sudden they lay in the
hospital breath and they're on a ventilator and they call for
the preacher. It's time to get serious, right? And we do the
same thing. So Christ keeps us in a spirit
of expectancy that nobody knows. And he keeps us, if we knew it
was 2000 or 1997, we'd worry about tomorrow. When. Christ says don't take
any thought for the next day tomorrow. He says you don't know
that you've got one don't take any thought but if we knew we
had one we'd worry about right we'd worry about our children
for five years. Desperately we worry about the
least little thing up until it's time to stay where I'm coming
from there. Keep us from a spirit of despondency. If we're constantly in a spirit
of expectancy, we may come to Mars. Why worry? Go to sleep. But if we've got plenty of time,
oh boy, how are we going to pay this? How are we going to do
this? How are we going to do that? See what I'm saying? Or what J.C. Ryle said in so many words. Verse
5, now he says, Don't be deceived. Many shall come in my name, saying,
I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Now either, he's saying
either, either he's saying here that many will come saying that
Jesus is the Christ, or claiming, or many will come claiming that
they are the Christ. It both, both takes place. Many come in the name of Jesus
and they claim that Jesus is the Savior and the Christ and
so forth, alright? But there are many even now,
and always have been, who have come saying, I am the Christ. No. The pope. Every one of them claims to be
the vicar of Christ. Right? That's the pope. The infallible
representative. The head of the church. Right? The head of the church. Who's
the head of the church? Christ. And every pope that has
ever lived has said, I'm the head of the church. I'm the Christ.
Right? Many will come, and that has and that is right now happening.
Okay, verse 6, and you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled.
See that you be not troubled. Wars and rumors of war. Now,
all of the wars that have happened down through time are too, they're
innumerable. You can't, we couldn't even begin
to list them. wars and rumors of war it would
be impossible to list them these world wars were the most notable
ones. You know when the Jews when Rome
invaded Jerusalem and destroyed it in the year seventy they thought
the world's coming to an end. They thought this is it and every
generation from there on out the same some major war. They
said it to the world war is the most significant more people
get the civil war in this world will get into that the second
but Christ said here in the same sense that Paul said over in
the second Thessalonians two he said let no man he said don't
be so shaken in mind or troubled. That his coming is right away
and Christ is saying that here, he said, Now don't be troubled
that that this is all going to happen real soon because it's
got to be wars and rumors of war. Don't be troubled. All these
things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. All right. You still with me? The end is
not yet. There's a lot else to take place
for. And he's talking to his disciples
here. And John, the beloved one, was
there when he said this. And I'm sure John saw the destruction,
the sacking of Jerusalem, I believe. And John must have been greatly
troubled by it. So the Lord is talking to John
here and saying, don't be troubled now. It's not it yet. There's
a lot else that has to go on. Verse 7, nations shall rise against
nations. That is, civil wars within a
nation or kingdom against kingdom, cultural wars, Arab-Jews, Germans,
French, Japanese, Americans, you name it, kingdom against
kingdom. And there shall be famines, famines. Now, the famines that happened
throughout the Old Testament pale in comparison to the famines
that have been going on in our generation. You know it. There's still famine going over
in Ethiopia. Nobody even talking about it.
It's been going on so long that they quit reporting it. Right. They don't. Famine didn't cease.
You remember all that time they were all a crusade for food for
the Ethiopian. It never did stop. Never did
rain. Well, it's just an ongoing thing,
so maybe even quit talking about it. Famines, pestilences, the
plagues of Egypt were mild compared to the plagues that have gone
down through the ages in our generation. Bubonic plague, smallpox,
just keep naming them. AIDS, I forget the statistics,
but it's in the millions. by the year 2000, if this place
is around by then, that AIDS will have affected that many
people. And every year there's a different
and more powerful strain of some kind of biological disease or
insect, killer bees from that, killer bees. Food supplies, tainted,
people dying of all these things, earthquakes. He said pestilences
and earthquakes. Now, we read of one nearly every
week now. Seems like we read an earthquake
you know we talk about the earthquakes over in San Francisco San Andreas
fault and all that they say the major one one of the biggies
going to be right in the Midwest United States around lower Kentucky. Kentucky. Well that's a God fearing
people that's the Bible belt. Don't you believe it for a minute. They're predicting a major earthquake
in that portion of the country. I predict a major one right down
through the heart of the world. Earthquakes, we hear one every
week. Famine in different places. All these, he said, verse 8,
are the beginning of sorrows. The beginning of sorrows. That's the beginning back there,
and it'll have its culmination, I believe, now. The world of tribulation and
sorrow. Prophecy people, listen to me,
prophecy people like to talk about the tribulation period.
