All right, our first text as
I said dealing with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD Matthew
chapter 24 First we read verse 1 through 3 then jump down to
verse 15 through verse 22 Matthew 24 1 through 3 then hold open
Luke chapter 21 Here's our verses And Jesus went out and departed
from the temple. And his disciples came to him
for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said
unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you,
there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that
shall not be thrown down. Now verse 15, when you therefore
shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place Whoso readeth, let him
understand. Then let them which be in Judea
flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop
not come down to take away anything out of the house. Neither let
him which is in the field return back to take his clothes again. And warn to them that are with
child and to them that give suck in those days, but pray ye that
your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world of this time, no
nor ever shall be. And except those days should
be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's
sake, those days shall be shortened. Now, in Luke chapter 21 and verse
20 through 24, And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed about
with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea
flee to the mountains, let them which are in the midst of it
depart out, and let not them that are in the country enter
thereunto. For these be the days of vengeance,
that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Now those are very interesting
scripture, and we will add many others. First of all, let me
know that all three are the synoptic gospel. That would be Matthew,
Mark, and Luke. have given us a record of this
event in the earthly ministry of the Lord's anointed. By the
way, they are in Matthew 24, they are in the Gospel of Mark
in chapter 13, and they are in the Gospel of Luke in chapter
21. Now these are some of the most
sobering words that our Lord ever uttered during the course
of his ministry. But then the question is, what
do they mean? And what do they refer to? That's
the question that we deal with this morning. What was the Lord
describing? What are we to make of these
things spoken by him? And as the disciples asked, tell
us, when shall these things be? Matthew 24, 3, Mark 13, 4, Luke
21, and verse 7. All of them record that question. And in the course of our Lord
answering and instructing them on this matter, the Lord lets
out two facts that we ought not to overlook. First of all, notice,
these things spoken were first and foremost directed toward
or against Jerusalem or Israel, as in Matthew 23 and verse 37. O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, and
thy children are mentioned in that verse, that Jerusalem would
be compassed about with armies and kept in, Luke 21 and verse
20. They would be surrounded. They
would be encircled on every side. They would be shut in. They would
be hedged up, is the statement of our Lord. Or, as in Luke 19,
And verse 43, the days would arrive, quote, when thine enemies
shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round about
and keep thee in on every side. And then he adds, and would lay
Jerusalem level with the ground, and thy children with thee."
In short, a great catastrophe was to be visited upon the city
of Jerusalem, the holy city as it was esteemed by the Jews. This was the city of kings, so
highly regarded by Israel. It was here that a temple was
located, and the people came there to worship. It was the
seat and the center of Jewish worship in that day, and had
been for a long, long time. It was here in Jerusalem that
the feast days and the special days were celebrated as the people
gathered there. And the name of it is not to
be forgotten, Jerusalem or the City of Peace. So, these things
are principally and foremost directed toward Jerusalem. And may I add, not just Jerusalem,
but the generation living at that particular time when the
Lord spoke these things. Now the second thing that we
want not to forget is the Lord revealed that this catastrophe
upon Jerusalem was to be a divine judgment. It was to be judgment
from God against them. It would come upon that living
generation, the generation that Christ appeared to in the flesh,
and the generation that crucified the Lord of glory, Matthew 24
and verse 34. This generation shall not pass
until all of these things are fulfilled. And that's a very
clear statement from the Lord. This generation shall not pass
until all of this is fulfilled. In Matthew chapter 23 and verse
36, Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon
this generation. In Luke chapter 21 and verse
32, this generation shall not pass away until all be fulfilled. And the same is repeated in Mark
chapter 13 and verse 30. Now, this note, if we might,
in thinking on these things, this generation can refer to
people living at the same time. And this generation, the one
now living, and it means contemporary, the contemporary of the Lord
and of those alive. But before we wade out into the
depths of this great subject, let's consider the time, or as
we might say, the historical setting. the time or the point
in the ministry of our blessed Lord when these things were spoken
in public to those that heard our Lord. What I mean by that,
he did not say these early or in the first part of his ministry. And he did not say these things
in the middle, as we might say, the halfway point of the ministry
of our Lord. But he said these things, and
this, I think, is significant. He said these things near the
close, near the end of his earthly ministry. Now, using Matthew's
gospel, let's drop back into the 23rd chapter. In the 23rd chapter, the Lord
warns his audience, including his disciples, apostles, and
supposed in a circle, he warns them against the corruption of
the Jewish religion. He does that in verse 1 through
verse 12 of chapter 23. And in particular, he speaks
to them to watch out for the Pharisee and the scribe. And the Lord exposes them as
being corrupt men. They love the praises of men.
