Last Lord's Day evening, as we looked again at Matthew 24-25, the Olivet Discourse, we concluded by discussing what a apocalyptic literature is. And if you turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 24-29, the difficult section of Matthew 24 starts there in verse 29, immediately after the distress of those days. I submit to you that the distress of those days very plainly refers to what has already happened in the history of the Jewish people in 70 AD. But he says immediately after the distress of those days, and then he quotes from the prophecy of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 13, he quotes this section, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. So he says, and this immediately throws a monkey wrench in our thinking that when he says immediately after the tribulation in those days, if that's referring to the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 AD, well did this happen? And the reason that we have difficulty in thinking this is because we don't read Isaiah 13, and understand that Jesus isn't making up this statement for the first time, Jesus is quoting a statement that's found in the Bible itself. So going back to Isaiah 13 for a quick moment, this is a slight review, but it's only to get us back into the basic understanding, Isaiah 13, which Jesus quotes, is about the fall of Babylon. And what Jesus is saying is that the same kind of thing that happened to the neo-Babalonean empire is going to happen to the Jewish people following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, listen to how he puts it there, and he says in that passage, starting at verse 10, the stars of heaven and their constellations, that's page 1779, Isaiah 13, 10, the stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, I will punish the world for its evil and so on. When we read those words in Isaiah 13, we don't think of anything that's already happened in history, we immediately think about the far future, we think about the second coming of Christ, we think about the end of the world, because this is the kind of image that evokes a picture, a cataclysmic global, not even global, cosmic destruction, this is cosmic destruction, the stars of heaven, their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened, that is the kind of language that evokes in us an image of cosmic destruction, the kind of thing that Peter talks about literally taking place at the time of sometime after our Lord's return in 2 Peter 3, when he talks about the world being consumed by fire, inundated with fire like it was in the days of Noah when it was in his water. But what we have to understand is this is a particular type of language, and this language is designed to draw pictures of this future destruction up before our minds, because every bad thing that happens in history is a signpost that is connected from God's perspective with the final destruction of the world. And so again, Isaiah 13, we read Isaiah 13, 10 about the end of the world, but it isn't about that at all in its context. What is it about? Verse 17, page 10, 79, see I will stir up against them the needs, who do not care for silver, have no delight in gold and so on. What's this about? This is about a historical event that took place in the year 539 BC when the needs and the Persians surrounded the city of Babylon and the city of Babylon fell. It's described in the book of Daniel, Belta Shazzar's feast takes place on the night that the city falls. Belta Shazzar is confident because of the walls of Babylon, failing to understand that the Meadow Persian Empire had an army corps of engineers who diverted the water and enabled the troops simply to walk in on the dry riverbed and they took the city without having to breach the walls. And so the city of Babylon fell in an actual literal fall in the year 539 BC to the needs and the Persians, under Cyrus the Persian, and then Darius the Mead becomes the ruler, the vice-chairant over the city of Babylon. And the Neo-Badalonian Empire was, listen to the metaphor, eclipsed. The Neo-Badalonian Empire was eclipsed. In other words, its son went out, its stars ceased to shine. And that's why this language is used as well. It's a way of describing the end of a way of life, the destruction of a civilization in global cataclysmic terms because Babylon in the year 539 BC as an empire ceased to exist for all time to come. It was no more. It would never be again. Did the city still stay around for a while? Sure. Even after the days of the Meadow Persian Empire during the days of Hellenization under Alexander the Great, the city still exists but the empire ceased to exist and would never rise again. And that's why this language is used. But there's a second reason this language is used or rather there's a second way of a passage that we looked at last week that helps us to understand why a language like this is used. Second Kings, chapter 6, page 579, verse 15. Second Kings, 615. And this will bring us now up to the night. Here's our friend, Elijah, that we looked at this morning. Verse 15, when the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. Oh, my Lord, what shall we do? The servant asked. Don't be afraid, the prophet answered. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then the eye of nature looks at circumstances and says, we're outnumbered and there is no hope. And that's what the servant of Elijah sees when he looks out. It's just him or it's just he and Elijah against this vast Syrian army. But Elijah doesn't look at things merely with natural reason. Elijah is not so facile and truncated in his understanding of reality. He sees a greater reality than is in policy of the natural world but is in policy of more than that. Verse 17. And Elijah prayed, O Lord, open his eyes so he may see. Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elijah. What is an apocalypse I said last Sunday night? The answer. An apocalypse is literally from the Greek word apocalyptic and unveiling. It's pulling back the curtain. It's allowing you to see behind the scenes. It's obvious when you look at world history that you have to have a conspiratorial view of history. The trouble is that people become nutcases because they try to identify some earthly person or another who's the stringpler. And so people have identified throughout history various sinister forces that are manipulating the world. And I'm not denying that people don't make background deals. Of course that happens. But it isn't the Illuminati, the builder burgers, the council on foreign relations or the trial lateral commission that is controlling history. If you really want to understand the conspiracy behind what's happening in the world, you have to go to hell. Now what I mean by that, I mean you've got to understand that it's hellish forces. It's Satan and principalities and powers who are manipulating people and human beings don't really understand always what they're doing. That's why Jesus could say as he's dying on the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Was he praying for demons? No. Was he praying for Satan? No. He was praying for Pontius Pilate and Herod and Caiaphas and Anna the High Priest and the Samhedrin and the Roman soldiers and the Pharisees and the scribes and the Hoy Paloi who are there. He's praying for earthly people and Jesus is saying they're dudes and there's a real sense when you study history that you come to an understanding that all historical figures in a certain sense who do great evil are duped at all Hitler didn't understand in the fullest sense what he was about. Mussolini in the fullest sense did not understand what he's about. Joseph Stalin in the fullest sense doesn't understand what he's about. Judas is scary it whose name stands in history as an example of a quizzling another historical figure whose name comes down to us as a traitor. As a Benedict Arnold not even Judas really understands in other words everybody is a victim of demonic manipulation in the way in a sense to a degree there's an awareness of consciousness there's an awareness of things that are going on. I'm not saying that people are completely oblivious and I'm not saying that they're innocent I'm simply saying they're being manipulated and what we see is that there are cosmic forces that work behind the scenes and what an apocalypse does and by the way that's the Greek name for the last book of the Bible. There are many apocalypses in the Bible like Isaiah 13 is an apocalypse portions of the book of Daniel are apocalypses but there's one book that is preeminently the apocalypse and that's the last book the apocalypse we call it book of revelation but it's understanding it's pulling back to curtain it's pulling back to veil it's letting us understand something now there's something else when Jesus says father forgive them for they know not what they do. He's praying for human beings who acting of their own free will are nevertheless in bondage in their will to Satan and demons and are pawns in this cosmic struggle and it looks like Satan's winning when the curtain is pulled back and yet the curtain is pulled back further and we realize that God is going to triumph in the end and that even in these quote setbacks God is ruling and overruling for his own eternal purpose that's good. So look at the death of Jesus as an illustration again of an apocalypse the human people that enter into the crucifixion of Jesus all choose to do so. They're all however part of a larger cosmic struggle between our Lord God and Satan and the curtain pulls back and lets us see it but as the curtain pulls back even further even beyond satanic demonic manipulation of people and forces and whatnot is the hand of God who trumps Satan always and take the death of Jesus. It's the great tragedy of history humanly speaking as we look at it prior to Easter Sunday we look at it and we say oh this is awful this is terrible this is the death of the son of God. We look back further and we begin to understand that when Judas takes the saw in the last supper somebody enters him not a demon who enters Judas is scary it on the night in which Jesus is betraying. Satan himself Satan himself comes into Judas when Judas takes communion you mean the Eucharist the thanksgiving that means of grace of blessing God's people becomes in the hands of somebody who doesn't have faith in Christ a means of his destruction absolutely when he takes communion when he takes the Passover bread Satan himself enters him. So the apocalypse allows us to see that behind the palace of the mob when Jesus is condemned to be crucified is demonic rage but then Easter Sunday tells us so clearly in language that God has a good plan and that good plan includes terrible setbacks pain suffering and evil for God's good purpose. So let me ask if there any questions at this point trying to give us a clear understanding of what an apocalypse is it allows us to see things from a divine perspective it allows us to see things not just in terms of everyday life and world events and struggles it allows us to see it