They all do. They talk about the tribulation
period and they act like it's just going to be a certain number
of days right before the coming of Christ. Folks, the church,
we've been in the tribulation period from the very beginning,
since Christ left. Christ said that when the bridegroom
leaves, the bride will mourn. Because they're going to be in
persecution and tribulation from that day until the bridegroom
comes and takes his bride out of it. Tribulation. We live in
a world of tribulation. You must, through much tribulation,
enter the kingdom of heaven. Tribulation period. We're in
it. We're in it. World of tribulation and sorrow. We've been in it for a number
of years now. Verse nine. All these things, the beginning
of sorrows. He's talking to the Jews now. He's talking to right
after he, right before he's ready to leave. He said, it's beginning
right now. And there's a lot of it going to take place. He
said, don't be troubled. The end's not right now. You
see what he's saying in the context? It's not now, fellas. There's
a lot that goes on. This is the beginning. And there
were earthquakes and wars and troubled A troubled back then
and pestilence and famine then at the beginning as there is
now. All right, verse nine. Now they shall deliver you up
to be afflicted. Who's he talking to? He's talking
to these Jewish fellows. These Jewish disciples, OK? Now
remember, like I said, as we read through this, the scriptures
are bifocal. And they delivered every one
of these fellows up to be killed. Look, John. They shall deliver
you up to be afflicted, shall kill you, and you shall be hated
of all nations for my name's sake. And the same goes true
for true Jews. True Jews. Circumcision of the
heart. You'll be hated by all men for
my name's sake. And like I said, they killed
all the apostles, and they'd kill you if they could. And it
may come to that. I don't know. How have the Jews been persecuted
as a people down through the years? My, my, they called themselves
God's people even today, right? God called them that to begin
with, and now the Jews still call themselves God's people
and they talk about Zion. You ever heard that term in the
newspaper? This world is gnashing its teeth on this Zionist religion,
right? Folks, we're marching to Zion. There is a city of God. It's
not Jerusalem. It's the New Jerusalem. There
is a Zion. But Jerusalem, that's a whole
other story. Romans 11. But they're hated
by all men because of their belief that they're God's people. They're
Zionists. And people hate that. And I'm
not saying that they're Jews, that God is through with the
Jews. Romans 11 seems to indicate otherwise. All right. But God's people have been hated
from the very beginning and hated now worse than ever. And verse
10, And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another,
shall hate one another. Christ said, I've come to set
a man at variance against his father. A woman against her mother
and a man's enemies, they're not going to be out there. They're
going to be in his own house. Some of you may have experienced that.
And the gospel is despised today by nearly everyone. You can believe
anything but sovereign grace. And you'll be hated and despised. Many will be offended, shall
betray one another, shall hate one another. Verse 11, many false
prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. Deceivers, remember
Paul said, evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving
and being deceived. Verse 12, and because iniquity
shall abound, iniquity shall abound." And if
you think the kingdoms of Babylon and Rome were bad, you haven't
taken a look at the 6 o'clock news, have you? At no time in
history has there been such a universal, blatant wickedness and open rebellion
like there is now, never before. Rome, that civilization called
Rome with all of its paganism and all of its immorality and
open wickedness and lewdness, it pales in comparison to the
United States of America, supposedly God-fearing people, right? One
nation under God. Oh, that's blasphemy right there,
isn't it? One nation under God's wrath is what it should read,
shouldn't it? If there's one nation under God's
wrath, this is it, buddy. We've sinned against lights.
