All right, let's open our Bible
to the book of Mark chapter 13 We've been preaching through
I've been preaching through this 13th chapter not not getting
into any hurry, but concerning the issue of the last days the
last days as the New Testament refers to them and and covering
that time span between the first coming of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ up to his second coming. Those are the last day.
And these that I believe this is a great study from God's word
because. And I told you this, I don't
know when the Lord is coming back, but I know that he is.
It may be in our lifetime. It may not. But we need to be
prepared. And that preparation is a preparation
of God's grace, God's sovereign mercy and grace in Christ. And he prepares us. I love those
gospel passages which talk about the table that is already prepared
for us. And that's a way of symbolically
showing how salvation is accomplished not by me, not by you, but by
the Lord Jesus Christ. All that God requires of me I
find complete and prepared and finished in Christ. All wisdom,
all righteousness, all sanctification, holiness, all redemption in him.
Though as we approach the last of the last days, we need to
be prepared. Well, the Lord here on this occasion,
on the Mount of Olives, is answering the question that one of his
disciples and others pose concerning the last days. And he told them
that the beginning of these last days would be marked by two great
events. The first one being the destruction
of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and the total abolition, if you want, or the
total doing away with the Old Covenant, rather. That whole
system of the Law of Moses that was given to the nation Israel.
would be done away with and of course the great one of the most
marvelous and great indications of that was when our Lord was
on the cross and he said it's finished it's finished and he
gave up the goat and the veil in the temple was torn from top
to bottom indicating the end of all those sacrifices. And
that's what you read about there in the Book of Daniel. And the
whole Jewish nation would be destroyed. And that actually
took place in A.D. 70, but the beginning of that
is a time period. It took place over a period of
time. So that's the first thing. And then the second thing that
he talked about was the deception of false Christianity would begin.
And that began just about immediately. when the disciples and the apostles
went out preaching the gospel in Judea to the Jews and then
went out into the Gentile world about three and a half years
after the Lord's death when Stephen was killed and then they shot
the catapulted the gospel throughout the Gentile world immediately
the spirit of Antichrist as John and Paul calls it began to operate
in that day and that's the spirit of that's an evil spirit of religion
that comes in the name of Christ, calling himself Christian, but
who denies the doctrine of Christ, the truth of Christ. And so here,
beginning at verse 14, the Lord begins to show them the continuation
of these events. What's going to happen? And of
course, he continues all the way through Mark 13. But let's
just read a few passages here, beginning at verse 14. He told them they were going
to be persecuted for his sake, for the gospel. There was going
to be a great persecution. We're in the world, but we're
not of the world. And the world by nature hates
the gospel. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them. All
of these things. This message of grace exposes
the false religious refuges of self-righteous sinners because
it leaves us with No hope of salvation, but Christ and Him
crucified and risen again. And men by nature hate that.
We want to hang on to everything but Christ. We want to hang on
to our own works, our own experiences, our own religious efforts. Salvation by work, free willism,
all of that, you see, man wants to hold on. But the gospel will
not allow that. It's a narrow way. And so you're
going to be persecuted, he says. Well, look at verse 14 now. I've
entitled this message, Thank God for Electing Grace. And he's going to talk about
the elect here. And I know a lot of people in
our day don't want to hear about that. But I'm just preaching
to you God's word. And so I want to caution you
before I get into this, you know, anybody who hears it on on paper,
TV or here, you know, if you're going to argue against the election
or God's elect, I want you to understand you're not arguing
with me. I'm just going to read you the Word of God, and we're
going to show you some other passages. Your problem is not
with me. It's with the Lord. I'll show
you that. So here's what he says. Now,
this is the continuation of the last day. We see it some in our
day, but in their day it happened too. And he says in verse 14,
but when you shall see the abomination of desolation, now that's a term
that brings up all kinds of visions to different people, the abomination
of desolation. You know what an abomination
is. An abomination is something, it's like something that is clean
is made unclean. That's what, it's abominated.
