INTRO: THE PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE BEFORE US TODAY IS KNOWN AS THE OLIVET DISCOURSE, WHICH TOOK PLACE ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. THIS SERMON, WHICH WAS DELIVERED BY JESUS., IS ALSO RECORDED IN MATT. 24-25 AND IN LUKE 21. IN THE END OF THE WORLD SERMON JESUS TALKS ABOUT THE END OF TIME AND THE EVENTS WHICH SURROUND THE END OF THE WORLD " WHAT I SAY TO YOU DISCIPLES"
AND TO US "WATCH!" THIS PROPHECY TOOK PLACE ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. THIS PASSAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT TO INTERPRET IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. BECAUSE OF THIS FACT, MOST, VARIOUS FALSE TEACHINGS ABOUT THE END TIMES, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, AND EVEN ABOUT SALVATION HAVE ARISEN. WE WANT TO TAKE OUR TIME AS WE MOVE THROUGH THESE VERSES. WE WANT TO GET A CORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE LORD JESUS IS TRYING TO TEACH US.
FIRST, THIS PASSAGE NEVER MENTIONS THE CHURCH OR THE RAPTURE. WHY? IT DOESN'T MENTION THESE THINGS BECAUSE THIS PASSAGE. IT DOESN'T MENTION THESE THINGS BECAUSE THIS PASSAGE WAS NOT WRITTEN TO THE CHURCH, IT WAS WRITTEN TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL. THIS IS PRIMARILY A JEWISH PROPHECY. STILL, THERE ARE MANY TRUTHS WE CAN GLEAN FROM THESE VERSES. SECOND, HIS PROPHECY COVERS A TREMENDOUS EXPANSE OF TIME. OVER 3,OOO YEARS OF HUMAN HISTORY ARE IN VIEW HERE.THESE VERSES CONTAIN PROPHECIES THAT HAVE BEEN PARTIALLY FULFILLED AND THAT WILL BE COMPLETELY. IN THE FUTURE, WHEN CHRIST RETURNS. SO, WE WILL BE LOOKING BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS AT THE SAME TIME.
THIRD, AS WITH ANY PROPHETIC PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE THAT NO ONE HAS ALL THE ANSWERS. NO BIBLE SCHOLAR HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO SOLVE ALL THE THEOLOGICAL RIDDLES HIDDEN WITHIN THE "OLIVET DISCOURSE," THUS WE MUST APPROACH THESE GREAT VERSES WITH A HUMBLE HEART. KNOWING NONE OF US KNOWS IT ALL. ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES WITH THOSE THOUGHTS IN MIND, LET'S LISTEN IN ON THIS CONVERSATION BETWEEN JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES, AS HE TEACHES THEM ABOUT THE EVENTS THAT WILL CHARACTERIZE THE END OF TIME. I TRUST WHAT THE LORD SAYS HERE WILL BE A CHALLENGE AND AN HELP TO US AS WE STUDY THIS TEXT TOGETHER.LET'S LOOK. I WANT YOU TO SEE A STRANGE PREDICTION; A STARTLING PANORAMA AND A SOBERING PROMISE. LETS LOOK AT THESE TRUTHS AND THINK ABOUT " "THE BEGINNING OF THE END." V1-2 "A STRANGE PREDICTION." ETHE TEMPLE AND ITS DESIGN. NOW JESUS IS LEAVING THE TEMPLE. FOR THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS WE HAVE SEEN JESUS AND HIS ENCOUNTERS WITH THE RELIGIOUS JEWS. IT HAS BEEN A TENSE TIME TO JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES. SURELY THEY ARE BAFFLED BY THE LORD'S WORDS AND BEHAVIOR IN THE TEMPLE. THEY PROBABLY THOUGHT THAT JESUS WOULD TRY TO WIN FAVOR OF THE JEWS AND THE JEWISH LEADERS. INSTEAD, JESUS DID EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO EXPOSE THEM AS RELIGIOUS PHONIES. NOW, THEIR TIME IN THE TEMPLE IS OVER AND ONE OF THE DISCIPLES TRIES TO LIGHTEN THE MOOD. AFTER ALL NEGATIVITY THEY HAVE EXPERIENCE, THIS WANTS TO SAY SOMETHING POSITIVE. SO, HE CALL THE LORDS ATTENTION TO THE TEMPLE, ITS CONSTRUCTION AND ITS BEAUTY. NOTE: SOLOMON SPENT "7" YEARS ON THE TEMPLE, 13 YEARS ON HIS OWN HOUSE! THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM WAS CONSIDERED TO BE AMONG THE MOST SPECTACULAR WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPIRE. THE ORIGINAL TEMPLE CONSTRUCTED BY SOLOMON WAS A MAGNIFICENT BUILDING THAT TOOK SEVEN YEARS AND MANY A MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BUILD..THE TEMPLE WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND THE BABYLONIANS AND THE BABYLONIANS WERE TAKEN INTO EXILE. 