from that eternal focal point where God is who looks down in history and sees it all connected with the final struggle of good and evil. At the time of among the events of the second coming any questions or comments at this point before we we go back there all right yes okay Trish sure that's a good question Trish and I think what it illustrates is that every person in history is upon well it means that it means that at a certain level of consciousness and I think to understand you this we have to understand ourselves. We are like to this in some respects in order to understand you this we have to understand ourselves father forgive them for they know not what they do there is a level of awareness that we all have when we sin we know we're sinning but there's a level of awareness when we sin many times that we're not aware of what we're doing. You ever get into a conflict with your spouse you say something you remember what you said you said something like these biscuits really are something that's how you remember it you know but your wife remember to this these biscuits biscuits these biscuits something it's how we remember things and it just illustrates that we're aware that we sin at a level at some level but there's a depth of understanding that nobody in this room has of this or her sins this side of the judgment of Christ it's only at the judgment of Christ that we begin to see sin in all of its hideousness and understand that we really have done wretched terrible things what I think it's difficult for us to understand because we have a black and white view of historical figures we see them as cartoon characters rather than as three dimensional people that Hitler was probably a fairly interesting fellow if you'd gotten to know him you might have enjoyed being his dinner guest if you had been living in the days of the Third Reich it'd been a loyal patriotic term and your you or your husband had this job and as part of that job one day you meet the fewer he might have been quite charming he might have been quite engaging and there's what I'm saying is the villains of history are not as evil in their own context as we see them as being and the heroes of history are not as good in their own context as we see them as being I'm submitting to you that even Joe Stalin who is probably makes a great white shark size look warm I submit to you that even Joe Stalin could look at himself in the mirror and feel okay I'm saying there's a level of awareness of sin so I'm saying yes people sin and they do horrible things but we're all pawns in a certain sense I'm not denying free will I'm not saying that we don't make authentic choices I'm simply saying and making our authentic choices and acting according to our own nature our wills are in bondage to sin and Satan is manipulating so is Judas upon yes he is upon but he's more than upon Judas is acting in accordance with his own nature in a certain sense freely choosing to do the evil that he does he's not a puppet on a string even though history is manipulated behind the scenes by the puppet master Satan whose manipulating evil men to do incredibly evil things that have an incredibly evil effect is that making sense So an apocalypse allows us to look at life here and now from the perspective of the final conflagration of good and evil that comes near the time of the second coming making sense we all think of ourselves as better than we are and we look at the villains of history as relative to us worse than they are I said relative to us do not worse than they are they are terribly evil but so in a certain sense are we in the things we do that the mystery isn't it I think that the scripture presents to us some things that are difficult for us to put together and I'll and I'll cite for me that the key doctrine if you will from scripture that kind of gives us an insight to all other doctrines is Jesus God is Jesus human is Jesus to people he's just one person he's one person is he fully God is he everything that the father is in terms of deity is he everything that you and I are in terms of his humanity except he never sin of course it never sinful nature and yet he's not 200% he's 100% he's just one person Jesus is 100% God plus 100% human but he's not 200% he's 100% and we don't want to go into all of the biblical basis for that I am assuming everybody except that that's what the church has taught for 2000 years fully God fully human one person I can't hold that in my mind without feeling a sense of I can't figure that out I know that is true I don't know how it is true so what I submit to you is this God not only looks into the future and foresee the things that are going to happen but God has a plan that set work in history which is why those things are going to happen and yet within that it includes human beings acting freely in accordance with their own nature without there being robots automatons puppets on a string they act freely of their own in that sense free will even though their wills are in bondage to sin they act in freedom of choice yet what they do just what happens to fit in exactly with what God is ordained ultimately for the good of his people Miss Nancy you should be as God's knowing good and evil yes yes sure I think that that the thing is that the Bible now over tells us how this is true it just tells us that is true and it warns us about certain dangers on the right hand side and on the left hand side that we don't want to go with for example it is wrong to say because we hold a free will that God ultimately is