No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the sun, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days of Noah, but for the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving and marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That's how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill, one will be taken and the other left. Well, at that verse 36, it's so clear, crystal clear, that you're talking about the second coming of Christ. It's even clearer than it is in verse 15 of Matthew 24, that you're talking about some earthly event, that the people who were listening to Jesus talk, would see clearly, would understand and would be able to act on. I think you've seen that point again and again, starting on that Sunday morning sermon, December 26th, when we talked about the overview of this passage. And now, as we've gone now on the 4th of the series on Sunday nights, it's really crystal clear that in verse 15, when you see standing in the holy place, the abomination that causes desolation, and then he says, there's some obscurity here, the end of verse 15, let the reader understand, but Luke makes it plain what he's talking about. That's the armies of the Roman Empire, which the Christian Jews who were in Jerusalem, when they saw that, we know from church history, from Eusebius, the first great historian of the church who lived in the 4th century of the Christian era. We know from his account that the Christians left, we know from reading the only relatively accurate history of that period of time as pertains to the Jews, the writings of Josephus. We know that Cestius Gallus, the Syrian legate, the guy who was over the Roman armies in that part of the empire, we know that he surrounded the city of Jerusalem in 66 AD, and was ready to take it but mysteriously, weirdly, bizarrely, even though the city was ready to fall into his hands to quote the late great Nikita, like an overright plum, that even though it's ready to fall into his hands, he left, victory was right in his hand, and he left. And when he left, what happened is the believers left the city, so what was left in the city of Jerusalem after Cestius Gallus retreated in 66, essentially were people who did not have a true covenant relationship with God. They were outwardly descended from Abraham, they had the outward marks of a covenant relationship on their body, they did attend the synagogue, they did attend the worship of the temple, but in their hearts, they had not come to that point of turning to the God of the covenant, turning to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in repentance and faith, and embracing the eternal Son of God, who's also the Son of David, and embracing him as Messiah, all the people who had embraced the Lord Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, apparently left the city in this window of opportunity. And what is left are the people who had rejected the offer of the good news to confirm the ancient covenant with Abraham by the death of his son. It's amazing that after the death of Jesus, which confirmed the Abrahamic covenant, there still existed roughly a 40 year period of time, a window of opportunity of 40 years to turn from religiosity to Christ, to turn simply from trying to be good moral law keeping people, to people who cast themselves on God's mercy in Christ, and drank freely at the water of life, 40 years of opportunity, a generation, and yet they didn't come. And so finally, the judgment begins to fall, and the curses that are laid out in Leviticus 26, and Deuteronomy chapter 29, 28, began to be fulfilled literally on those people, as they had been in the past in 722 BC, when Samaria fell the capital of ancient Israel, and in 586 BC, when Jerusalem fell the capital of Judah. So now, 722 BC, 586 BC, 66 AD, the third great judgment, the third great wave of judgment, the curses of Leviticus 26, of Deuteronomy 28 are about to come crashing down. And the believers, those who had come to embrace the Messiah, leave the city, and what's left in the words of Jesus, look back at Matthew 23, what's left is a wind swept house. He says in verse 38 of Matthew 23, look, your house is left you desolate, a wind swept house, a house that people have abandoned, and the words of Jesus in Matthew 23 about your house is left you desolate, take us back to the words of Ezekiel. You know, the structure of the book of Ezekiel is pretty interesting, because what happens is Ezekiel has these series of visions that climax in early on in the book with the spirit of God, leaving the Holy of Holies, then leaving the holy place, then leaving the temple mount, then leaving the city of Jerusalem, then going across the mountains, and Ezekiel sees the presence of God, abandoning the Holy city, and you know that actually happened, and when the spirit of God abandoned the city, the armies of Babylon came in and destroyed the city, the temple in 586 BC, so Jesus words have profound, prophetic significance in resonating with the voice of Ezekiel, God abandoning the city, God abandoning his house and leaving it to desolation. And so Jesus says in Matthew 24, 15, when you see the abomination of desolation, why is it called