They love to be met out in the public thoroughfare and be greeted
as, good morning, rabbi. Hello, rabbi or teacher. pronouncing in this 23rd chapter,
the Lord does at least eight woes against these people and
against these men. And we notice with the eight
woes, woe unto you again and again, calling them such derogatory
names, I'm talking about Matthew 23 as hypocrite. At least seven
times in that chapter in this discourse calling them hypocrite. He also called them blind guides
in verse 16 and verse 24. He calls them fools and blind
in verse 17 and verse 19. and he calls them serpents and
a generation of vipers in verse 33. Now consider, if you might,
the word hypocrite, which is prominent in our Lord's denunciation
of them. The meaning of the word hypocrite,
and we bring it over into our language, a hypocrite is an actor
who assumes a role, not naturally his, and he plays a part. It is a stage actor or player,
if you might, who learns rehearsed lines that have been written
for him and seeks to make that assumed character become real
unto the audience that hears it. And if you would, listen
in the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, for there I would
again like to read some verses to enter into the record. Verse
31 through verse 33. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto
yourself, that ye are the children of them which kill the prophet. Fill ye up then the measure of
your fathers. Ye serpent, ye generation of
vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? Then verse
34 and 35. Wherefore, behold, I send unto
you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them ye
shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall you scourge in
your synagogue and persecute them from city to city. Now watch
verse 35, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed
upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood
of Zechariah, son of Barthias, whom you slew between the temple
and the altar. Now, by their own admission,
they were the children of the persecutors and the killers of
the prophet. And you will fill up the measure
of your fathers. How will they do that? How will
they exceed their fathers who killed the prophet and the servants
of God? Well, the answer is that generation
would put the Lord of glory unto death and would fill up the measure
of their father. Reading Spurgeon in Matthew,
Spurgeon said of this, and I'm quoting, that this crowning sin
would fill up the measure of their father's sin and bring
upon them the righteous judgment of God." Verse 35, "...causes
the ears of them that hear to tingle." upon you may come all
the righteous blood shed upon the earth, beginning with Abel
and culminating in the shedding of the blood of the very Son
of God incarnate. Now note the word you as our
Lord speaks in all of these saying, upon you, upon you shall come
all of this judgment. Now question, whom does the you
refer to? in these passages of the scripture. Is it the Romans who actually
put our Lord upon the cross? Is it the Gentiles into whose
hand he was delivered to be crucified? Is it the whole world that stands
guilty of that sin? Well, I think it is clear that
it refers to that Jewish nation and that Jewish people, those
that are referenced here in these context. Noted, the scribes and
the Pharisee, the children of the fathers, I did, of the Jewish
fathers of old. The words of our Lord, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, he said, as he beheld the city. This generation, we
read again and again. In Luke 11 and verse 50 has it
this way, that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from
the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,
unquote. And Luke repeats himself in the
next verse. It shall be required of this
generation. They would bear the judgment
of what Matthew 23 and 35 calls righteous blood. The righteous
blood shed. And Luke 11 and 50 calls the
blood of the prophet, the blood of righteous men and the servants
of God. Now remember, in Genesis 4 and
verse 10, where God said, the voice of Abel's blood crieth
unto me from the ground. Cain had killed him and shed
his blood. Whether he buried him or not,
I cannot say. But God says, the blood of righteous
Abel cries unto me from the ground. It cries unto me for vengeance. and for judgment. So all righteous
blood shed would be charged and punished in that generation that
killed the Lord Jesus. The iniquity of Israel did accumulate,
and if I may say, bear interest along the way, and then cometh
a generation that crucified the Lord of glory, and their cup
of iniquity was full and overflowed, and great judgment came upon
them." Reading David Brown from the gospel, he wrote, quote,
"'Til in that generation it came to the full, and the whole collected
vengeance of heaven broke at once over Israel's head." And
we just make a connection that all the blood of the righteous
shed would be required of this generation. And that reminds