6OO BC. LIKE EVERY OTHER JEW, THIS DISCIPLE WAS IMPRESSED BY THE TEMPLE. HE WAS PROUD THAT IT WAS PART OF HIS NATION AND HIS RELIGION. SO, HE CALLS THE LORD'S ATTENTION TO THE BUILDING AND ITS WONDERS. THE RESPONSE OF JESUS IS SOMEWHAT STRANGE. JESUS HEARS THE EXCLAMATION OF THIS DISCIPLE AND RESPONDS BY TELLING HIM THAT THE TEMPLE HE LOVES SO DEARLY WILL EVENTUALLY BE DISMANTLED AND DESTROYED. THIS WAS LITERALLY FULFILLED IN 7O A.D. WHEN THE ROMAN GENERAL TITUS AND HIS ARMY CONQUERED THE CITY. TITUS ORDERED THE THE TEMPLE TO BE SPARED,BUT THE BUILDING WAS GUTTERED BY FIRE AND THE CITY TOTALLY DESTROYED. TODAY, THERE IS NOT A SINGLE STONE LEFT FROM THE GREAT TEMPLE HEROD BUILT. THEN, DURING THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST, A FINAL TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT IN JERUSALEM. LET'S LOOK AT THE LORD AND HIS REVELATION. THE DISCIPLES ARE BAFFLED BY WHAT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE AND THEY ARE LOOKING FOR AN EXPLANATION. THESE MEN COME ASKING THE LORD THE SAME QUESTIONS PEOPLE STILL ASK ABOUT THE END TIMES. EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW "WHEN" IT WILL HAPPEN AND "WHAT" WILL BE THE SIGNS THAT IT IS HERE. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO GUARANTEE A GOOD CROWD IN ANY SERVICE IS TO ANNOUNCE THAT YOU WILL PREACH ON THE END TIMES. PEOPLE WILL COME TO HEAR THAT, AND BRING A FRIEND. LETS CONSIDER OUR LORD'S RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION WHAT THE "SIGNS" WILL BE, AS THE END TIME APPROACHES. THE FIRST THING TO NOTE: IS THE POTENTIAL OF DECEPTION. JESUS EVEN WARNED HIS DISCIPLES THEY COULD BE DRAWN AWAY BY THE THINGS THEY MIGHT HEAR OR SEE AND THE POTENTIAL. STILL EXISTS. JESUS SAYS THAT MANY FALSE MESSIAHS, AND WE MUST BE GROUNDED IN WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS AND WHAT WE BELIEVE [1 PET. 3:15]. WE NEED TO HAVE OUR DOCTRINE NAILED DOWN IN OUR HEARTS, SO WHEN DECEPTIONS COME, WE CAN STAND FAITHFUL TO OUR LORD. ACTS 5:36-37 MENTIONS TWO WOULD-BE MESSIAHS THAT LIVED BEFORE THE TIME OF JESUS. THERE WAS ONE NAMED "THEUDUS". HE CLAIMED TO BE ABLE TO PART THE JORDAN RIVER. HE DECEIVED ABOUT 400 PEOPLE AND LED THEM TO THEIR DEATHS. OUR WORLD HAS BEEN MARKED BY WARS, AT THE END TIMES, JESUS SAID THAT WARS AND RUMORS WOULD INCREASE AS THE END TIME APPROACHED. JESUS SAID, " THESE THINGS MUST NEEDS BE." THAT IS GOD IS USING THE TERRIBLE TRAGEDY OF WAR TO SHAPE THE WORLD FOR HIS COMING OF HIS SON. THERE WILL BE AN INCREASE IN EARTHQUAKES. SCIENTISTS TELL US MORE THAN 13 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN EARTHQUAKES OVER THE PAST 4,OOO YEARS. A POWERFUL QUAKE OCCURRED UNDER THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN DECEMBER 2OO3 WHICH SPAWNED A TSUNAMI THAT KILLED 3OO,OOO PEOPLE. JESUS SAID IT WILL BE THAT WAY. THERE WILL BE FAMINES. WHEN JESUS IS COMING, BUT WHEN HE DOES, IT WILL NOT BE ANNOUNCED. WHEN JESUS COMES, HE WILL COME AS A "THIEF IN THE NIGHT," [1 THES. 5:2].
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