The gospel has been preached here, and being preached right
now, unlike any other place on this planet. Iniquity abounds. You think Sodom
was bad? I barely believe that Sodom would
be considered relatively moral. compared to the major cities
of the United States of America. Yeah, I do. Sodom, San Francisco. Sodom, Francisco. And it's spreading
rapidly and militantly and boldly and unabashedly to small-town
USA. You won't read the Roanoke newspaper. one day out of the week that
there's not some reference, some sympathetic reference to the
homosexual cause. Right, Ed? I mean, we're talking
about Virginia, Roanoke. And it'll come a time in the
various schools of Rocky Mountain, Virginia, if the Lord tarry,
that they'll be preaching homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle.
count on it, if the Lord doesn't come. It's pervading all society. Ah, boy, the iniquity shall abound. Can it get any worse? Huh? Can it? All right, he says, the
love of many shall wax cold. The love of many. Love of self
abounds, doesn't it? This is the me and the my generation
at the expense of everybody. Love yourself at all costs. You're
worth it. Now, what'd they tell you? Isn't
that what Paul told us? Men shall be lovers of themselves,
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of their own children. Right? I got to go earn all this money
so I can have a new car. What about your kid? You're neglecting
your kid. They got a babysitter. Isn't that the love of a mother
for a child waxing cold? Huh? And it carries over and
so many, I give so many examples there. Lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God and the commandments of God, iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold, but he that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved. He that shall endure unto the
end." How do you endure unto the end? By standing fast, holding
fast to your hope, being unmoved from the gospel, your hope. By
being uninfluenced and unswerved and moved away from your hope,
Christ. By looking to and trusting in
and believing Christ in the face of all the onslaught of modern
religion and heresy, after the way they call heresy, that's
the way I believe. That's what I preach, right?
This strange way. It's strange. You know, the old-fashioned
gospel of God's grace is a strange new doctrine. And there's a few
discovering it, like that group in California, you know, Reform,
Reformation. My soul, man. said would happen, falling away
from the faith. But he that shall endure, that shall hold fast
to Christ, be held fast by Christ, shall endure unto the end. Verse
fourteen, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world for a witness unto all nations. The gospel
will be preached in all the world for a witness, to make every
man and woman and your young person accountable. See God is
not unrighteous. God is not unjust. God has not
left himself without a witness throughout the world so that
every man, woman, and young person is accountable. And Paul said
it in one place. He says, Have they not heard?
Yes, verily the sound is gone throughout the whole world, he
said. And even as I speak right now there are men walking on
foot. Walter Gruber, Milton Howard,
Ken Wymer, Bill Clark, into remote areas of jungle to take the gospel
to people that have never heard it before. They're all going
to hear it. And it'll be a savor of life
unto life to some. Blessed are your eyes. Blessed
are your ears. if you believe, but a saver of
death unto death to others that say, We won't have that. Then shall the end come. See that? See the significance of verse
fourteen, Terry? The gospel must be preached.
All these things had to take place, but there was not this
great spirit of apostasy that I read of in the scriptures up
until now. We're in it. It's falling away
first. 2 Timothy chapter 4, 3. The great falling away first, the
mystery of iniquity. It started back then. That's
what Paul said. It doesn't now already work, but right now,
She's in the last stages, I'm certain of it. This gospel must
be preached in all the world, and via television and radio,
it has. Down in Africa, they say as poor
as it is, that people may have a dirt floor, but they've got
rabbit ears, they've got an antenna on top of their hut. People do
without food, but not TV. No way, can't do without that,
to live by it. Do you see the significance of
that verse? Then shall the end come. All right, now Christ goes
back and rehearses some more with them. You with me here?
I hope you're not, I'm not losing you here. Christ goes back now
and he starts over again. And he rehearses starting from
the Jews up until he comes again. All right, now look at verse
16. Now when, therefore, you shall see the abomination of
desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, when you shall see
this stand in the holy place," now whoever's reading this, let
him understand. Who's reading this? We're reading
it. When you, therefore, see the
abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, now
let's turn back there, all right? Daniel chapter 9. Turn back with
me. Daniel chapter 9. Abomination
of desolation. Whoso read it, let him understand.