the abomination of desolation? It's an abomination because it's pagan Gentiles who worship idols, spoken out by Daniel the prophet. Daniel the prophet, because he was living in Babylon when the city of Jerusalem fell to the neo-Babolonian empire in 586, was given a vision to understand that the people of God would be re-gathered, the temple would be rebuilt, and it would be destroyed again. And so Jesus is saying, when Daniel prophesied all that's going to happen, it's going to happen to you people, Jesus is saying, this generation won't pass away till all these things are fulfilled. In other words, Daniel foresaw the people returned, rebuilding, and another destruction, and Jesus is going to happen. So I'm saying, the two poles of this, all of the discourse are crystal clear. One is about Jerusalem's going to be destroyed, which fulfilled in 70 AD, it was, and the other is, at some unknown time, look again at verse 36, no one knows that they ignore hour, not even the angels nor the sun, but only the Father. Now, we saw the last time we looked at this, that this middle period is somewhat confusing to us because there's some theological truths that Jesus is seeking to get us to come to grips with. One theological truth is this, every earthquake, every tsunami, every flying of an aircraft into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, every war in the history of the world, every nuclear attack, every plague in history is part and parcel or is part of a larger fabric that is leading up to the final cataclysmic judgment of God. Every time there is a huge tragedy, instead of our ringing our hands and saying, where is God? Every tragedy in history should humble us and say, wow, I'm no more deserving of God's kindness and grace than those people were. Jesus says, when we think about in the gospel's Luke, the falling of the tower of saloon, the slaughtering of the people who were worshiping when Pilate mixed their blood with the blood of the sacrifices, he says, don't think that you're better than those people, remember this, you will likewise perish if you don't repent. In other words, every tragedy in history is a signpost actually connected with the final day of judgment. And so the tsunami is not just a reminder, there's going to be a tsunami that's going to hit us hard in the future, a tsunami of fire. But it's connected to it in the same way that every time a Passover lamb in the Old Testament had its throat slit, it was connected with the sacrifice of Jesus. Not just symbolically, but there's a real connectedness. It's not unlike this. Every time we observe the Lord suffer, it's not just a memorial, it is a memorial that looks back to the finished work of Christ on the cross. But there's a connectedness with the Lord suffer and that event that occurred 2,000 years ago. So when we partake of the bread and partake of the wine, we're being connected as if we were there on Mount Calvary 2,000 years ago when the Son of God was killed. We're connected with that. And that's why St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 that the cup of blessing that we kept, that we drink, is it not a communion, a participation in a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion with a sharing in a participation with the body of Christ? And so what I'm saying is that if we can begin to understand that it's not just that types remind us that they're foreshadowings that give us a picture of the future, but there's an actual connectedness in the mind of God. We begin to see then that this terrible judgment of God on the unbelieving remnant of his people, not the believing remnant, but the unbelieving mass of his people in 70 AD. It's just one part of a bigger part that's yet to take place when Christ comes again, and that's why there's some ambiguity there. But there's a second reason for your ambiguity there. Not only in the mind of Christ are the two events connected, but the second event, the second coming, Jesus deliberately wants us to think about not knowing exactly when it's going to happen. Because he doesn't want us to have our ducks in a row, like having your ducks in a row. This morning I looked out as I was in the bedroom window getting dressed, not getting dressed in the bedroom window. As I was getting dressed in the bedroom and looked out the bedroom window, I saw a bunch of ducks out there on the lake, and they weren't entirely in a row. And like you, I like to get enough ducks in the row that life is going to make sense tomorrow. So I like to get my ducks in a row. This afternoon we were invited over to my son and my son's future in-laws, and a wedding date was set for the weekend after Labor Day and Central Park. And I'm not talking about over there. I think that's right, Louise. And I remember it's always the bride's call. So wow. Anyhow, I'm trying to plan for that. You know, that's going to take a lot of planning. I've got to figure out how to get there and how to get certain family members there, and make sure there's a place to stay, and that's interesting. And the dad said, well, what about inside a church and what about the beautiful flowers God has created in Central Park? So anyhow, hope they're pretty