not in control of things that's erroneous but it's also wrong when we look at God being in control of things absolutely you know not a spare a false of the ground said Jesus apart from me to conclude from that that humans do not exercise true authentic choices without being forced how is it true that God is an absolute control of the world and history is simply the unfolding of his plan and yet at the same time for people freely act and do what they want to do in accordance with their own except for a simple nature she didn't have a simple nature at that point and it fits exactly in with God's plan the Bible never tells us how God works in history unlike state and God doesn't manipulate people state and manipulate people but God is omnipotent and doesn't need to resort to that God warms our hearts so we want to come to Christ that's a factual call and he draws us winsomely and effectively all the way home to Jesus or making sense murmuring absolutely and in the doctrine of election the God who says to all men everywhere come to me all who labor in a heavy laden who stretches out his hands to a disobedient Israel in Romans chapter 10 and says all day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient people please with sinners to come please without stretch hands yet we know that when we have come it isn't because we in accordance with our nature without divine intervention came we know that we come because he drew us no man can come to me said Jesus John 644 except the father who sent me draw him so their mysteries here at work that we're going a bit of far field but it's okay I don't mind going far field because it's important to get these truths across that there is a mysterious element always within the scripture that we cannot break through we have to accept that certain things are true and rest in the awareness that this side of eternity we'll never figure out how they are true everybody okay all right now when we go back to Matthew 24 we are struck when Jesus says here in verse 29 that's page 15 39 page 15 39 Matthew 24 verse 29 immediately after the distress of those days if we've understood it correctly and I am absolutely convinced that we have at this point that he's referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and he says immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be dark and the moon will not give it's like the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken that he's talking about what would happen to the Jewish people as a nation in history at that point in time unlike the Babylonian destruction that occurred in the year 586, 87 BC the Babylonians under the authority of the Neal Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar the Great destroyed the city of Jerusalem tore down the temple and led the leading people away into captivity 586 BC but Jeremiah had prophesied that after 70 years the people would be allowed to return to their homeland and interestingly enough exactly 70 years after the temple was destroyed the temple was rebuilt so the people are led into captivity 586 the earliest actually starts in 605 when they become certain key people become hostages to the Babylonians but what happens is it's only a brief interlude and is really restored as a nation when Cyrus comes to power. But what Jesus is saying if we really understand what he's saying in the light of Isaiah's prophecy he's saying you my beloved people Israel within your lifetime those of you who are listening to me now you're going to experience terrible destruction the likes of which has never happened in history and once that's over with you're going to experience as a people as a nation exactly what happened to Babylon in 539 BC because at that point Babylon as a culture as a civilization as a nation ceased to exist the Jewish people would continue to exist but not having absolute political control of their own destiny. That's what he's saying so he's saying that unlike the original captivity of the Jews that Jeremiah prophesied would be 70 years that the destruction that would have come in the lifetime of the people who were listening to Jesus in Matthew 23 Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 those people would experience the kinds of eclipse of their nation that the Babylonians had experienced and what would happen after that verse 30. At that time the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all nations the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory and he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather select from before when from one end of the heavens together what's that that's the second coming of Christ and I think that's pretty plain a lot of people want to say oh no that's just a figurative way of describing what just preceded it there in verse 29. But I think not I think what Jesus is saying is Jerusalem is going to be destroyed and what's going to happen to the nation is it's going to go through these long dark ages Jerusalem will be trodden under the foot of the Gentiles Luke 21's account. Jerusalem will be trodden under the foot of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are complete and so at some unspecified time Jesus would return. And so the dark ages which are going on have gone on for many years well over 1900 years the dark ages come to an end. How do they come to an end? Although they're certainly hints and we'll get at that in a moment of something of coming out of those dark ages the next clear event in history after the Jewish dark ages is the second