Bible Study - The Olivette Prophecy

(54) NW Bible Study - Bible Quiz #23 - The Olivette Prophecy - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuBdbrYsyV8

Transcript:
(00:00) So, we are on Bible literacy test Bible study question number 23. And if you're following along, then you know that it says the ET prophecy. That's the that's the question, the ET prophecy. And I'll give you the I'll give you the the the biblical passages that you'll want to note if you're taking notes for this.
(00:24) But the ET prophecy is recorded for us in three places. Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. I'm going to begin today. I'm going to begin. So, remember what we're trying to do here with each one of these Bible studies is to ask and answer the question, why is this important? What do we need to know about this? And why is it important? So, I'm going to try this evening with this Bible study to do the same thing, answer that question.
(00:52) So, I want to begin over in John chapter 1 today. because I want to give some back I want to give a backdrop or give the backstory here that begins or where I think we should begin as we as we go through this study on the ET prophecy. So John chapter 1 verses 1-3 where John records in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
(01:26) He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made. This is what we call the true beginning of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 records uh the beginning of the physical creation. Here we see that there was a being that was with God at during that creation.
(01:48) In fact, he was the agent of the father who actually uh enacted and and and fulfilled the commands of the father to do all of the building, all of the constructing, all of the creating that was done. And that was Christ who became the word. So it was this word that had walked with Israel, who had covenanted with them, who led them through the wilderness, who established them as a nation.
(02:16) And of course, he was the one whose presence was among them at the tabernacle and later, of course, in the temple. Yet over and again, Israel strayed. They chased after the gods of the nations, mixing truth with error. of course ceremony, godly ceremonies with idolatry. Of course, ultimately this led to the northern kingdom uh abandoning the covenant uh with God completely and Christ of course as the word sent prophets to plead with them to warn them.
(02:48) But Israel would not listen in the end of course he gave them over to captivity. So around 720 or so, this is rough numbers, but close enough. Around 720 or so BC, the Assyrians carried them off into captivity. God had rejected them and essentially deported them from the promised land. Now, what's interesting about this is Judah saw all of that, all everything that happened to her sister, Judah saw everything.
(03:15) She watched it unfold in real time. And yet Judah hardened her heart even more. She retained the temple. You know, the people clung to their sacrifices, to the ceremonies, but they didn't rever it as a holy place, not truly as the holy place where God is the boss of all things spiritual and of the covenant and their relationship.
(03:43) But Judah believed that so long as the temple stood, God was with her. Didn't matter what a behavior was or what justice they executed, how faithful they were. If they had the temple, they had God. Jeremiah was sent to confront this deadly assumption. So, let's go back here in Jeremiah 7 and verse4 because this is backdrop for us.
(04:06) Jeremiah 7 and verse 4. Jeremiah who lived during this time and from Jerusalem did his prophesying. Verse four of Jeremiah, he says,"Do not trust in these lying words." This is God telling the Jews at the time, the nation of Judah, when you say the temple, the temple, God says here, "Do not trust in these lying words, saying the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these Christ, of course, as the word warned that the temple would not save them.
(04:45) Possessing the symbol of God's presence meant nothing if they had abandoned the covenant that made his presence meaningful. But Judah, like her sister, refused to listen. And so, just as her sister had fallen, so to Judah was expelled from the promised land. Jerusalem was destroyed. The temple was destroyed and the people were sent into Babylonian captivity.
(05:16) Christ as the word withdrew his presence from the temple just as Ezekiel saw in his vision. That's over in Ezekiel 10 and verse 18. Ezekiel 10 and verse 18 where the scripture records for us, then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple. Here's where it describes God leaving the temple. Ezekiel is a contemporary of Jeremiah.
(05:48) He's writing his prophetic book from Babylon. And here God inspired him to to to record when God had removed himself from the temple. Notice in verse 23 of chapter 11, 23 of chapter 11, it says, "And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.
(06:14) " So God leaves the temple, ascends up, and then moves over to the mountain to the east of the temple. He's no longer in the temple. He left the temple. And how did God feel about the choice Judah had made to reject him? Well, let's go back over to Jeremiah. This is important because it expresses the feelings that are expressed by God through Christ as the word.
(06:42) Jeremiah chapter 8. All this is foreshadowing. You're going to see that here very shortly. Jeremiah 8 verse 21 God records here through Jeremiah for the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt I am mourning astonishment has taken hold of me this is how God felt he didn't have to be this way. But Judah made her choice.
(07:22) She rejected God. This was not the end of the story. Of course, God was not finished with his people. Centuries later, the word becomes flesh. Born in Judah into a world that had rebuilt the temple, but had not rebuilt true worship. Christ walked among his own when he was born. And his own did not receive him.
(07:48) Once again, he performed miracles. He taught the truth. He called for repentance. Yet, the religious leaders of the day repeated the sins of their ancestors. They trusted in the temple. They trusted in the forms of religion, but they rejected the Messiah who stood in their midst. Back over to John chapter 1. John chapter 1 and verse 11 where it says he came to his own and his own did not receive him.