The Lord said in Luke chapter 16 and verse 15, that which is
highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God. In other
words, that which is clean and noble and right in man's sight
by nature is unclean. and immobile in God's sight. That's something, isn't it? Well,
what is esteemed among men? Religion. That's what's esteemed
among men. Dedication, zeal, all these things
in false religion. He said that's an abomination.
Well, that's the same word here, abomination. Desolation means
destruction. So this is an abomination, something
that is unclean and idolatrous, really, that leaves something
desolate. dry and damned. The abomination of desolation.
Now, when you read about this in the Old Testament, it's not
the abomination of desolation. It's okay in the New Testament
here to put that V there, but don't get bogged down into one
specific event. There is an event, but there's
also a continuation of it. So he says, when you shall see
the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet
now you just heard Daniel speak of that when brother Ron read
it in Daniel chapter 9 we're going to go back there today
but Daniel spoke of you you say well I didn't hear Daniel saying
that yes you did brother Ron just read it and you heard Daniel
say talk about it all right So he says, when you see that spoken
of by Daniel, the prophet standing where it ought not. Now, what
he's talking about there is something that is unclean in a place where
it should not be according to the to the law. All right. And he says, let him that read
us understand. Now, my question to me and to
you is this. Do you want to understand? You're
reading these things, you know, I think about the Ethiopian Treasurer
who told when Philip asked do you understand what you read?
He said how can I accept some man show me? And he began at
that same passage there and he preached unto him Jesus God our
Savior from Isaiah 53 And that's where that's how that's the only
way you're going to understand. This is to look to Christ That's
what this whole book is about. Okay, what Daniel was talking
about? When you read that, you saw that, didn't you? Talking
about the coming of the Messiah there. And so he says, let him
that readeth understand. Then let them that be in Judea
flee to the mountains. Now, whenever this abomination
of desolation takes place that Daniel prophesied of and that
our Lord is prophesying of here, he's saying it's going to be
so bad that you'll want to flee the city and go into the mountains.
But he says in verse 15, let him that is on the housetop not
go down into the house, neither enter therein. take anything
out of his house and let him that is in the field not turn
back again for to take up his garment what he said what he's
saying there is this is you're going to listen when this happens
to you or to this generation it's going to be so bad you're
not going to worry about your belongings you know what you
own those things that mean so much to you that identify you
what you have you know that stuff you hear me talk about stuff
everybody's got so much stuff and we We've got to get bigger
houses because we've got more stuff. We've got to put more
stuff here, more stuff. All that stuff that we think
so highly of and pay so much money for and cherish, that's
not going to mean anything. I mean, it's going to be totally
worthless. That guy on top of his hat, he's not even going
to think about it. Boy, I better go down there and get that item. Take that with me. That farmer
in the field, he's not going to think about that. He says
it's going to be so bad. Look at verse 17. Woe to them
that are with child and to them that give suck in those days.
That's how bad it's going to be. The woman with child, with
a nursing child, is going to be so alarmed that all she'll
think about is fleeing getting away and he says in verse 18
and pray you that your flight be not in the winter hopefully
it's better weather than what we're having today doesn't be
tough to flee like that out there with the streets all covered
with snow verse 19 he says for in those days shall be afflicted
This is a terrible time. Such as was not from the beginning
of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall
be. This is bad. He says in verse
20, now listen to this. Now this is why I entitled the
message, Thank God for Electing Grace. He says, and except that
the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved. Nobody will be spared. but for
the elect's sake." You see that? For the elect's sake. Who's this
elect? He says, for their sake. Somebody
says, well, I don't believe the doctrine of election. Well, Christ
says, for the elect's sake. Whom he hath chosen. Who did
the choosing? God did. He hath shortened the
day. For the elect's sake. Why did
he shorten the day for the election? Now, let me get this in our minds. Now, when he says, except those
days be shortened, it's not as if he's saying, well, God, God
had a certain time period that he was going to do it. And then
he backed up on a contingency plan and made him shorter than
he originally intended. What that is in the original
is just a way of saying that there is a certain set period
of time for this. Ordained by God before the foundation
of the world and it's a relatively short period of time It's not
gonna last too long Now, why is it not gonna last too long
for the election? That's why he said it for the
election whom God has chosen and So he says in verse 21 now
listen, he says and then if any man shall say you low here is
Christ. Here's the Messiah Here's the
anointed one Here's salvation, although he is there, he said,
believe him not. Now, what's he talking about
there? He's talking about people preaching a false Christ. That's what he's
talking about. Now, remember, he had already
said the two events that mark the beginning of the last days.