us of the words of the Jews as they stood before Pilate in Matthew
chapter 27 24 and 25. And that's interesting. Pilate comes out and declared,
having washed his hands, Pilate said, I want you to know and
I want you to see to it that I am innocent of the blood of
this just person. And the Jews ignorantly replied
in unison and in chorus, let his blood be upon us and upon
our children forever. You see, Pilate was conflicted
about putting the Lord Jesus Christ to death, an innocent
Nazarene. Even the traitor Judas repented
himself, brought back the wages of his unrighteousness, and said
in Matthew 27 and verse 4, I have sinned in that I have betrayed
innocent blood, even Judah. Now, while both Pilate and Judas
at least were disturbed by their part in the shedding of the blood
of the Lord, that frenzied mob in Pilate's judgment hall so
desired the Lord to be put to death that they called down upon
their own head a curse, both on themselves and on their offspring. Let his blood be upon us and
upon our children." In other words, let us be charged with
it. Put that to our account, the
shedding of this man's blood. Now to be guilty of the blood
of one is to be made to answer for and to be responsible for
the death of another. And this is the biblical meaning
of the shedding of blood. Deuteronomy 19.10, Ezekiel 33.
1 through 8 Acts 18 and verse 6
2nd Samuel 3 verse 28 and verse 29 To be guilty of the shedding
of the blood of another and thus it was that the Jews unwittingly
put forth the secret decree of God that upon them should come
a all the righteous blood shed beginning with Abel and down
through the century and the history. Now that's why I find it hypocritical
in the Jewish high priest in Acts chapter 5 and verse 28,
he brings John and Peter before him and he chastises them for
having the intent, quote, to bring this man's blood upon us."
Here you are intending, he said, to bring this man's blood upon
us, that is, to lay the blame upon us and to disgrace us in
the eyes of the people by bringing this man's blood upon the leaders
of the Sanhedrin. Once, however, they had willingly
wanted it to be so. Let His blood be upon us and
our children." Now consider this. In fact, think upon it. Lingeringly,
think upon this. Could it be that the Jews, in
making that statement, let his blood be upon us." That they
said it because they were willing to take a direct hand in seeing
that this one was taken away and was put to death, because
John 19 and 7, they said, we have a law. And by our law, he
ought to die because he made himself to be the son of God. That is, they said before the
magistrate, he ought to die for the crime of blasphemy. And they were willing to kill
him and put him to death. And they thought perhaps that
they did God's service. John 16 and verse 2, the time
will come when he that killed you will think he's doing God
a service. Did they think that his death
was justified under the law, or did they use that law as a
justification for putting our Savior to death? Now, concerning
the destruction of Jerusalem, it occurred, as you know probably,
in 70 AD. And we are going to consider
that Event from three standpoints today. That's all we'll have
time for number one. We want to notice that it was
clearly predicted and foretold by the prophets by John the Baptist
and lastly by the Lord Jesus Christ they all spoke of this
event and the cause of it and The second thing that we want
to look at is the ultimate cause of the destruction. And that
it was a judgment of God upon them called days of vengeance. These are days of vengeance. And the third thing we want to
look at and close with it is the awfulness. The awfulness. of the destruction and also the
completeness of the destruction of Jerusalem. It was one of the
most awful events to ever occur in the world and it was complete. Now the first thing we consider
is that such was clearly foretold. It was not a secret to they that
read the scripture. It should have come as no surprise,
and that upon two accounts. A, there's the testimony of the
inspired written word of God, and then B, there is the perpetual
wickedness and rebellion of the Jewish people as a nation. If you listen again to Luke chapter
21, 20 through 22, as we read in verse 22, for these be the
days of vengeance. that all things which are written
may be fulfilled. This is a formula or an expression
used many times in the New Testament that the scripture might be fulfilled. And almost always referring to
something in and from the Old Testament scripture that they
might be fulfilled. Linsky, by the way, said that
the tense is aorist here, which means completely fulfilled. All of them and all of it. So the question, where are these
things written in the Old Testament Scripture that we might find
them? Well, here are three places you
might study. Daniel chapter 9, verse 24 through
27 In fact, he's mentioned Daniel is mentioned in the scripture
