Matthew 24, Matthew 24, this
is the Lord's last sermon before he is betrayed, arrested, and
crucified. Something special about the last
words of a man. Remember the words of David,
be his last words, God had made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure, this is all my hope. and all
my desire." The Lord Jesus Christ is preaching to His disciples. It says there in verse 3, privately
they came to Him. And we have the privilege of
what would the Lord say to His disciples before He goes to Calvary
to die for our sins? We have it right in front of
us. What a privilege. What an honor. Now I'm taking
the title for the message from the words found And verse 22,
except those days should be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, for
the elect's sake, that's the title of the message, but for
the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. There is a very well-known Bible
doctrine taught throughout the Word of God is called the doctrine
of election. The doctrine of election. The
Bible doctrine of election. The word elect, elected, and
election is used 27 times in the New Testament. 27 times in
the New Testament. Sometimes the elect of God are
called His sheep, He says, I lay down my life for the sheep. Sometimes
they're just called his people. His people. He shall call his
name Jesus. He shall save his people from
their sins. Sometimes they're called his
jewels. His jewels. We are his jewels. Sometimes
they're called his peculiar, special, purchased treasure. In verse 24, it mentions that
word elect again. insomuch that if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect because of all the false prophets
that are around. And again in verse 31 of Matthew
24, he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet
and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds
of the four corners from one end of heaven and to the other.
So it's obvious that the Lord has an elect people. And we'll
look at that a little more closely in just a minute. Now remember
in this chapter, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ is answering
the question of his disciples who came to him privately. Look
back at verse three, Matthew 24, verse three. And as he sat
upon the Mount of Olives, his disciples came unto him privately
saying, tell us, When shall these things be? The Lord had just
told them the temple would be thrown down. It would be destroyed. And what shall be the sign of
thy coming and the end of the world? Now, the Lord Jesus Christ,
on purpose, mingles together the prophecy from Daniel 9, as
it's mentioned there in verse 15, and the destruction in Jerusalem
in 70 AD, and also mingles with that his final and second coming.
And he does so on purpose, so that nothing in his word would
satisfy the ungodly speculation of some to make predictions or
set dates, but rather to make every believer aware of his coming
and to be ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ when he does come. Look at verse 36. He said, but
of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of
heaven, but my Father only. Look at verse 42, Matthew 24,
42. Watch therefore, for you know
not what hour the Lord doth come. And again in verse 44, Therefore,
be you also ready for such an hour as you think not. The hour
you think not, the Son of Man, the Son of Man coming. But of
that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels, but
my Father only, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is coming back. Therefore, he said, be you ready,
the hour you think not. Now, the Lord speaks here as
the all-knowing King knowing what should be and what will
come to pass. In Acts 15, the apostle says
this, no one to God or all his works from the beginning of the
world. Nothing takes God by surprise.
He works all things after the counsel of his own will. Our
Lord speaks as the all-knowing King, Lord God, knowing what
should be. Our Lord also speaks as the all-powerful
King, decrees what shall come to pass, and then he brings it
to pass. He says, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass, I've purposed it. And our all-wise King gives
us the reason that he does all things that he does, in verse
22, for the elect's sake. How you think about that? Everything
that's going on in this world, And there's a lot going on. Everything
that's going on in this world is for the elect's sake. Now you think about that. I mean
everything without exception that's taking place in this world
right now is because God has a people. He worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will, of him and through him
and to him are all things. He has an elect people. The Lord
Jesus Christ is called the elect. He is the elect. We're chosen
in Him. We're chosen in Him. And we're
chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. Now, verse 14,
let's go back there for a moment, and we'll wind up, Lord willing,
down at verse 24. The gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world. You see that? This gospel, this
gospel of the kingdom, This gospel now, not another gospel now,
this gospel, the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
who he is and what he's done, shall be preached, not maybe,
not could be, but shall be preached in all the world for witness
unto all nations, then the end shall come. Now why has the Lord
ordained that? For the elect's sake. God has
a people in this world out of every tribe, kindred, nation,
tongue under heaven. And God has ordained by the preaching
of the gospel to call out his people out of darkness in his
marvelous light that we should show forth the praises of him
who called us out of darkness. What is this kingdom of the gospel?
Well, simply put, it's the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified.
It's who he is and what he has done. In the day of final judgment,
as it says there will be a witness unto all nations, in the day
of final judgment, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will
either be a witness for you or a witness against you. There's
no condemnation to those who are in Christ outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ and nothing but condemnation. In the final
judgment, in the day of final judgment, the gospel will either
be a witness for you or a witness against you. There's no middle
ground. You can't straddle the fence.