He called it in Mark chapter 13 and verse 8, the beginning
of sorrow. You know, people say, well, you
know, you know, when is this all going to come about? And
he told his disciples, this is going to be the beginning of
it. He says the two events the destruction of the temple in
the Jewish economy in that old covenant and then the deception
of false Christianity the spirit of Antichrist that's going to
continue people preaching a false cry What is it the preacher false
cry? It's the preach in the name of
Christ Jesus Christ But to deny the truth of Christ the truth
of his person who is he he's God and man in one person true
Christ is. His name shall be called Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. He's not going
to try to save anybody. It's not that he may or may not
if you'll let him. He shall. His name shall be called
Emmanuel which being interpreted as what? God with us. The Word was made flesh and tabernacled
among us. He's God in human flesh. He's
the great I Am. That's who he is. He's Jehovah
Sid Canu. He's the Lord my righteousness. I have no other but him. He's the one mediator between
God and men, the man of Christ Jesus. Very man of very man,
very God of very God. He's every bit God, and he's
every bit man without sin. He's the substitute. What did
he do? He's the substitute who died on Calvary for his sheep
to pay our sin debt in full. And we're going to read about
that in Daniel chapter 9. Daniel's going to identify in
so much detail there. But that's who he is. Now, he
says in verse 22, he says, For false Christ and false prophets
shall rise, false messiahs, false prophets, preaching of false
messiahs, and shall show signs and wonders. Now, they will be
impressive. Don't ever think they won't be. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 calls
them lying wonders. They look good to the eye. But
they're not consistent with the scripture. What did the Bible
say? Isaiah chapter 8 verse 20 to the law and to the testimony
if they speak not according to this word There's what no light
in there. I don't care what else they do
I don't care if they jump off from the pulpit and take off
flying to the moon if they don't preach Christ and him alone It's
a false teaching Do you understand that? This I'm not just making
fun now I don't care if they get thousands of dollars in.
Man, you can't even turn the channel on these religious channels
without them talking about getting a check from somebody. I don't
care if they heal people, if they cast out. Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? Have we not cast out demons?
Have we not done many wonderful works? And he said, depart from
me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. You see what
I'm saying? Listen, I'm all for healing. I'm all for giving to
support the gospel. But if we don't preach Christ,
the true Christ and salvation by the sovereign merciful grace
of God in him, it's all for nothing. And that's what he says, he said,
with those signs and wonders to seduce, you know, it's a seduction. It's a religious seduction. That's
what he's talking about. If it were possible. Now, listen to this. Listen,
we're talking about thank God for for his electing grace. He says they'll rise and they'll
show signs and wonders to seduce, if it were possible, even the
elect. That's how close they'll be.
If it were possible. And then you want to know something?
It's not possible. Thank God for electing grace.
It's not possible. Now the elect can be deceived
for a little while. We're all born deceived, aren't
we? Born in sin, fallen in Adam. Dead and trespassing in sin,
with wicked evil hearts, but not ultimately and not finally. It's not possible. Now look at
verse 23. Here's where we'll conclude today
with our verses. But take ye heed. Now you listen
to what I'm saying. That's what Christ is saying.