in September. I don't know. What's my point? Well, my point is exactly what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 24, verse 38, page 1540. I want my ducks in a row, and I want to be able to prepare it's going to take probably six or seven months to prepare for this small wedding with only two attendants, her sister and Ben's brother. That's small. But it still got a lot of planning involved. And that's the way it was in the days of Noah. He says, for in the days before the flood, flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving marriage. And I want you to understand that in the world of maybe who knows the chronology of before the time of Abraham. I'm not sure how far you can go back and figure exactly when things happened before Abraham with the time of Abraham. You go back about four thousand years ago, but I'm not sure when the flood occurred, but I want to tell you whenever the flood occurred. People wanted to have their ducks in a row. And when they had a wedding coming up, they wanted to have plenty of time. I want you to understand that the men and the women, the mamas and the daddies, back there before Noah's flood, needed as much preparation time for these things as you and I do today. And they wanted ahead of it all laid out. But what Jesus is getting across to us with this uncertainty about when he's going to come is he doesn't want to stay very ducks in a row. He wants us to realize, you know, I may not be able to make it to Central Park on September the 10th, because I may have a prior commitment. See, I made a commitment on September the 4th, 1964, that may preclude my being able to come on September the 10th, 2005, to your wedding. Now, I'll do my best to be there, but because of that prior commitment on September 4th, 1964, I may be prevented from coming. What kind of commitment would that be that would take precedent over marrying and giving in marriage? Well, here it is, right here, in verse 40. Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill. One will be taken and the other left. In other words, unlike the destruction of the city of Jerusalem that gives us plenty of warning, this event, the second coming of Christ gives us no warning. And yet it does give us a warning. The point is that World War II was a warning. The point is that the mass destruction, depending on whose history you read, to whether you call it terrorism or whether you call it saving lives, that occurred in 1945 with the Anola Gay, that that that's a warning that it's about to happen that Jesus is coming soon. It's important to understand that when those guys blew those airplanes into the twin towers there in New York City, that's a warning that Jesus is getting ready to come. And if we understand it that way, we've understood Bible prophecy correctly. But you got to understand something else. That the black death that occurred in the 14th century when a huge portion of Europe was wiped out was just as much a warning sign that Jesus is about to return as was the tsunami that occurred a couple of weeks ago. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? There was a specific warning sign about the destruction of Jerusalem. When you see these pagan people that are about to make your city and temple desolate, and you get that window of opportunity, you get out of Jerusalem, that's what Jesus says. Well, what about the warning sign that you're about to return? And the answer to that is keep your eyes open because there's signs on the horizon and you'll see them. It's what I want to understand is that the black death of the 14th century that did more than decimate the population of Europe. That was a warning sign. And so is the tsunami. The difficulty is that Jesus deliberately wants us not to figure it out. And why? Well, you remember what I said last week we looked at the account of Jesus dialogue with John and look there at the end of the gospel of John about Peter. Let's look there again. The gospel of John, the very end of it. And here's what he says. There's this discussion. Verse 21, page 1688, John 21, 21. Very significant to understand Bible prophecy about the second coming of Christ. Jesus has just implied to Peter, you ain't going to make it. You're not going to see it. He's implied to Peter that Peter is going to die before Christ returns. That's the only thing that we have in the entirety of the word of God that at least by way of implication that is implicitly not explicitly is there that says this has to happen before Jesus comes. Understand that a lot of people say, well, this has to happen before Jesus comes. This has to happen before Jesus comes. I'm telling you the only thing that at least implicitly had to happen before Jesus returned would be the martyrdom of Saint Peter. Because what he says, look at it, he says, verse 19, Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. So Peter had to die before Jesus came again because Jesus told him explicitly in verse 17, the end there Jesus said, feed my sheep, verse 18. I tell you the truth when you were younger, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted, but when you were old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death. See, so