I read it, and I'm not sure I still understand it. But I'll give
you what I've got. All right? I tell you what, you'll not find
in all of the scriptures a more clear picture of the gospel than
Daniel 9.24. You will not see anywhere in
the Bible description of the work of the person, the work
of Christ, or the work of Christ in salvation anywhere in the
Bible than you see right there. So if we see that, we've seen
enough. Daniel chapter 9, now look, let's
read it together, verse 23. Now at the beginning, this is
the angel talking to Daniel. Daniel had been praying. Run
up there to verse 20. Well, how was Daniel praying? Since while I was speaking and
praying and confessing my sin. That's great. I like that. Verse 23, Daniel was praying
and the angel came and said at the beginning of your prayer
supplication, Daniel, the commandment came forth. God told me that
I'm to come and show you you're greatly beloved. Therefore, understand
the matter and you consider the vision. Verse twenty four here
it is. Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people that is Israel and upon thy holy city Jerusalem
to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins. Now people
this is talking about when it talks about weeks. When it talks
about weeks it's talking about years a week is a number of years. Seventy weeks altogether is weeks
of years. Four hundred and ninety years.
OK? Seven years times seventy. Four
hundred and ninety years. The Bible, and I'm not going
to take time to go through and show you all those scriptures
that talk about years in reference to weeks. All right? Take my
word for it, would you? 70 times 7 is 490 years. From 457 B.C. to when the order was given to
rebuild the temple in Jerusalem until 33 A.D. was 490 years. OK? 33. That ring a bell? That's when Christ died. That's what this is talking about
here. Seventy weeks are determined. from the time the commandment
comes forth to rebuild the temple, except to finish and make an
end of sins. It says in that, now listen to
this verse of Scripture in Hebrew, Now once in the end of the world
Christ hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. End of the world, this generation. To end sins, to put away the
transgression, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation
for these iniquitous sinners, to reconcile the people to God,
to bring in an everlasting righteousness. What's this talking about? Who
is this talking about? Bring in an everlasting righteousness,
Christ's righteousness. To seal up the vision in prophecy,
Christ said, I must fulfill the scriptures, the law. Every jot
and tittle must be fulfilled. And he said, Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but not one word of God's law shall pass
until I have fulfilled it. And then I come. And look at this, verse twenty-four,
the last line, to anoint the most holy. Seventy weeks from
the time this was this commandment came forth till Christ died on
the cross and he sat on the throne and God anointed him. Lord, to this end Christ both
died and rose again and revived that he might be Lord both of
the dead and the living. All right? Crown him Lord over
all, dead and living. Now, verse twenty-five. Know
therefore and understand. Know this. Remember Christ said
in parentheses, he that reads, let him understand. That from
the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem
unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven weeks, three score
and two weeks. That's sixty-nine weeks. Okay? Sixty-nine weeks. You've got
to pay attention. Seven weeks. would be forty-nine
years. I mean one week, sorry. One week
would be forty-nine years. Seven times seven would be forty-nine
years. It took forty-nine years to build
the temple, the walls. Forty-nine years to rebuild the
temple after it was destroyed. And he says from that time it'll
be sixty-nine weeks, all right, till Christ comes, or till he
dies on the cross. And the wall will be built again,
the wall even in troublous time. That's the reason it took so
long. They had to fight sword and the trowel. One fellow's
working on the wall while the other fellow's fighting. And
he put down his sword and he'd pick up a trowel and the other
fellow would pick up a sword and he'd fight a while. And they said,
they're making a breach over here, they're cutting a wall
down here while we're building it. Let's go over there and fight
over there a little while. took to build this wall back
circle Jerusalem. All right now verse twenty-six
now after three score and two weeks that is that's sixty-two
weeks after the wall is built what he's doing here is just
pinpointing the time he's just showing seventy weeks altogether
From the time the commandment went forth, forty-nine years,
and then there's sixty-two more weeks after that. He's just making
no doubt. He's showing that there's no
doubt when I'm talking about it. See, he's just verifying
the time. Three score and two weeks, the
Messiah will be cut off. Not for himself. Not for himself. And the people of the prince
that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and
the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of
the war desolations are determined." Shortly thereafter, shortly after
Christ died on the cross and went back, like I said, to the
year 70 A.D., it was destroyed. Rome came and destroyed Jerusalem. and the leader of the ruler of
the you know who his name was and his people came and destroyed
the city and the temple with the flood of war and set up idolatrous
practices and so forth and verse twenty seven. Now here's the
abomination of desolation. And he that's not Christ here.