You listen up to this now. He said, Behold, I have foretold
you all things. I've given you fair warning.
You know ahead of time now. You take heed. You take heed. Now here's the issue. Number
one, there is a people in this world called the elect who must
and shall be saved. God has a people. Scripture says
they were chosen from the foundation of the world. Look over at the
book of Romans with me. Romans chapter 9. And listen
to me now. We read these passages and I
know there's a lot of things that we cannot fathom about the
sovereign mind of God. There's things that our limited
minds just cannot wrap around. And I know it's tough. It's the
Bible. You've heard me say it a lot
of times. The gospel is a simple, simple, simple message. Even
a little child can understand it. But when you go to studying
your Bibles, you're going to find the Bible is a pretty hard
book. From Genesis to Revelation. Get into it. Find out what it
means. It takes some digging, doesn't it? Mainly, it takes
the Holy Spirit to open our eyes, doesn't it? That's the main thing. You say, well, I wonder why God
did it this way, that way, or whatever way. I'm going to tell
you this. You know, you read this whole chapter. I don't have
time this morning, but here he's talking about Rebecca and Isaac,
who had the twins, Jacob and Esau, in Romans chapter 9. In
verse 12, look at it. It says, it was said to her,
that's for Rebecca, the elder shall serve the younger." In
other words, the eldest, who was Esau, shall serve the youngest,
who was Jacob. Normally, that wouldn't be the
case, because under the old covenant law, the elder was the one who
was to be served. He was in line, the firstborn,
the law of the firstborn, to be the spiritual leader of the
family. Of course, we know Esau didn't want it. That's why he
sold his birthright for that suit. You know, he didn't care
about, he didn't care about the gospel, he didn't care about
the promises of God, he didn't care about the grace of God.
He just cared about his earthly appetite. He's one of those guys
who'd be on the housetop, be diving down in there, give everything
he could take with him. And that's the way Esau was. Now, but what
do we know about Jacob? Well Jacob, he was such a good
boy. He was so much better than Esau. He just, I mean, he did
everything right. He studied his Bible and he prayed
and he went to Sunday school. Am I describing Jacob? Go back
and read the book, folks. That's not Jacob. Jacob was a
scoundrel. Jacob was a sinner. Jacob was
a conniver. a planter, an underminer. He was a covert operator. That's what Jacob was, a cheater. Did Jacob deserve to be saved
and Esau didn't? No, neither one of them deserved
to be saved. But God chose Jacob and then
just left Esau for what he wanted. If he'd have left Jacob to what
he wanted, Jacob would have perished. You say, now why didn't God do
it another way? You're going to have to take
that up with the Lord. But here's what he said. Now
look at verse 12. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now that hated there is God's
justice. And if God had given Jacob his
justice and what he deserved, he'd have hated Jacob too. You
say, somebody said, why did he hate Esau? I don't have any problem
with that. Why didn't he hate all of us?