that had to happen first. Well, it's already happened. So that leads, you know, always just like kids, you know, well, if that's been happening, what about me? You know, what about me? And, you know, or what about him, rather, that's Peter, I'm sorry, Peter's getting a whipping, it says. And, you know, well, you know, I did wrong. But what about him? So anyhow, verse 21, when Peter saw him, he asked, Lord, what about him? And Jesus answered. And notice his words, because Jesus words are deliberately. Now, think about what I'm about to say. Jesus words are deliberately designed to confuse. I want you to think about that for a moment. Jesus words are deliberately designed to confuse his listeners at this point and not make it clear. Now, what does he think about it for a moment? Listen to it. If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me. Because of this, the rumors spread. Notice Jesus words were deliberately unclear. That's what I mean by saying. They were designed to confuse. Jesus words were deliberately unclear and designed for somebody to take him just like the morning exhortation, what in the sermon it was an exhortation. Just like my words this morning, had the potential of people reading into it more than there. Jesus deliberately, and without ever clarifying it with the evening message and saying, I'm not ready to go, he says, if, because he says, if this, then, you know, it's not your problem, he says in verse 23, because of this, in other words, because Jesus was not clear, and because Jesus was deliberately not clear, 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 want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? This is really important. Once you've come to grips with the fact that Jesus doesn't want you to know when he's going to return, you've begun to understand the heart of Bible prophecy. Why? Because every time there's the black plague, every time there's the earthquake, every time there's the war, every time there's the barbarity and atrocity done in war, it's a reminder that this too is a judgment of God. See, he's got to understand. It was a judgment of God that the world trades in a restaurant. The war between the states was a judgment of God on the north and on the south. The tsunami was a judgment of God on those people, but wait a minute says, Jesus, lest you sit there and say, well, I ain't like all them folks over there. Thank the Lord. You're taken back to Jesus' words where he says, those 18 on whom the Tower of Salon fell, look 13, you can read about it, those 18 on whom the Tower of Salon fell. Were you think they were worse sinners than you guys? I tell you, unless you repent, you'll also in the same way perish. So these judgments of God remind us it's going to happen. So it's going to happen. We just don't know when and he wants you off center. He wants you to be reminded of every time you get those ducks together and start lining them up and saying, okay, okay, on September the 10th we're going to be there in Central Park. You know, I'll keep a watch on the muggers and you keep a watch on the first snatchers. I'm reminded of something that St. James said, go to now, you who say today and tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and buy and sell and get gain. He said what you you don't know what tomorrow brings your life is even a vapor and then he says what you ought to say is if the Lord will. Now people who don't want to come across as pious and sounding silly religious and remember Solomon warns us that we can be too righteous just as much as we can be too sinful. Don't go saying in every letter if the Lord wills I'll be there tomorrow. I like to put DV because nobody knows what that means. That's a Latin word for God willing. And I need to do that because if the Lord wills I'm going to be in Central Park on September 10th to marry my son to his fiance. But the Lord may not be willing. Because that blessed event may come now once you point out something else, there is throughout these in them wrapping up tonight, God willing, the all of it discourse. There is throughout these parables that Jesus gives in Matthew 24 the hand of delay. He wants you to be ready and he wants you to believe it may be on January 31st at 630 in the morning, 2005 January 31st 630 in the morning, 2005. I better get up about five and get that coffee some wide awake. It doesn't make any difference tomorrow morning whether you're wide awake or sleep in bed. There's not a blessed thing you can do to be ready for that except to make sure your heart's right with God. You don't have to run off the rooftop and not go back into the city but look at the hand of delay expecting it to be today living in anticipation that it would be today. There's the hand of delay. You see it here in verse in verse look at verse 44. He talks about a thief breaking into a house and he says verse 44. So you also must be ready because the son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Any talk about it and notice in the next when he begins to talk about a servant being ready for his master to return and the master said, now I want you to do this and this and this. And be ready. Get this all in