(08:26) So just as before Christ the word knowing the Jews had chosen to reject him he lamented. Matthew chap 23 before we get to the oliveette prophecy we have here recorded Matthew 23 37 and 38 where Christ laments as follows. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.
(08:57) How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate. This Christ says before he walks out of the temple for the final time of his own valition, he leaves the temple again. And for the same reason, the people had rejected him.
(09:23) He wept over Jerusalem. His heart broke for what could have been if only they had listened. But of course, they wouldn't listen. The very leaders of the Jews plotted his death even as they prayed in the temple courts. The people followed traditions while ignoring the signs of their own visitation.
(09:46) And so once again, the glory of the Lord prepared to depart. Once again, the house was left desolate. Christ's departure from the temple was not just a step across a threshold. It marked the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. The sorrow was real. The judgment was certain. But Christ's mission moved forward. He was not going to linger in the past.
(10:14) He turned his eyes toward his disciples, those who had left the old structures behind, those whose faith was no longer in a building, but in him. His next words would not be words of despair for a lost nation. They would be words of warning and hope for the future, for those who would endure, for those who would carry his name until he returned in glory.
(10:40) We turn now to Matthew 24:es 1 and 2. Matthew 24:es 1 and 2. Then Jesus went out, departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.
(11:11) you know, the disciples who were with him, who heard all of the uh discussions, the criticisms, the debate, the arguing between Christ and the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees while he was uh at the temple with them. And as they're leaving, the disciples look at the magnificence of this incredible building, this temple, which was truly one of the wonders of the world of their day.
(11:45) And they see its magnificence, and they're awed by it. Yet Christ wasn't. His concern was for the faithfulness of those who would stand when those stones he just stated would fall would actually fall. His concern was not for the things of the temple and the worship of the temple and the the things that the Jewish leaders and the people would would do from then on.
(12:18) His focus was now going to be moving towards the disciples themselves. And of course they were focused on the temple, but Christ was focused on them. So in verse three of Matthew 24, it says, "Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" So Christ begins with you must understand.
(12:55) You must understand. You know the disciples believed that the destruction of the temple would signal the arrival of the kingdom. They saw the grandeur of Jerusalem, the heart of their nation and could not imagine its fall without the end of its age following really closely behind. So their expectation was not foolish.
(13:15) was the natural result of everything they had been taught under the old system. But that was incomplete. Christ knew what they needed. They didn't need to know the timing of the temple's collapse, which of course would have been the first thing on their mind since they had just pointed out the temple and Christ had simply said, "You're impressed by this building, but I'm warning you now that this building is not going to be standing any longer.
(13:36) There is going to come a time when it's going to fall." You know, and as I said, the in the disciples mind that would have been directly connected to end time events because look at this building. It's magnificent. It's huge. It's massive. What could possibly create an under what circumstances would it be possible for this building to fall unless it were cataclysmic end time events? But Christ did not he didn't see it the way that the disciples saw it.
(14:08) He saw that they needed preparation for a world that would reject them, persecute them, and seek to silence them, and the message that they would carry after he was gone. John 16 and verse two, he warns them. John 16 and verse two, he says they will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service.
(14:42) They needed to be made ready for deception and betrayal and tribulation. They needed to be warned that their faith would be tested and that only by enduring would they enter into the promise of the kingdom. Back to Matthew chapter 24. And I really think you need to keep your keep your marker here so that you can quickly turn back because we will go from from here to other places. But we will return here.
(15:07) Matthew chap 24 now in verse 13 where Christ says, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." So he didn't answer their question by satisfying curiosity. He answered by preparing their character. He didn't begin by giving them dates or even with warnings to be honest with you.
(15:35) Look, not he didn't describe signs immediately, but he did talk about what would needed to be happening in the heart to prepare them. Verses 4 and 5. Now, Matthew 24, this is how Christ started with a warning not of end time events, but of where they were and what they needed to be aware of. He says here in verse four, "And Jesus answered and said to them, take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many.
(16:09) " False Christs or those preaching Jesus Christ falsely would arise. Nations of course would rage and families would betray one another. Lawlessness would increase and love would grow cold. Here we notice in verses 10-2 where Christ says verses 10-2 and then many will be offended will betray one another and will hate one another. And verse 11 it says then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
(16:46) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Through danger, Christ's warning would not be merely in the collapsing of buildings, but really in the collapsing of faith. The kingdom would not be seized by those who could read the signs of the times. It would be inherited by those who endured through those signs.
(17:14) So the disciples asked when and of course Christ answered endure. Christ's answer to the disciples was you must endure. First you have to understand and then you have to endure. And of course he begins as we read here in verses four and five with deception. Take heed that no one deceives you. So, you know, the the the the initial or the very first warnings here that Christ wanted them to understand and therefore endure was that there would in fact be deceptions.
(17:56) And of course, we live in a world today filled with religious deception. Many claim to represent Jesus Christ. They claim Jesus Christ is who he is, but they claim to know what Christ is all about. And of course, they don't. And so, they teach a false doctrine of Jesus Christ. And of course, that wasn't just for the disciples. That was for all time.