We're sinners. My question is, here's the amazing
thing about this whole passage. Why did he love Jacob? We sang
that song. Why? Why did God love me or anybody? So he says in verse 13, as it
is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall
we say then? See now, I love this, the way
it's put by the Holy Spirit as he inspired Paul to do this. Because, you know, the first
thing that pops into our mind is, that's not fair, that's not just. Well,
look at verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness or injustice with God? And he said, God forbid. No, there's no unrighteousness
or injustice with God. You say, well, I can't wrap my
mind around that. Well, join the club. None of us can that's
not the issue Look at it verse 15. He says he says for he saith
to moses I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion That's
sovereignty It's there Verse 16 so then it's not of him that
willeth. It's not of the will of man man left to his own will
will perish you all know that The Holy Spirit showing you what
we are by nature. That's what total depravity is
all about. It's not that we'll all be as
bad as we could be. But if left to ourselves, we
will go merrily our way to eternal damnation. That's what the Bible
teaches. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth. That's talking about religious
efforts, work. It's not a free will it's not
of work, but it's of God that show us mercy now turn over this
to Romans 11 Now listen to what he says in verse 1 of Romans
11 Now now I'm gonna tell you something
now now now most people will just they'll read over passages
like that They can't understand it. So all they do is walk away
from it denying it And listen, that's blasphemy. It's all scripture is given by
inspiration of God and profitable for us. Look at verse one of
Romans 11. Now he says, I say, then have
God cast away his people. Now, let me tell you this. What
Christ is talking about in Mark 13. In the abomination of desolation. is basically having to do with
that period of time in the last day when God totally, totally
brought judgment down on the Jewish people and the Jewish
nation for their rejection of Christ. And that abomination
of desolation literally and symbolically, literally and symbolically refers
to the destruction of the Jewish temple when the Roman armies
came in and just totally, totally Wiped it out. All right. And so here he's talking about
I say then have God cast away his people. Now he's talking
about Israel. Because God is going to bring judgment down
upon them. And he says God forbid for I also am an Israelite of
the seed of Abraham and of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul was a
physical Jew. He was a physical descendant
of Abraham. So you can't say the question goes like this.
Has God cast away all the Jews? And Paul says no I'm a Jew. Verse
2, God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. That
word foreknowledge, you ought to do a study on that sometime,
foreknew. That's foreordained. That's what
it literally means. Remember he told those false
preachers in Matthew, he said, I never knew you. Well, he knew
who they were. He's omniscient. He knew their
hearts. But he didn't know then in love
and electing grace. And he says, what ye not, that
means, know ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias, or Elijah, how
he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord,
they killed thy prophets, they dig down thine altars, and I
am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer
of God unto him? And here's what God's answer
to Elijah was, I have reserved to myself 7,000 men who have
not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. There's 7,000 men who've
not bowed to Baal in Israel and Elijah's day. I suppose that's
an exact number. It's not symbolic, but it's in
that sentence. He says in verse five, even so
then at this present time, that's in Paul's day, also there is
a remnant according to the election of grace. Now that's the thing
about God's electing grace, it's of grace. It's not God looking
down to a telescope of time and foreseeing who would be good
and who would be bad. He's not Santa Claus. It's not
God looking down to a telescope of time and even foreseeing who
would believe and who wouldn't. It's the election of grace and
he says in verse 6 and if by grace then it's no more of work
Now this gives you an idea about these false Christ that will
emerge these false prophets You see the moment you claim to preach
grace or believe grace But you introduce works into the system
as attaining or maintaining salvation or making a sinner righteous
You've denied grace That's how subtle it is If by grace, then
it's no more of work. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of work, then it's no more of grace. Otherwise,
work is no more work. You can't have both. I've heard
people say this preacher mixes works and grace. No, he doesn't.
He can't do that. If it's of work, it's not of
grace. If it's of grace, it's not of work. And so he says in
verse seven. What then Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for. Talking about the nation Israel.
Well what did the nation Israel see? Well read Romans chapter
9 verses 31 and on and you can read that on your own. They saw
righteousness by works. By works of the law. That's what
they saw. They didn't find it. You know why? Because sinners
cannot be made righteous by the works of the law. By deeds of
law shall no place be justified. Be made righteous in God's name.
How's a sinner going to be made righteous? Look to Christ. He's
my righteousness. By God's grace. You see, for
as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans
5, 21. So he says Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for it, trying to be saved by their works.
They didn't make it, because no sinner can be saved by their
works. But look here, verse 8, but the election hath obtained
it. The rest were blinded that word
blinded means pardoned and that's because of their rejection of
Christ Now go back to mark 13 He says but take you he verse
23 behold I have foretold you all these things there it is
there it is Salvation now there is in this world a people called
the elect who must be saved and Everything God does in his purpose
In this world he does for the elect's sake in Christ And his
purpose is to glorify himself and every sinner listen to this
man. Don't miss this every sinner Who trust Christ the Lord Jesus
Christ? Alone for all salvation for all
eternal life for all forgiveness for all righteousness is numbered
among the elect. Do you trust him? That's where
the sinner has to come to. Do I believe in him? Do I trust
him? And then, God's elect shall never
be totally and ultimately deceived by false prophets and false Christs
of the world. That's what he meant here when
he says that they'll come so close that if it were possible
they could deceive the very elect. It's only because of God's election
that we're not deceived. by the abomination of desolation.