coming of Christ that hadn't happened yet. Now he mentions the second coming here only to sketch out the landscape but he's still on the basic theme of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and so he continues verse 32. His theme is not at this point the second coming he mentions the second coming at least twice by way of contrast to give them an understanding. You remember earlier he said to them in verse 26 page 1539 he said so if anyone tells you there he is out in the desert do not go out or here he is and the interims do not believe it for as the lightning comes from the east is visible even in the west so of the coming of the son of man so he mentions the second coming but he only mentions it there to give us an understanding by way of contrast so that when people tell you what he's over there he's over there. He said no it's not going to be that way it's going to be like lightning shining from one end of the other and everybody sees it so it's by way of contrast and so by way of contrast once again he mentions the second coming as the event that we know definitively will end the Jewish dark ages but he's still on the theme of the destruction of Jerusalem look at verse 32. And then this lesson from the fig tree as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out you know that summer is near even so when you see all these things you know that the Greek language and its wonderful abilities to communicate to us things that we can't communicate and its terrible inability to communicate to us things as well. This is a third person singular verb without a pronoun and we are left without the ability to be dogmatic as to whether it is it or he and the context therefore has to tell us whether it's an it or he. Greek does not the Greek verb does not tell us whether it's a male speaker or a female speaker or a neuter speaker in its verbs interestingly Hebrew does it only has two genders male and female so everything that is is either male or female in Hebrew but in Greek gender doesn't fall out the way it does with us and in the verb without a pronoun and pronouns aren't necessary in Greek and aren't necessary in Hebrew. What you've got here is a Greek verb that doesn't tell us whether the subject is a male a female or something neuter okay understand what I'm saying so therefore when we come I interpret it exactly the way that the new international version interprets it and it says here verse 33 even so when you see all these things you know that it is near not he is near right at the door. You don't understand the difference in the two he is near would refer to the second coming of Christ it is near would refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and what Jesus is saying is when you see all this stop happening remember that the destruction of Jerusalem is something that people could look at and have a sign and know they were to act and that don't go down in your house if you're out in the field don't go back in town get out of town get as far away as you can because the tribulation of the terrible. Tribulation the Jewish people it's about to happen and so I submit to you that the context driving this tells us that it is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem so I read it again even so when you see all these things you know that it is near right at the door I tell you the truth this generation could mean race or ethnic group but as it is used and looking back in light of Matthew 23. Remember Matthew 23 all these things are going to happen to you that's what started the all of it this course Jesus had had this diatribe in Matthew 23 against the scribes and the Pharisees and he finally says look your house is left to desolate all of the of the righteous blood that's been shed on earth is going to come on this generation meaning you from the blood of able to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachaya who used to because there's a generational connected this but it's going to happen in other words it's coming on you this generation and now he's still on that thing and he says in verse 34 I tell you the truth this generation my contemporary you that are listening to me some of you will be alive to see this this generation will certainly not pass away into all these things that happen now he's really serious here because he says in the next verse heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away now in verse 36 he begins to deal as his subject with the second coming of Christ he mentions the second coming of Christ two times within the context of the discourse up to this point but he's not dealing with the second coming as the subject matter remember their three questions that are asked when Jesus said I tell you that not one stone will be left standing on another the disciples said when will that be what will be the sign of your coming into the end of the world and Jesus is answering their questions not one question but three when will these things be when will not one stone be left on another he's telling him and he told him and that's the focus of the first part of Matthew 24 but then he's talking about the second coming any questions or comments it's difficult I admit to you and let me tell you there's a reason difficult that I haven't mentioned yet turn with me to John 21 page 1688 God wants you confused now I want you to that said tongue in cheek God wants you confused what do I mean let's look at this passage of scripture for a moment page 1688 verse 20 this is after Jesus has been betrayed by Judas and