This is talking about this this evil prince that came in the
city. He shall confirm the covenant
with many, or make an agreement with many people for this one
week. And in the midst of the week,
he shall cause sacrifice and oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading, or fill that place up with abominations, he shall
make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined,
shall be poured upon the desolate." There it is, the desolation of
abomination. abomination of desolation. Do
you understand? Well, you understand the first
part, don't you? You understand that Jerusalem was made desolate,
right? Jerusalem was made desolate.
Christ said, it's going to happen, fellas, isn't it? He's talking
to the Jews. It's going to happen when you see the abomination
of desolation and this place is destroyed and they set up
idolatry and so forth in their That's the end, all right? The
end of the world, the beginning of it. Now, like I said, now
turn back to Matthew 24. Matthew 24. Now, like I said,
now he's rehearsing. He began at the beginning. Understand
me? Are you with me? He's talking
to the Jews here. Are you with me? Huh? Call his
name. Call off the road here. Charles,
are you with me? He's talking to the Jews. He
said they're going to destroy Jerusalem. The desolation of
abomination is the beginning of it, and it's going to have
its fulfillment. It's going to be spread, widespread. Do you see the desolation, the
abomination of desolation in our land now? Surely you see
it in Jerusalem now. There ain't no gospel within
a hundred miles of that place. It's desolate land. Do you see
it in our country, the abomination of desolation? Now, Christ doesn't
mention seventy weeks here. He just talks about the abomination
of desolation. He talks about these abominable
practices in a desolate land that we live in. Do you see that? Do you understand that we live
in an abominable place now that's desolate and void of the gospel?
A great famine of bread. I mean, not of bread, but of
the hearing of the Word. Do you understand that much?
All right. The end is near. This generation,
Christ said. Now, he goes on in verses sixteen
through twenty. He's talking to these Jews about
what's going to happen when Jerusalem is destroyed, all right? A lot
of people get that out of context and say, well, these Iraqis are
going to be on the house, and they're going to take one, and
the other one's going to be working on the roof. He's going to have to finish
a job and so forth. He's talking to the Jews here,
and he's saying that when this thing comes upon Jerusalem, you
better flee, because they're going to level this place, all
right? We're not going to flee when Christ comes, except run
into his arms. Right? Not going to run. He's
just going to, in a moment of twinkling of an eye, we're going
to change the scripture, see? We're not going to have time
to run. All right? That's 16 through
20. Now verse 21. Then, you see here? He's leading
up. Then shall be great tribulation. All right? Now, the Jews naturally
thought that they had a hard time then. They didn't have any
idea what was going to happen when Adolf Hitler came around,
did they? You see what I'm talking about? Then shall be great tribulations
such as what's not seen since the beginning of what? Six million
Jews piled up in piles. And that happened just forty-some
years ago. Those days will be shortened.
Romans 9, 28. Listen to this verse in light
of this. Except the days be shortened.
Paul said in Romans 9, 28, the Lord's going to make a short
work in the earth. He's going to cut it in half. What do you
do when you make short work? You cut it in half. Cut this
time in half. The world's been 4,000 years
up till Christ came. He'll make short work of it.
A long period of time seemed to be, you want to make a cutter
in half. Stay with me. We'll make short work here, except
those days should be shortened. In other words, if there's another
4,000 years, the man would kill himself off. Kill himself and
everybody else. Kill himself, but no flesh should
be saved, but for the elect's sake. For the coming of Christ
and the rapture, if you will, or the taking up of the church,
for the elect's sake. Like just like a lot, the Lord's
going to come. We'll take you out of this city.