Now go back to Daniel chapter 9 real quick. Listen to this. And the abomination of desolation
has to do with placing the corruption and the false teachings and the
idolatry of false religion where it ought not be. And that is
in the sanctuary of God. You saw that in the Old Testament
in several places. For example, when the Temple
of Solomon was destroyed, Nebuchadnezzar brought his army down in there
and they destroyed that temple. They desecrated it. That's an
abomination of desolation. Stories abound about that, but
later on you'll see it again. When the temple was destroyed
you see it when the Sadducees took over the temple in the lord's
day just prior to it and up through the lord's day because they took
those holy things That represented god's presence in christ and
they made him an abomination christ spoke of it when he ran
the money changers out of the temple You turn the house of
the lord into a house of bargaining and all of that's an abomination
of desolation And then later on in A.D. 70 when the Roman
government come in and destroy the temple, they said they smeared
pig blood over what they called the altar at that time. Abomination
of desolation. And all of that. It's that whole
period of time. Those things where only God should
be worshiped and honored and commuted. Now where do we see
it today? We see it in the apostasy of
the church. What the book of second Thessalonians
2 calls the great falling away Where what is the true church
is the dwelling place of God? Your God's building and on this
earth up until the time of the second coming that the church
is going to be infiltrated with false preachers works religion
That come in the name of Christ, but who denied the doctrine of
Christ. That's the abomination of desolation Look at Daniel
chapter 9 and look at verse 24. Now I'm not going to get into all
the Hebrew math here but I'm going to give you some numbers
because I want you to be amazed at God's exactness in this in
this thing. He says 70 weeks are determined
Daniel 9 24 70 weeks are determined. Upon my people and upon my holy
city. That's the Jews in Jerusalem
All right. Now the 70 weeks in the original
are these 70 weeks of years. That's what it is Each day represents
a year So what is that? Mathematicians 490 years Now
normally we normally think of the time between Malachi and
Matthew as being what about 500 years Here's 490 years. And he says 70 weeks are determined. God determined this. And he says
to finish the transgression. Look at it. Now who finished
the transgression? Now this is talking about the
coming of the Messiah. Talking about Christ. When was
my transgression finished? Sealed up right at the cross. When Christ shed his precious
blood for my sins. He was made sin. Christ who knew
no sin, that I might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Christ came and he finished the transgression. And to make an
end of sin. That means he brought it to an
end. He paid my debt in full. That's Christ. You see, without Christ, sin
would make an end of me. But in Christ, he made an end
of sin for me. He was made a curse for me. The
just for the unjust. And he drank damnation dry. And
therefore, before God, I stand in Christ complete, righteous,
not guilty. My slate is wiped clean, washed
in the blood of Christ, clothed in his righteousness. And then
he says, and to make reconciliation for iniquity. That word iniquity
is our inequities, our injustices. Christ is the one who brought
reconciliation. By his blood on the cross, he
brought, he reconciled God to sinners and sinners to God. And so he made that reconciliation
by his blood, by his death. And then it says, and to bring
in everlasting righteousness. That is, he satisfied the law
of God in every way, every jot and tittle. He told them, he
said, you've got to have a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees. Where am I going to find that
kind of righteousness? You must have one before God
in order to be saved and to be eternally blessed. You must have
a righteousness that far exceeds the best of what the best people
on earth can muster up. Now, how am I going to get that?