place because I'm going to come and I'm not exactly sure when I'm coming back but make sure it happens. So Lee Roy happens. You see what happens is what verse 48 but suppose Lee Roy is wicked and says to himself my master is staying away a long time. You hit that picture because this is repeated things that what Jesus is warning us about is to be ready for master to come today. But he's saying you know what's going to happen probably for you because I don't know Jesus is saying I myself Jesus don't know when I'm going to come again. So if that's in the father's hands not mine. So therefore it's not unlikely that you're going to be doing your work. And one day it's going to dawn on you that I hadn't come back when you thought I was going to come back and so you're going to tend to quit doing what you're supposed to do. And he says, you see those words there. He says but if that wicked service says to himself my master is staying away a long time. Then he sees he just he doesn't do his job right. He's mean. He's cruel. He's harsh. And he reminds us again. Verse 50, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him. At an hour he is not aware of. He'll cutting to pieces. I want you to understand that this is not about missing out on a few rewards. That the eternal destiny of people is in view here including lead Royce. He says he will assign he will cutting to pieces and assigning a place with the hypocrites where they will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You know I know I'm saved. I know I'm going to happen but I have to be continually reminded that for me as a preacher I stand in the position of lead Roy. For me as a pastor I'm in lead Royce position because God has commissioned me as an elder in the church as a bishop in the church along with the other elders and bishops of the church of this local church. To make sure that the members of the household get their food in due time. See that's picture here. And you see I've got a serious warning here to understand that in the parable preachers are going to go to hell. You see that? See if this is a kingdom parable as it is. And you find that it's in verse 45 who then is the faithful and wise servant who the masters put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food. They are food at the proper time. It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Well that's a picture at least if we want to stretch the parable a little bit preachers need to be thinking about this parable. But what happens to the preacher who turns his back on biblical truth and ceases to preach the gospel and begins to give himself over to carnality and to indulge in his flesh. And it's mean and it's harsh and abuses the sheep for his own personal aggrandism. Well you talk about something hold a man in check. He says in verse 51 he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do you mean that I could end up there if I turn my back on God? Now hold on a minute. I'm not going to turn my back on God. But if I find myself starting to turn my back on God I better question whether I've ever really been born again or not. Is it possible for a preacher to be religious and have goosebumps experiences and never have really been born again? Absolutely. Do you believe that Judas Iscariot was a great preacher? I believe Judas Iscariot was a great preacher. I believe that Judas Iscariot was able to attract people to himself and to his message. Do I think that for a time at least Judas Iscariot preached the biblical gospel? I believe that. Do I believe that people were actually born again and one to Christ under Judas Iscariot's ministry? I believe that. Do I believe that Judas Iscariot went to hell? I do. Do I believe that Judas Iscariot was ever born again himself? No, I do not. The point is in the delay, in the frustration of the delay, in the self-pity that tends to come over people when they're doing their job and doing their job and they're not seeing what they think they ought to be seeing. Where's Jesus? He should be coming by now. He should be coming by now. There's a warning. Hold on. There may be delay. Let's look at the next part, 25. Once again, you've got this parable of the kingdom. You've got the ten virgins, five or wise, five or foolish. What marks the wise virgins is that they are committed to sticking with it to the end and they've decided at the outset that they are going to be ready no matter how long it takes. But what marks the foolish virgins is, they may be all enthusiastic, but they haven't made that decision to be prepared to stick with it in the long haul and here's what happens. Look at verse 5. Somebody read page 1540, Matthew 255. What's that word again? What's that participle? You said it, say it again. Just the participle. Delaying while the bridegroom was delaying, what was he doing? I don't know what Jesus is doing. That's none of my business. That's what he told Peter when Peter said what about him. He says, there's none of your business. If I wanted to stay here until I come back, what's that? That's none of your business. So there's none of my business. What Jesus is doing, why didn't he come yet, but he was delaying. What was the bridegroom delaying? We don't know, but he was delaying. So read it again. He also lumbered and slept. However, five of them were ready. The minute they heard the sound to move into action and five of them weren't. And what happens? Well, here's what happens. When they went off trying to get ready because they weren't ready when he came. And they finally got ready. It was too late. And we read in verse 11, page 1541 later, the others also came. Sir, sir, they set open the door for us, but he replied, I tell you the truth. I don't know you. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know the day to the hour. And then he tells the parable of the talents. And not everybody has the same gifts. Everybody here has gifts, but our gifts differ one from another to one, the master interest, five talents of money to another, two talents, excuse me, excuse me. That's not right. To one, he gave five talents to another, two talents and another one. But what happens? Well, he went on a journey, the end of verse 15, he went on a journey. And so verse 19, would somebody read that for us, verse 19, after how long? After a long time, but Jesus wants what? Does Jesus want Peter and James and John and the rest of the disciples to think that it's likely that John, the beloved disciple will live to see Christ returned to Jesus, want them to believe that? Yes, sir. He wants them to believe that John, the beloved disciple, and he outlived them all by the way, Jesus wants them to believe that John is going to live to see the return of Christ, even though he said he didn't say that. He wants them to believe that it's obvious. And yet in these parables, he thinks it could be a long time, boys, it could be a long time. Make sure you got all for your lamps. Make sure you invest, the gifts God has given you, make sure you invest them wisely in the kingdom. But after a long time, the master of those servants returned. Now, want you to see the last of the parables, and that is the sheep and the goats. Verse 31 is the climax of this, all of it, discourse page 1540 to 41542, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne and heavenly glory. Now, I want you to see that this judgment pertains to works. What does that mean? If all you stood for for 29 and a half years in this pulpit is about salvation being by grace alone, received through faith alone and Christ alone, how can the judgment be about works? Turn with me to Romans 3 for a moment. Now, Romans chapter 3, and this is what he says, real fast through it because we preached through it before, page 1750, and I'll be looking at justification by faith, God willing, see how practice James words there, didn't I? I'll be looking at justification by faith, God willing next Sunday and conclude tonight, all of it, discourse, verse 21. But now, our righteousness from God, apart from law, that's very critical, our righteousness from God, this is God's own righteousness, this is it in your righteousness, this is somebody else's righteousness, it's God's own righteousness, and notice that it's apart from law, it's not by keeping the law, it's not by being good. He says, has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify, this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to what? To all who believe, how about to bad people who believe, it comes to all who believe? It comes to all who believe, there's no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified, that needs to be declared righteous, freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ, Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, literally a propitiation, what's a propitiation? God is angry at human sin, if you doubt that, just look at what happened in the Indian Ocean a few weeks ago, that's a testimony that God is angry at sin. God is angry at sin, if you doubt that, look at the thousands of people that died in New York City on September 11th, 2001. God's angry at sin, God's angry at America, God's angry with India, God's angry with Indonesia, God's angry with England, God's angry with Germany, God's angry with the entire world that refuses to repent and come to Christ as He's offered in the gospel. A propitiation is an offering that takes away wrath, and every single man, woman and child that will take advantage of the offered sacrifice will escape the wrath of God. In this world and the world to come, will they experience pain and suffering in this life? Yeah, but it's not as the wrath of God, because there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, it's not wrath. If I'm looking to Jesus and I've ever been born again, I will know suffering and difficulty, but I will never know the wrath of God. I will only know my father lovingly correcting me. I will know challenges from the evil one in order that I might see the victory that God gives as I appropriate the promises of God with my mouth. But I will never know condemnation because there's a propitiation to sacrifice the removes wrath. He did this to demonstrate his right, his justice because in his forbearance, he had left the sins committed before and unpunished. In other words, Old Testament believers didn't end up in hell. God held back his wrath to the sacrifice that