Our Lord said, you're either with me or you're against me. You're against me. You're against
me. He that gathers not with me scatters
abroad. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is
all of salvation. There is no salvation apart from
him. There is no salvation apart from
him, neither is there salvation in any other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. It'll either be a witness for
you or a witness against you. We're gonna see that in Matthew
25. Turn over there. We've read this
several times in the past. Matthew 25, verse 31. Matthew 25, 31. When the son
of man shall come in his glory and all his holy angels with
him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before
him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one
from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. He
shall set the sheep at his elect on the right hand and the goats
on the left. Then shall the king send them
on his right hand come. Go, come, you're blessed of my
Father. Inherit, we're heirs of God and
joined heirs with Christ, the kingdom, all kingdom blessings,
all kingdom privileges, prepared for you. When? From the foundation of the world. Well, that's good news. That's
good news, is it not? He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. When the last of God's elect
are called out of darkness into his marvelous light, this world
as we know it will come to an end. You remember how the book
of God ends in Revelation 22? The Lord says, surely I come
quickly, amen, and we answer back, even so, Lord Jesus come. The book of Revelation starts
out in chapter one, verse seven, where the Lord said, behold,
he cometh. He's on his way. He's on his way. Now in verse
15 down through verse 21, what is the abomination of desolation
we read about in the book of Daniel? Everybody wants to know
about the abomination of desolation. What's it all about? And should
we be looking for the abomination of desolation? It's already taken
place when Jerusalem was destroyed. In the destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple, by the armies of Rome, that's what Daniel was
talking about. It was the end of the Mosaic
law as a legal system of worship. The Lord made an end of that
by fulfilling that for us. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law and the prophets, I came to fulfill it. Now, you need
to turn to this scripture and read it with me, Luke 21, turn
there to Luke 21. Because it tells us exactly what
Daniel's talking about. In Luke 21, verse 20, Luke 21, verse 20,
when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, talking
about the armies of Rome, then know that the desolation thereof
is nigh. That's what Daniel was talking
about. He was talking about and prophesying the coming of the
Roman army to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. Let them that are in Judea flee
into the mountains. Let them which are in the midst
of it depart out, and let not them which are in the countries
enter therein. For these be the days of vengeance,
that all things which are written may be fulfilled, shall be fulfilled,
woe unto them that are with child. than them that give suck in those
days. For there shall great distress in the land and the wrath upon
the people. And they shall fall by the edge
of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled."
We're talking about the armies of Rome coming into Jerusalem
and destroying that which those Jews held so high. The temple,
he destroyed it. The law of God, the Lord honored
it, honored it and fulfilled it for us. Those old Jews were
determined to hang on to their religious tradition, and the
Lord tore it up. The Lord dismantled it, didn't
he? Christ had fulfilled the law of God for us, and in doing
so, he delivered us from the curse of the law being made a
curse for us. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Those Jews were so ignorant of
God and his holy character, they were going about to establish
a righteousness of their own. Paul said they had not submitted
themselves to the righteousness which is of God in Christ, for
he's the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believed the
gospel. The Lord gives those people in
that day a stark warning. He forewarns them, when you see
the armies of Rome coming and marching against Jerusalem, get
out of there. Get out of the way. He's warning them, and he's warning
us also. He's warning us also to flee
from the wrath to come, the wrath of God's coming on this world. Flee to the Lord Jesus Christ
for all salvation. Flee from the bondage of works
religion and flee to the Lord Jesus Christ right now. Today's the day of salvation.
You don't even have the next hour. You certainly don't have
tomorrow. Come to Christ now in your heart
by faith. Now I thought about this and
I wrote this statement down. We do not believe nor do we preach
a church salvation. We do not believe and we do not
teach a church salvation. We preach a Christ salvation. There is a difference. People
say, well, we're the true church. Mark it down, they're false prophets. Christ is salvation. We don't
preach church salvation. I've never said in the 30 years
I've been here, I've never said one time that salvation is joining
this church. Salvation is not here or anywhere
else, it's in Christ. So we don't preach church salvation.
John writes, this is a record that God has given to us, eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He's a half the Son. hath life. He that hath not the
Son hath not life. The Lord said, I am the way,
I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man come to the Father but
by and through me. Now listen, I'm going to expand
on that statement just a minute. The religion of men teaches salvation
by what men must do to be saved. That's the religion of men. The
religion of the Bible teaches salvation by what Christ has
done. You see the difference? D-O or
D-O-N-E. Do or done. I'm a done. I'm a done. Christ done it all.
There's just two religions in this world. The way of Cain works. in the way of able grace. You
cannot learn the truth about salvation listening to the lies
of men, listening to a false gospel. It's impossible. Our Lord said, you shall know
the truth and the truth shall set you free. Salvation, therefore,
is always determined, dependent, accomplished by Christ and Him
crucified. Not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God, but of God, but of God that showeth
mercy. Now, he says here in the text,
in verse 16, Matthew 24, and I want to try to make application
to us, then let them be which in Judea, flee into the mountains. Christ is the mountain of salvation.