Look to Christ. For Christ is the end, the finishing
of the law, the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to
everyone that what? Believe. Believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And then he goes on, he
says, to seal up the vision and prophecy. The vision and prophecy
is all the Old Testament prophecies and types and pictures that picture
Christ. And when Christ comes, those
things were sealed up. They're over. Christ fulfilled
it. That's why we don't have an earthly
tabernacle and temple today. That's why we don't have an earthly
altar. Christ is our altar. That's why
we don't keep a Sabbath day. Christ is our Sabbath. He sealed
that up, that vision and that prophecy. That's why we don't
sacrifice lambs today, because Christ is the Lamb of God who
beareth away the sin of the world. And then to anoint the most holy.
You know what that's referring to? When he was anointed as the
most holy. Now he was holy in himself before he ever came.
He was holy the whole time he walked the earth. But he was
anointed as the most holy when he was raised from the dead and
ascended unto the Father. That all pictures Christ. Now
look at verse 25. He says, No, therefore, and understand,
that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and
to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the prince that command that
command that refers to the time when the Jews were brought back
from captivity in Babylon. And a king named Artaxerxes,
it's recorded in Ezra chapter 7, gave a command for them to
rebuild the temple and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. And from
that time until the Messiah comes, all right? And he says from that
time until Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks. The reason
that's seven weeks is because from that time and the time that
they came back into the land, it was about seven years, and
then they started building. And then he says, in three, four
and two weeks, that's 62 weeks. That would be that would be somewhere
around 483 years. So what you've got there, you've
got that 490 years minus seven. All right. All that time, he
says the street shall be built again and the wall, even in troubled
times, that is the city of Jerusalem. Remember, we studied that near
my building, the wall. All that was going on, that was
decreed seven years before by our desert, our desert city.
And from that time, 490 years into the future, came the Messiah. Now that's not talking about
the Messiah's birth. That's talking about his baptism. The beginning
of his public ministry. And look at verse 26. It says,
and after three, four, and two weeks, now that would include
the seven that had already been mentioned. So you've got about
69 weeks there. And he says, for Messiah, shall
Messiah be cut off, that word cut off. It's the same word that,
that Isaiah used when he says, whoa, unto me, I'm undone, I'm
cut off. It means alienated. And he says,
after three, four, and two weeks, all right, Which would be about
three and a half years shall Messiah be cut off well from
the time that Christ began his public ministry Baptism of John
to the time of what the crucifixion was three and a half years And
he was cut off. He was alienated from God How
do you know that he said my God my God? Why has thou forsaken
me and look here? It says in verse 26, but not
for himself He didn't do it for himself, he did it as a substitute
for his people. He didn't do it for his own sins,
he did it for the sins of his sheep, imputed to him. And it
says, And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy
the city and sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood,
and to the end of the war and desolations are determined. That's
all that came about in connection with his death. And he shall
confirm the covenant with many for one week, And in the midst
of the week, that's one week, seven days, seven years, three
and a half years, in the midst of the week, after three and
a half years, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation
to cease. It's finished. It's done. No
more sacrifice. No more Old Covenant. And he says for the over to cease
and for the over spreading of abominations He shall make it
dead because the Jews rejected him and it's true for any sinner
who rejects him Jew or Gentile It'll be a desolation. It'll
be eternal damnation And he says even to the consummation and
that determined shall be poured upon the desert What Daniel saying
the Messiah is going to come he's going to fulfill it all
and The abomination of desolation is going to take place. And what
is that abomination of desolation? Basically, it's corrupting the
name and the work of Christ. That's what it is. Any preacher,
any person who who claims to believe in Christ but corrupts
his person, his name and his finished work on the cross, that's
an abomination of desolation, my friend. And all who reject
him shall be damned. Now, in light of that, knowing
what we are, we can all say, we all who believe in him and
trust him, thank God for electing Greg. Isn't that right? All right.
Let's sing as our closing hymn. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, hymn
number 204.