took away wrath came. And then he says in verse 26, he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time. So as to be just, and the one who justifies the one who is faith in Jesus, bottom line what that saying is, God's just, he punishes sin. If God doesn't punish sin, he's not just. It's like a banker who forgives debts without putting the money in the bank to cover the debt. So God is just, he punishes sin, but is punishing sin in the person of his own son, the voluntary substitute. He's just, but he's also able to declare you and me righteous on the basis of Christ's sacrifice alone. Christ's sacrifice removes the guilt of your sin. Christ's righteous life is then put to your account when you believe. So God doesn't see you as what you've done. He sees you as totally righteous in Jesus Christ with no sin. Verse 27, where then is boasting? It's excluded on what principle on that of observing the law? No. But on that faith, for we maintain, now look, you want to know what apostolic doctrine is? You want to know what church should be able to put on its billboard out front, apostolic church? This is an apostolic church. Every church that maintains what we're about to read is an apostolic church. And every church, no matter how many goosebumps and cartwheels down the aisle, might be there otherwise, that doesn't maintain this is not an apostolic church. You want to know a definition of apostolic churches. Those that join in, the apostles, notice he says, we, by the way, does refer to I later on in chapter 7 talks about himself, but he's talking now as an apostle, along with the other apostles, what's apostolic doctrine? We maintain that a man is justified, that is declared righteous, courtroom, forensic, declaration. We maintain that a man is justified by faith, apart from what? Observing the law. Nant, and just talking about slitting goat's throats and lambs throats and keeping the Passover and all that other stuff. The only thing about this, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery. Understand, the law is a big thing here. It's the whole law, not just ceremonial, not just the law God gave to Israel as a civil law, but the moral law as well. The ten commandments. And what he says is, you want to know apostolic doctrine? I'll tell you what apostolic doctrine is. We maintain that a man is declared righteous by faith, apart from being good. Do you believe that? That's the word of God. We maintain, I'm putting it my own paraphrase, we maintain that a man is declared righteous by God, by faith, apart from being good. I understand it. It's not by keeping the ten commandments. If we're really honest with ourselves and most folks have trouble being honest with themselves, we've all broken the ten commandments, because commandment ten takes that principle in place of the other nine and we all mess up, because it has to do with the heart. So he's saying, apostolic doctrine is, we maintain a man is justified by faith, apart from observing the law. And he goes on in verse 29 as God, the God of the Jews only. He's not also the God of the Gentiles too. Yes, the Gentiles too. Since there's only one God who will justify the circumcise, that's the Jews by faith, and the uncircumcise, through that same faith, I'll look at verse 31, that's the meat of the coconut. That enables us to look back quickly at the last part of the olive discourse and understand it right, correctly. Do we then nullify the law by this faith, not at all, rather we uphold the law? In other words, if you're saved and you know it, then your life will surely show it. And if your life doesn't show it at all, then you've never been saved at all. Does that mean a Christian can stand, of course, it means that. We've really been born again. If we've come to Jesus as he's offered in the gospel, if we believe the promises of God, God declares us righteous, but he seals us first, Ephesians 1,14, in whom after you believe, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And when the Holy Spirit seals you, you begin to live like Jesus. Perfectly no, not in this life, but you begin to live like Jesus. Now what does Matthew 25 tell us? This is real quick, but it's real clear. And I want you to look at it. Page 15, 42. Take me two minutes to teach you this. So you're saying, okay, all right, we don't nullify. That is, we don't abandon the law. We don't do away with the law. We establish the law. Those of us who are declared righteous by faith alone and not by keeping the law. Well, what is the outline of Christian living that keeps the law? Let's look at Matthew 25. You know what it is? It has nothing to do with whether we don't smoke and we don't chew and we don't go with girls who do. You know what it has to do with? We take the money that we spend on that chewing tobacco and we give it to four folks. Am I commending chewing tobacco to you or condemning you in tobacco? No. I'm saying that the mark of a Christian is not that he doesn't smoke and he doesn't chew and he doesn't go with girls who do. I'm not interested in going with a girl who's used tobacco. I'll tell you that. Thank goodness Sandy never chewed tobacco. Her daddy is the whole thing I ever need to be around