that we will get to in Leviticus chapter 26 14 through 35 and
Malachi of the closing book of the Old Testament chapter 3 and
verse 2 then you have the words of John the Baptist in Matthew
chapter 3 and Verse 10 through 12. Let's not let the meaning
escape us. Even now, John said, the axe
is laid to the root of the tree. It shall be hewn down and cast
into the fire. Burn the chaff with unquenchable
fire. But then no one spoke more distinctly
upon this event than the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and nearer
to the actual event, even at the door, as we might say. It involves some repetition for
us to get a hold on it, but let's recall some of the sayings of
our Lord as to the coming destruction. First, there is the saying About
the Jewish temple in Matthew 24 1 through 3 that we read not
one stone Upon another that shall not be thrown down the disciples
the Apostle said Lord look at this Magnificent building it
was the envy of Judaism I guess we could say and our Lord's answer
no doubt amazed them see this not one stone Left upon another
that shall not be thrown down and then he said that Jerusalem
would be surrounded by armies as a sign that the great desolation
was near Luke 21 and 20 which the Lord described as unparalleled
in the history of the world Matthew 24 and verse 21 and consider
Luke 17 and 30 in Matthew 24 and verse 28 this
amazing statement for where the carcass is or where the body
is There will be eagles be gathered together now the image here is
that of a dead and putrefying corpse of some beast fed upon,
picked apart, eaten, and scattered here and there by the vultures
and the animals of prey that came by. These vultures with
a very keen sense of sight and of smell, and we call them buzzards
in Texas. But they find dead creatures
wherever they might be, and it is their delight to feed upon
them. Now, sound expositors. John Gill,
C.H. Spurgeon, take the corpus to
be, take the corpse to be Judaism and the vultures to be the Roman
armies that come and devour them. Gill said the eagle was the sign
or the insignia the badge or the emblem carried or worn by
the Roman soldiers on their spear and uniform and such like. So
that as the picture here is this, where birds of prey gather, whether
there is a dead body that might be eaten and consumed. So let
me quote from Spurgeon, this matter. Quote, Judaism had become
a carcass dead and corrupt fit prey for the vultures and the
carrion of Rome. Unquote. To be fair, there are
multiple interpretations of This carcass and the vulture that
you might find among Expositor but another saying of the Lord
very interesting Matthew 24 and verse 15 Listen to this many
times. You've scratched your head at
this verse when you shall see the abomination of desolation
spoken by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place Mark
13, 14 adds, where it ought not. When you see the abomination
of desolation stand in the place where it ought not, then let
him that reads understand. Now, you need to bring in here
Daniel 11, 31, Daniel 12, and verse 11. Now, again, there are several
views of this abomination of desolation and of the holy place. One view is that it again refers
to the Romans and something that the Jews consider to be an abomination,
and that would be Gentiles in the temple. Gentiles overrunning
and taking over the temple of the Jew. In Acts 21, 28, you'll
find a hint of that. When Paul brought a Gentile in
and the Jews said, you have defiled the temple, which temple and
city they considered to be, quote, this holy place, Acts 6 and 13. They considered that a holy place. For there, the leaders charged
Stephen with teaching something at variance to their belief,
quote, that this Jesus of Nazareth should destroy this holy place
and shall change the custom which Moses has delivered unto us,
Acts 6 and 14. Anyway, the Lord tells his hearers,
when they saw the abomination, defiling the temple and saw Jerusalem
surrounded, they were to flee. They were to escape to the mountain. Don't even stop. Don't even go
back to the house for your belonging. Don't look back. When you see
that, flee. Flee out. Leave. Go unto the
mountain. And he said to them, remember,
lots, Remember her example? She fled, but she stopped and
she looked back. In other words, the Lord's telling
them, head for the hills. Woe to them that are with child
and pray per adventure. It does not occur in the winter
or on the Sabbath day. when a travel would be restricted. Now the second thing that we
want to look at is why this judgment, why these days of vengeance were
to come upon Israel and in particular that generation. Now this we've
already answered so we'll not tarry long upon it. It was for
their part in crucifying, rejecting, hating, despising the Prince
of Life, the Messiah that God sent into the world. And the
Bible does lay to Israel this charge, guilt in crucifying the
Lord of Glory. Peter does that again and again
in Acts. We won't go to it this morning.