He's going to take you by the hand and lead you to the promised
land, just like a lot. And I remind you how many there
were that got out of that place, and I don't believe the ratios
any less or more now. Noah's day. My first relative
generation. Eight people. As a little church
of eight people meeting, worshiping the living God. Millions and
even billions were destroyed. Lot in a city of how many hundreds
of thousands, maybe millions? Three people, four people. And
one of them perished by the way. Lot. And God's coming back for
his people. Christ is coming back and going
to take us out of here like lots. I'm going to shorten the word.
Verse 23 and 24. Now, if any man shall say unto
you, do you follow... Now, are you with me, please?
Do you follow how Christ is taking us through a... What's the word
I'm looking for? A... Anyway, he's starting at
the beginning with the Jews, with those disciples. And he
said, no, this is going to happen to Jerusalem. And it ends on
its way. And he said, Now all these things
are going to take place, and the tribulation period is coming,
such as has never been seen before, except those days be shortened,
and old people's flesh be saved. Now verse twenty-three, If any
man shall say unto you, Here's Christ, or there, believe it
not, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and
show great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible
they shall deceive the very elect. Now do you know that today, and
this has been happening, but today there is a man in California. You might know it being California.
There's a man in California right now who claims to be Jesus Christ. He has made public announcements
that he is Jesus Christ and he's got a following. He's got a following. I forget how many, but I'd written
it. Hundreds of people are following him, and it said that he's waiting
for the time he's going to reveal himself to everybody. Now, I know this has been going
on for a while, but there's many. And false prophets? Have there
ever been any more false prophets than they? Have there? Never. Never. Never. Elijah was won against 450 plus
400 more. That's 850. It's more than that
now. I'm a true preacher. I've won against 850,000. Many false prophets. And show great signs and wonders.
I don't deny what's taking place. I don't deny that something's
going on, that something's happening, that these people slaying and
falling on the ground and writhing like dead animals on the highway. I don't deny that something's
happening. I don't deny that there's not
a spirit, an outpouring of the Spirit. I'm just telling you
it's not the right one. Isn't that what he says here? Great
signs and wonder? We're seeing it. I don't deny
that some people are being healed. I just deny that Jesus Christ
is doing it. And I tell you all, don't be
impressed with, he said here, even though the elect may say,
hey, well, think about it. Did you hear that? Did you see
this? Oh. Let me tell you this, listen
to this. Don't you be impressed with,
or taken up with, or fall for anything outside of the truth
of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is
the power of God unto salvation of everyone who believes. Right?
The gospel. Doesn't the scripture say, Terry,
that God is seeking such that worship him in spirit and in
truth? Huh? There's a lot of talk about
the spirit. Are you hearing much truth? Got to be together, don't
they? Because he's the spirit of truth.
He takes the things of Christ and shows them unto you. Christ,
the truth. Right? He does in-depth studies.
The spirit of God is doing in-depth studies. And that's in Matthew
24. The spirit of the devil is slaying
people on the ground tonight. The spirit of the devil is healing
people tonight. The spirit of God is taking the things of Christ
and showing them unto you, and you, and you. Now, don't be taken
by anything less than Jesus Christ, or more than Jesus Christ and
him crucified. Paul went to heaven. Paul had, he said, I don't even
know if it was an in-body or out-of-body experience. He said,
I went to heaven and saw things I can't even describe to you.
What was he taking up with? He said, I'm determined not to
know anything about it. Save Jesus Christ and him crucified.
What's greater than that? Armageddon? All right. Besides, Christ is
saying here, he says, Christ is not going to come in secret.
Here he is, there he is. All eyes are going to see him.
He's not going to hide in San Francisco. This is what Christ
is saying here. I've told you before, verse 26,
if they say unto you, Behold, he's in the desert, don't go
out there looking for him. Behold, he's even in the west. Verse 27, as lightning comes
from east to west across the skies. Son of man's appearing,
he said, and every eye shall behold him." And it says here,
they will wail and mourn because of him whom they have picked.
And they'll know him. Everybody, nobody will have to
ask, who is that? What's going on here? They'll
know. The lightning from the east to
west. Immediately, verse 29, after
the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the
moon will not give her light, stars shall fall from heaven,
the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and that all is what
he's talking about, that the Lord goes into great detail through
revelation. Verse 30, and then shall appear
the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, then shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn. We better be mourning right now,
people. Blessed are they that mourn,
they shall be comforted now. People who are mourning then
shall be judged. They shall see the Son of Man
coming in clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he'll
send his angels, Michael, get them, round them up. Sound of the trumpet, ta-ta-ta. They shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the earth."