chewing tobacco. The point is it's not about personal piety, this evidence that I am a true believer. In judgment day, when the books are open, the thing that's going to mark the sheep and it's not going to mark the goats is not their personal piety, but how they lived out their personal piety in relationship to the poor and the needy. Let's look at it because this heaven and hell here, verse 31, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, you'll sit on his throne in heavenly glory, all the nations and people say, well, this is the judgment of nations. No, that's the failure to understand Greek. I want you to see something. What's the difference in the sheep and the goats? It's not just what they didn't do. It's what they didn't do in relationship to the poor. God gave me a word years ago about my firstborn son. God told me when he was a little boy, he was going to become rich and powerful when he was a little boy and I anointed him one night and I said son I want you to understand something when God gives you money and power. Why he gives money and power? It's not to get more money and more power. It's to use it to help the poor and the power less. I want you to see something here. The mark of a Christian according to the last part of the Olivet Discourse isn't that you didn't commit adultery, isn't that you didn't commit murder, isn't that you didn't steal and all those things are things you shouldn't do. And if you're doing those things and you think you're born again, you better rethink whether you're born again or not. But the tangible evidence of being a follower of Christ is what? Here it is. Look at it. It's amazing. This is what he says. Verse 34, the king will say to those on the right, come you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance. The kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothes me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him. Lord, when do we see you hungry and feed you? Our thirsty and give you something to drink. When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and cold you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you? The king replied, tell you the truth. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, the wretched of the earth, as Franco non would call them the lupin proletariat, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Verse 41, then he will say to those on his left, depart from you, me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil in his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothes me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They also will answer to Lord. When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger needing clothes or sick or in prison and not help you? He will reply, I tell you the truth. Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me, they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life, that's the olive of discourse. Jesus is coming soon. And we need to be about kingdom work, and kingdom work is about proclaiming good news to the poor. It's about binding up the brokenhearted. It's about proclaiming release to captives. Is it spiritual sure it is? It's about helping people be delivered from demons who have strong holes in their lives. It's about taking sinners who need to know that Jesus died for their sins and they can be washed away. But it's also about that guy over there and that woman over there and that child over there that doesn't know where their next meal is coming from and loving them in a personal way. It's not about giving money to the Salvation Army and the Shepherd Center order the church to distribute to the poor from a distance so that we wearing rubber gloves with an antiseptic distance are able to help them. It's about embracing the poor and receiving them into our own lives as brothers and sisters. And that dear ones, not keeping simply the moral law, that dear ones is the fundamental evidence that you've been to Jesus for the cleansing power and been washed in the blood of the Lamb. It's sacrifice for Jesus' sake to the poor who can't give you anything in return in this life. That's the gospel and that's the demand of the gospel. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for this Olivet discourse that we've explored as it keeps us unable to get our ducks in a row because we never know when the Son of Man is going to come. And Lord, we know there's a call on our lives as individuals and as a church to reach out to the poor and the powerless and to empower the poor to improve their condition in life. Not through government, large S, but through personal kindness, interaction and involvement with people who are different than we are. In order that we might lift people up, not merely for this world or this life, but lift them up so that they come to the foot of the cross, lift them up so they come to a sin to mount Calvary where they lose themselves and find themselves and find new life. And because they find people who will arm them up as brothers and sisters and help them, Lord, we pray that we might remember those words in as much as you did it unto one of the least of these my brethren. You did it unto me, in Jesus name, amen.