But now the third thing that we want to consider is the awfulness
how our ears might tingle at hearing of the destruction, as
well as the complete devastation of the city, the temple, the
buildings of Jerusalem. When this was going on, when
Rome had sealed them up and the siege had begun, there was starvation. People actually starved to death
inside of Jerusalem, not able to get supplies in, are out. Then pestilence came on them
for all of the diseases and the dead bodies and the bloodshed
that was found in that city. One could hear wailing and one
could see slaughter if they could look in upon that event. We learn a lot of things from
various historians. Josephus is one who wrote a history
of the destruction of Jerusalem. But again, I would like to quote
from Spurgeon from Matthew chapter 24 as to the destruction upon
Jerusalem. Quote, we read of Jews crucified
until there was no more wood for crosses. They used up all
the available wood, crucifying Jews upon crossing. He said of thousands slain by
infighting among the Jew themselves as they went one against the
other. Of so many being sold or slaves that the value actually
went to nothing. And the awful carnage when the
Romans took the city," unquote. That from Spurgeon in his commentary
upon Matthew. And Spurgeon added this, that
the blood-curdling history exactly bears out the Savior's prediction
that he had uttered nearly 40 years before the event came to
reality. George Holford, H-O-L-F-O-R-D,
wrote in 18 and 5, that these things are absolute proof of
the divinity of Christianity. How? Well, look at them and how
they fulfilled all of the scripture. Consider, if we might, compare
the Lord's saying with the account of historians, and we find they
line up exactly. Listen, where the carcass is,
there will the eagles be gathered. The Lord uttered that word. Holford
and others have said, quote, the Jewish state at this time
was fitly compared to a corpse. It was morally and judicially
dead, unquote. That was a condition of Israel
at the time. For the glory of Jerusalem, of
Judah and of Israel, the life of its religion, the glory of
its temple was destroyed and was gone. Once again, Ichabod
was written over the land of the nation of Israel, 1 Samuel
4 and 21, as it was in that day. Over Israel, the glory is departed
from Israel. The glory is gone. Their temple
lays in ruin. Their city is destroyed completely. And again, the Lord said something
else in Luke 19, 43 and 44, borne out by historians. The days shall come that your
enemies shall compass you round about and keep you in, and shall
lay thee waste, lay thee even with the ground, and not leave
one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." Now historians
wrote that the Roman soldiers not only burned and demolished
the building, but they actually dug up and plowed up the foundations
of the temple that the Jews so trusted. Eusebius, who I think
was a Christian historian, wrote that he saw the city lying in
ruins And Josephus, the Jewish historian, quoted Eleazar saying,
quote, where is our great city which God had inhabited? It is
altogether rooted up and torn from its foundations, end quote. In Micah chapter 3 and verse
12, quote, therefore shall Zion, for your sake, that is, on account
of you and your sin, will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem
shall become as heaps, and the mountains of the house or the
temple as the high places of the forest." a prediction from
Micah chapter 3 and verse 12. Again, the Lord predicted in
Luke 21, 22 through 24, calling the siege of Jerusalem, quote,
days of vengeance, unquote. And the instruments of God to
execute that vengeance or judgment were the Romans, the Gentiles,
so hated and despised by the Jews. They were, if I may quote
from the Old Testament, the rod of my anger. God said in Isaiah
10 and verse 5 and 6, O Assyrian, the rod of my anger and the staff
in my hand, my indignation I will send him against a hypocritical
nation and against the people of my wrath will I give him a
charge to take the spoil to take the prey to tread them down like
a mire in the street unquote a prophecy from the book of Isaiah
10 5 & 6 and as Providence would have it Providence carried the
day. The time of the siege and the
plunder of the city of Jerusalem was the Passover season. When this occurred, it was the
Passover season when they took the Lord and crucified him some
40 years before. And historians say that again,
it was the Passover season. It was an anniversary again of
that time when they killed the Lord Jesus Christ. And as you
know, the city would be filled with thousands upon thousands
of visitors and of pilgrims coming to the city for that great Passover. And they were caught up in that
carnage and they were destroyed and that by the providence of
God in the city. The people were killed and burned
and mutilated. I read of some that were hacked
to pieces. even after they were dead. Women
saw their infants literally starve in their arms, for soon supplies
could not come anymore into the city. And famine starved many
to death in that siege of Jerusalem. No supplies to be let in to sustain
them. And we read that dead bodies
were found everywhere throughout the city. Many women hiding. Many aged ones had been taken
and killed. Some caught fleeing out of the
city. Any done so were killed. And
the temple had been set on fire and was being destroyed and burned.