where Peter has denied him three times and Jesus has been crucified and buried and risen from the dead and this is during that 40 day period when he's walking on earth before he ascends to go up to pray for you and me and he's still doing that now listen this this is really interesting page 1688 Peter turned and saw the disciple of Jesus loved was following this was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and it said Lord who is going to betray you when Peter saw me asked Lord what about him why Peter asked that question about John because Jesus had just gotten through telling Peter Peter you're going to get you're going to be crucified just like me look back you're going to be crucified just like me you know Jesus goes through this dialogue Peter do you love me you know I love you and so on and then he says in verse 17 Jesus said feed my sheep verse 18 this is Jesus talking to Peter I tell you the truth when you were younger you dressed yourself and you went where you wanted but when you're old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and leave you where you do not want to go Jesus is telling Peter you're not going to see my second coming Jesus is telling Peter you're going to miss it you're going to die before I come back something is going to happen to you that you don't want to have happened and they're going to lead you where you don't want to go now now Peter's like the rest of us is now up Peter I see Peter so much at the example of Peter reference me of myself trash self-confident but misplaced confidence and ended up doing stupid things well Peter it's just like us at this point he's just got a big piece of bad news and he says what about him kind of like the kid you know the kid the kid gets an F on his paper and he's devastated but if he can just find out that some of the other people in the class got F's as well he won't feel so bad you got to get that picture in your mind so here's Peter he's got this big dose of bad news when you're old they're going to stretch out your hands and they're going to take you where you don't want to go and Peter says what about him what about him he's talking about John John the the disciple the blood disciple now look at what Jesus said and let me tell you Jesus told him something that was designed to get him confused hold that thought bear with me verse 22 Jesus answered if I wanted to remain alive until I return what is that to you what's Jesus saying maybe John is going to live to see my second coming and what he said he did let's look at it now and remember this is the John the Trident this verse 23 because of this because Jesus worded that statement in such a way as to get people thinking that it might just be that John would be alive when Jesus came again because of this the rumors spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die but Jesus did not say that he would not die he only said if I wanted to remain alive until I return what is that to you
I want you to understand something because this is a real key to understanding Bible prophecy there is a dark element to it that God doesn't want you to see because it's not designed for you to know what's going to happen on January the 17th 2005 it's designed to get you to live in light of certain biblical truths and there's a biblical truth that Jesus is here teaching his disciples when he says in response to Peter's question what about him Jesus implies doesn't he that he's going to live to see the second coming of Christ he's certainly hinting at it isn't he why is he doing that because Jesus wants you and me to think in terms of the nearness of his return and I want to throw out to you that there are three just as there are two natures in Christ and we can't reconcile them and just as God is absolutely sovereign and yet man is responsible for his conduct so there are three themes in Bible prophecy that we can't put together and here's one of them Jesus could return at 8 o'clock central standard time on January 16th 2005 and he might well do that whoops that's about one hour and 14 minutes from now and Jesus wants you to think about that you're going to be alive when he comes not dead and resurrected from the dead caught up to meet the Lord in the air but alive and caught up to meet the Lord in the air did Jesus want the Apostle John to think that way you better believe he did you know that it's desolation is near then if you're on the rooftop don't go down run jump from house stop the house stop if you're out in the field don't come back get away because it's going to be destroyed second coming's not like that it's not something you do in order to escape the destruction except to be converted and be right with God things happen to you you're grinding it to me if you're at the as a group millstone if you're a lady two ladies are grinding one is raptured the others left two men are working in the field one is raptured and one's left that's the second coming of Christ destruction Jerusalem and like that so Jesus wants us to think about here when he tells us in Matthew chapter 24 in verse 36 no one knows about that day or hour not even the angels in heaven or the sun but only the father when he's dealing with Peter he's saying Peter you're going to die you're going to be led captive somewhere you don't want to go what about him well if I wanted to remain until I return that's none of your business what's that to you what's that to you he wants him to think that the second coming is going to occur in the first century he wants you to think that