He is our refuge. Flee to him. Now, he only is
our refuge. Don't take anything with you.
Flee to Christ alone, verse 17. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything
out of the house. Don't bring anything to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Flee to the Lord Jesus Christ
alone and don't look back. Neither let him which is in the
field return back to get his clothes. Christ is our righteousness. Don't look back to some experience
or some feeling. Look to Christ right now, right
now. Don't look back to your former
idolatry and your former righteousness. Don't go back and put on your
filthy religious petticoat. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ
right now, right now. And then verse 19, 20 and 21,
pray the Lord will give you insight and knowledge in the revelation
of him. Verse 21, for then shall be great tribulation, such as
what not since the beginning of the world to this time will
ever shall be. What are the consequences of
those who do not flee to Christ? What were the consequences of
those who tried to hang around the temple? and hang out in Jerusalem
when the Romans came? Death. Those who don't leave
their works, religion, and refuge of lies have no hope of salvation. What were the consequences of
those who hung out and tried to defend Judaism, tried to defend
the doomed city, tried to defend the doomed temple? Death, death. Now, we don't have this written
in the Bible, but this is Jewish history from a man by the name
of Josephus. And he writes about the armies
coming in 70 A.D. and destroying Jerusalem. And
he says in that time of destruction and desolation, two million Jews
were slaughtered. Two million Jews. That's just
about the whole country. There were so many Jews crucified
by the Romans, they couldn't find enough wood to build crosses,
so they just started slaughtering them. Thousands, like Daniel
in his day, were taken into slavery by the Romans. Where did you
think, when they had those games in the Roman Coliseum, where
do you think they got all those people to slaughter? That's where
they came from. Women in that day, they say,
this is history, again, this is not Bible history, but this
is a well-known historian, says in that day, when Rome surrounded
Jerusalem to cut it off and to destroy it, not one stone left
upon another, that women were so desperate for food, they ate
their own babies. That's desperate, isn't it? They
were unparalleled ruined. Why? Their sin was unparalleled. Now hold your place there and
look over here to Matthew 27. Here's why. When Pilate brought
forth the Lord Jesus Christ, you remember what they said?
Matthew 27, verse 24, when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing,
But rather, tumult was made. He took water and washed his
hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent of the blood of
this just person. Remember, they were going to
release one prisoner on the day of the Passover. And they said,
we want Barabbas. Pilate said, what about this
man named Jesus of Nazareth? Crucify him, crucify him. Then all the people answered,
now look at this carefully, 1927-25, then answered all the people
and said, his blood be on us and our children. Still is. Still is to this day. You wonder why all that turmoil
over there? They're still being punished for the sins of their
fathers and their own sins. Rebellion against God. Rebellion,
rebellion, rebellion against God. Now here's the point of
vital interest for us. How great is the ruin and damnation
of those sinners who refuse to come to the Lord Jesus Christ
alone for salvation. There is no other hope. There
is no other Savior. Don't look for any other Savior. Look to Christ right now in your
heart. Look unto me, he said, and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I am God, and there is
no other. There is no other. Now look at
verse 22, 23, and 24. I won't keep you much longer. Except those days should be shortened,
no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say, and
ye go, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for there shall
arise false Christs and false prophets, and show great signs
and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, They shall
deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. I have told you these things
before, before they come to pass. In these last days in which we
live, and we are living in the last days, there shall be great
deception with false Christs, antichrists, and false prophets. He warns us several times. Look
back at Matthew 24. Verse four, the Lord answered
and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. Verse
11, and many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many. So he warns us. John even writes in his day.
In 1 John chapter two, he said, little children, it is the last
time as you've heard that antichrist shall come Even now, there are
many Antichrists whereby you know it's the last
time. We know it's the last time, don't
we? They will come, these Antichrist people. They may use the name
of Jesus Christ. They may even carry a Bible,
but they don't teach the Christ of the Bible. They don't teach
salvation that's found in the Bible. Paul said they'll come
preaching another gospel, which is not another, which is not
another. There's just one gospel. But
Paul again says that we were an angel from heaven. Preach
any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached.
He said, let him be damned, is what he says. They will come
preaching another gospel, which is not another. They will come
preaching another Christ. Paul talks about that in 2 Corinthians
11. He said, they'll come preaching
another gospel, another Christ, and another spirit. He said,
you better stick with me. I've got the gospel. Many will
be deceived, but the elect of God will not be deceived. Cannot be deceived, because they're
kept by the power of God. The elect of God have been taught.