Graves were being plundered by robbers who thought they might
find something of value as they robbed from the dead. And the
temple and the buildings of the city going up in smoke and in
flames. Priests who surrendered to Titus
were slain instead of finding mercy. Speaking of the temple,
I believe that history records that Titus had decided to spare
the temple, to keep it as some sort of a monument, to preserve
it there. But the Lord Jesus had said,
not a stone shall be left upon it that shall not be thrown down. And so it was. Titus's order
was overthrown and the temple was yet destroyed. Now what brought
on this carnage by the Romans? Historically speaking, the Jews
were a nuisance to them and a thorn in the side of the Romans. A lot of it having to do with
the Jews' religion. But then the Jews revolted in
about the year 66 A.D., began to revolt and killed some Romans. in some battles and skirmishes,
and that eventually led up and culminated in the great destruction
at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD. But then, prophetically,
The destruction of Jerusalem was prophesied and it was the
judgment and the vengeance of God against a rebellious people. The Romans were the instruments
of God and were used even to a worse degree than the Assyrians
of old. The rod of my anger, the staff
in their hand was God's indignation. sent against the people of God's
wrath, given a charge, as it were, against Israel, to tread
them down like the mire in the street, as the prophet had said. And like Isaiah 10 and verse
17, how be it he means not so. That is, the Assyrian leader
was not aware that he was fulfilling a will and acting according to
the providence of God. They did not know, nor did they
think, nor did they desire to fulfill the counsel of God. But when they crucified Christ,
they were fulfilling the purpose of God. So again, in the destruction
of Jerusalem, and the preparations were laid in the animosity between
the two people, the Jew and the Romans, for lo, many years. What an awful thing and an awful
sight. But the conclusion is Jesus declared
these things some 40 years prior to their coming to pass. Though
Judaism received its death blow, when Christ was crucified upon
the cross. You remember the veil in the
temple rent from top to bottom at the moment that our Lord died. And 70 A.D. was what one called,
quote, the end of biblical Judaism, unquote. In that, the Jewish
sacrificial system was so completely overthrown that it could never
be restored to its former prominence again. And it fulfilled the words
of the Lord's parable of the vineyard, found in Matthew 21,
33 through 43, as he said to the Jews, the scribe, and the
Pharisees, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. I fear there
is a parallel here between, for example, the countries of England
and of America. now become liberal and progressive,
denying, perverting, fighting against the gospel, and making
friends with so many strange religions and other gods now
in our land, have an anxiety about the spread of Islam over
the world today, who are the invertebrate enemies of Christianity
and are a threat and a danger to our preaching of the gospel
and our way of worship. Oh, probably the Jews said, they
can never destroy Jerusalem. It's a mighty fortress. The walls
are there. The temple is built of stone.
Who could bring it down? But indeed, it happened. And
it happened suddenly and came upon them like a lightning out
of the east, as our Lord describes it. So let's think upon these
things. This is an important event in
the scripture. But today, theology and political
correctness shuts preachers' mouths about 70 A.D.