the second coming is going to occur in the 21st century that's one thing I quickly mentioned two other things though it's not your main to the text but just in passing as we kind of wrap up for tonight and see if there questions and then continue this next Sunday possibly but for sure we'll continue it what are the other two themes of Bible prophecy great worldwide revival and the Jewish people as a whole coming to embrace the Lord Jesus as the Messiah that's certainly sketched out by way of hint at least the strong hint in Romans chapter 11 if they're falling away as the loss of the world what will there coming back be you see there's a glorious future handed out for the Jewish people in Romans 11 be grafted back into that natural allotry world wide revival the Jewish people in mass not every single Jewish person but the Jewish people in mass looking on the Lord Jesus and they pierced and embracing him as their Messiah do we see signs of that now I think so Jewish evangelism has very effective in a way that's unprecedented since the first century if you use for Jesus and other organizations Messianic Judaism the Jews coming to face in Jesus the Messiah what's the other theme in Bible prophecy terrible suffering tribulation and antichrist a man of sin false prophet global control of the world by sinister forces of evil mark of the beast things that have their echo back in time of the first century but aren't exhausted in the first century and point to a final manifestation of evil in an end time figure called the man of sin second for the salonians too who may be alive now so you got three motifs that you will in this great symphony of the future three motifs one Jesus could come today you better be ready what does that call you to be that calls you to be a pilgrim and a stranger don't put your roofs down in Alexandria you may be moving soon where down to bunking up to 3.40 up to meet the Lord in the air you're a pilgrim and a stranger here this world is not my home I'm passing through he's coming again maybe today maybe tonight got about an hour nine minutes second thing worldwide revival there yet millions of people to be one to Christ the Lord is not slow concerning his promise of some men count slowness second Peter chapter three he's long suffering to us we're not willing to then he should perish but all should come to repent when I preach I assume everybody's elect when I meet a neighbor I assume he's elect when I go to the synagogue and visit with the rabbi I assume he's elect when I go to the mosque and visit with she kiosk or Muhammad I assume he's elect and I talk to them with a view that what I'm doing in my my becoming their friend is not an empty thing just of this world of this light but that God in response to prayer through the Holy Spirit is going to pull the veil back from their eyes and give them to look on the Lord Jesus that's how we need to look at our neighbors reach out and win the world look 2005 is a great time to launch world missions there's a world to be one and a great time to pray for the conversion of the Jewish people as a whole as they still are in a land where they don't have the kind of control that's prophesied yet Jerusalem is still being trodden under the foot of the Gentiles it's the Gentiles that control the temple mount still it's the Muslims who control where the temple was still being trodden under foot pray for the conversion of the Jews yet there's that third motif don't trust George Bush don't trust Bill Clinton don't trust Richard Nixon don't trust Jimmy Carter don't trust Gerald Ford he played football without a helmet that's what Linda Johnson said what am I saying don't trust government because out of government comes the man of sin and he could be George Bush oh it couldn't be George Bush let's see if you were Democrat if this were black church I could say it could be Bill it could have been it could be Bill Clinton and you said oh man it couldn't be so don't let your politics get in the way and caution to be deceived it could be somebody that looks to be a Christian and has answers that work and brings about peace and even establishes peace in the Middle East don't trust government I didn't say don't vote I didn't say don't work in the political process I just said don't trust it obey it respect it pray for it don't trust it because the political systems of this world before they become the systems under our Lord in this Christ are going to be held in power by the man of sin second test alliance to three motifs any questions before we close picking it up back in Matthew 24 and which is the clearest part of the whole discourse because it's all about the second coming of Christ let's pray George we thank you that Bible prophecy is given to us to teach us to be optimistic as we pray for people salvation and launch out to do evangelism and world missions that Bible prophecy is given to us to be cautious about every human effort to bring about global peace because it's from men who believe they're doing great good that the world's most dastardly deeds are done leading finally to the man of sin and Lord we thank you above all for the blessed hope that our Lord Jesus Christ just might return tonight at eight o'clock central standard time and like the apostle John we need to live in anticipation that Jesus has hinted that I'm going to be alive when he returns give us to set our compass by those three stars of prophecy that we may successfully navigate through the stormy seas in which we find ourselves right now in Jesus name a man