They've been taught of God. All that the Father has given
to me, they'll come to me. No man can come to me, except
the Father which sent me draw him. And all those who have heard
and have learned of the Father, they come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
They've been taught of God. When they hear a false prophet
declare his work salvation, they know immediately he's not sin
of God. They know he's not sin of God.
Now, the elect of God, it says here, for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened. And again, it says in verse 24,
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Now,
who are these elect of God? Who are these elect of God? The
elect of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. They were chosen of God in Christ. The old timers called
that unconditional election. God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing according as he has chosen us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. Beloved, we're bound to give
thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God has from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification
of the spirit, that's regeneration, and belief of the truth, whereunto
he calls you by the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the
elect of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world, given to the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid their sin debt
and they cannot perish. The elect of God were purchased
with Christ's own blood. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. He bought us. He bought the church
with his own blood. He bought the elect of God. So
we're chosen, we're bought. The elect of God have been called
out of darkness into his marvelous light. We studied that in 1 Peter
chapter 2, where our chosen generation, a royal priesthood, that we should
show forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light. The elect of God had been saved
by his amazing grace. It's God who saved us and called
us, with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to God's own purpose and grace, given us in Christ, before the
foundation of the world. The elect of God have been made
new creatures in Christ by regeneration. Many men be in Christ. He's a
new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new in Christ Jesus. It's the spirit
that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing. The elect of God will
persevere in faith and die in faith. As it says there in verse
13, but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Saving faith is persevering faith. We persevere because we've been
preserved by the power of God. We're kept by the power of God
Almighty. These all died in faith. God
has an elect. He chose them. Christ died for
them. He's going to call them out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Perhaps you're wondering, how
can I know if I'm one of those elect? It's obvious he chose
the people. How can I know if I'm one of
those elect? Now, I thought of this to help you understand this,
help me understand it. 25 years ago. 25 years ago? At least 25 years
ago, there was a dear brother here. His name was Earl Blackburn. Many of you remember him. Dear
brother. Well, his dad died. And Brother Earl, believer of
the gospel, wanted me to preach at one of the services for his
dad's funeral. And I said I would. And the funeral
was in Martin, Kentucky, at the funeral home there. And I went
there, the place was full, and I went there and I took from
my text Ephesians chapter one. And I worked down through those
verses according as he had chosen us, predestinated us, Christ
in whom we have redemption through his blood, the father choosing
us, Christ dying for us, the Holy Spirit calling us out of
darkness in his marvelous light. Well, needless to say, some folks
got mad. Some folks heard me. As we walk
out to the parking lot that evening, I noticed behind me someone headed
toward me. And I thought, this person's
going to just nail me, criticize me, rail on me. This person came up to me and
said, how can I know if I'm one of those elect? Pretty good question. How can I know if I'm one of
those elect? Would you like to know if you're
one of his elect? We can know. Let's see if we
can find out. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter
1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election is of God. Look at Ephesians, excuse me,
1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter
1. We give thanks, verse 2, to God
always making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope in
our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father.
Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. You see that? Knowing, brethren and beloved,
your election of God. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as you know what manner men were among
you for your sake. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word, in much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Spirit. There it is right there, our
word came to you, not in word only, but also in power, in power. This is the faith of God's elect
that acknowledges the truth. Peter writes about, give diligence,
2 Peter 2.10, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure, for if you do these things, you shall never fail. Our election
is known by our calling. Our calling, we're called with
the gospel. God called you, translated you
out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God, your
son. Our election into salvation is known by the Lord calling
us, by the Holy Spirit revealing the Lord Jesus Christ unto us.
We see him as altogether lovely. We see him as he is precious
to you who believe the gospel. If you're a lover of the Lord
Jesus Christ, a believer of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
it's only because God chose you to salvation before the foundation
of the world. That's the only reason that you
believe the gospel, because he hid these things from the wise
and prudent and revealed them unto babe, even so, father, for
so it seemed good in his sight. No man knoweth the father save
the son, and he to whom the son will reveal him. Now, I'm gonna
quit. Look at verse 25. Matthew 24, 25. Behold, I've
told you before. I've told you before. You know,
I preach the same thing every time. I preach the same message
every time. And you folks just keep coming
back. I don't have a new message. Christ is everything. So the
Lord Jesus Christ to him that crucified his neighbor, I've
told you before. Someone said to be foretold is
be forewarned. For I write to preach the same
thing to you, to me, and indeed is not grievous, but for you
it's safe. Truth repeated is safe. Truth
believed is safe. Truth repeated, truth believed,
and the truth of the gospel give God all the honor and glory for
the salvation of the Lord. We are a true Israel, which worship
God in the spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have
no confidence. No confidence.