Together? Get them together, we're going
home. Is that sensationalism? That's
Matthew 24, 31. Here's what that is. Does that
excite your heart? Now back to where we started,
he said, Now you learn a parable of victory. When his branch is
yet tender, now it was tender back then when
they destroyed the temple and all these things started taking
place. You know, and he puts forth leaves, there's a leaf,
there's a leaf, the tree's full, folks. She's full of leaves. Do you see that? Do you see how
the iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold? Do you see
the abomination of desolation in the four corners of the earth?
Do you see that? Do you see how the men are lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of God, traitors, heady, high-minded? All these
things that Paul taught—the great falling away, the mystery of
iniquity, antichrist—do you see all these things? It's here.
It's here. Learn a parable, he says, when
the branches tender and put forth his leaves, you know summer is
nigh. Likewise, when you shall see all of these things, know
he is near, he is at the door, and that ain't your heart's door." That means the door where it
says, the master of the house has risen up, and when he shuts
the door. In other words, Christ has got
his hand on the knob of mercy's door, the ark, the door of the
ark. Understand, God's got his hand
on the door of the ark ready to shut it. And he says, we're not in darkness,
folks. These things should take us.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. He's near. How near? Peter gives us a little more
light over here in 2 Peter chapter 3. Peter goes into a little more
detail here. Look at it. You need to look
at it with me. I'm not going to keep you much
longer. 2 Peter chapter 3. Look at it with me. This is an
accurate description of right now, the end times. Now, he says
this 2nd epistle, beloved, verse 1, I write unto you, in both
which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that you
may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets, Daniel, and in the commandment of us, the apostles
of the Lord and Savior, Paul and his writing, and Peter, knowing
this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers
walking after their own lusts, saying, Where is the promise
of his coming? Since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation,
unless they are willingly ignorant of it. They're willingly ignorant
of the flood, that is, or the creation. Evolution is the accepted
fact now, and it's taught in our schools. This they're willingly
ignorant of, that by the word of God, the heavens that were
of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water,
and then they're ignorant of the flood, that is, the world
that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. And the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word, kept
in store or reserved unto fire. against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men." Now, beloved, but beloved, believer, be not
ignorant of this one thing. One day is with the Lord as a
thousand years. In other words, how can God decree and foreordain and work
out something that happens over here on the far corner of the
globe to this one and something else over here on this other
corner of the globe and everywhere in between. Every single individual
that ever lived. How can God work out every minute
detail in the lives of every... One day is like a thousand years
to God. He may have spent the equivalent of a thousand years
ordering up one day's time. Understand what he's saying there?
God may have spent the equivalent of a thousand years ordering
up one day's time. He may have spent a thousand
years creating—seven thousand years creating the world. Six
thousand. Six days he created and seven
he rested. I think that's significant. Now look at this. Don't be ignorant
of this, he says. One day is with the Lord a thousand
years, and a thousand years has one day. one day. And like I said, the
Lord made the earth in six days, and on the seventh he rested.
You know God's true to his word. You know God repeats himself. The old saying is, you ask a
history professor, he'll say, if you don't study history, you'll
repeat it. And it will, every time, always. You know, God repeats
himself. If we had the eyes to see the
Old Testament, we'd see that things are happening exactly
like they've happened before. Henry, things are happening just
like they did to Israel, aren't they? Everything, you can just
trace everything. It's all the time. Isn't it all
the time? Aren't the words of God's Spirit
Huh? Is this just an idle thought
by Peter? Now, folks, is he just saying
here that y'all ought to know that God doesn't pay attention
to time a thousand years a day, days a thousand years a day.
Is he just idly throwing that out there, or does that have
some significance? He said, don't be ignorant of this. Most experts, biblical experts,
believe that this world is Six thousand years old are approaching.
All right. Six thousand years, the end of
six thousand years will be soon. Maybe now. We don't know.