(18:19) As I just noted that we're living in the same exact times now. And Paul, of course, warned about this future in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chap 11 verses 13- 15. 11:es 13-15. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
(18:59) Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. The danger of course that he was trying to help the disciples to understand is not wasn't just going to end with their generation, but it would begin there and it would continue and it would grow until the end of the age.
(19:30) And then after warning of deception, Christ expands the vision, including wars and rumors of wars, nations rising up against nations, famines and pestilences and earthquakes which strike in various places. Back to Matthew 24 6 and 7. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
(20:00) For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. But all these were the beginning of sorrows. Verse 8 says, these are the beginning of sorrows. The word Christ used for sorrows uh is interesting because it doesn't leave any room for doubt what he's talking about.
(20:28) The Greek word here means the sharp rhythmic pains of a woman in labor. He's not speaking of then like sadness or hardship or emotional difficulty or distress. He's warning of escalating unstoppable crises that would build and intensify until the birth of a new age. Paul used the same word when he wrote. Let's go over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.
(20:58) 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse three. Let's read what Paul says here. For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. So if you're reading in the King James version, instead of labor pains, it uses the word travail.
(21:27) Both travail and labor pains are the same word Christ used. It's the exact same word. And so we know that Christ wasn't referring to some emotional pain or just the difficulties of the time. He's talking about birth pains leading to a change. something new is going to come through that birth process. A new age would come.
(21:51) And so, just as natural labor cannot be delayed once it begins, obviously the events Christ described would drive relentlessly towards their appointed end. These were not random sorrows. They're labor pains. The kingdom is coming, but only through, as the King James version says, travail or labor pains. So, in the midst of global upheaval, Christ's disciples would be targeted personally.
(22:20) Persecution would fall upon them. They would be hated by all nations for his name's sake. Back to Matthew chapter 24. Hopefully, you're keeping your place there. Matthew chap 24 and verse 9. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
(22:46) Well, you know, an interesting question we did that happen. I'm thinking, did that happen to the disciples? Well, obviously the answer is yes, it did. But let's go here for a very specific example in Acts chapter uh in Acts chapter 12. Acts 12 note here very specifically an event that happened. It says now here Acts 12 1 and 2 it says now about that time Herod now this is Herod agria Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some of the church.
(23:28) Then he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. This is that fiery older brother of John. You know, John and James, the sons of thunder. He was killed by Hera Agria. Herod Agrippa to please the Jews. Remember that these disciples were members of the way which the Jews called heresy. And notice also in verses 3 and 4, because it wasn't just James that had to endure persecution, verses 3 and 4, and because it and because he that is Herod Grippa saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the days
(24:13) of unleaven bread. So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. Well, we know what he just did to James. So it's a little bit of a leap, not much of a leap at all here to think that Peter's destiny was the same.
(24:34) And of course, God rescues Peter from that fate. So Christ was right about what would happen to the disciples. But the test would not be external alone. It would reach into the fellowship itself. Many would stumble. Brother would betray brother. False prophets would arise. Lawlessness would spread. The love of many would grow cold.
(25:02) So Christ painted a clear picture of what the disciples should expect to happen to them if they remained faithful. He told them the truth. Faith would cost them. Loyalty would be rare. Endurance would be essential. Back in Matthew 24 and verse 13, we're reminded here again. He says, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
(25:31) " The disciples had asked for signs of Christ's coming. Christ first described the conditions they would have to endure. He gave them a road mapaps for survival in an age of deception and violence and betrayal and loss. It was the path that would be walked not only by the 12 but all but by all who would follow Christ until the end of the age.
(25:56) The message was clear. The true disciple would not be the one who knew exactly when everything would occur. The true disciple would be the one who endured through the trials that would come without losing faith, without compromising the truth, without abandoning Jesus Christ. From here Christ says you must proclaim. So he began with you must understand.
(26:24) He moves into you must endure and then he advances to you must proclaim. The disciples were not called merely to survive the age. They were commissioned to proclaim something to take forward the very message Christ himself had preached. Notice verse 14, the very next verse. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations and then the end will come.
(27:00) It's not just some random message of the kingdom. It's the message Jesus Christ himself brought to this earth over in Mark 1 verses 14 and 15. Mark 1:es 14 and 15. Now after John was put in prison, this is John the Baptist. After John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.
(27:40) Repent and believe the gospel." So this isn't a gospel about Jesus Christ. It's about the coming kingdom of God. That government that God would establish on this earth, a future time coming when Jesus Christ would return and bring that government here. And of course, Christ taught that message and continued to teach that message even after his resurrection.
(28:07) Acts chapter 1 and verse three. Notice Acts chapter 1 and verse three. where it says to those he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Christ had never wavered on the message. He was teaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.
(28:45) And it was the message he commanded them to carry forward. As we notice again in Matthew 28 19 and 20. Matthew 28 19 and 20 where Christ ends his physical teachings by telling his disciples, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.
(29:13) And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Of course, in the very last uh Bible study uh on the on the quiz, you'll notice we were on number 22, which talked about the great commission. And this is the great commission that Christ gave to the church, his disciples, that would form the church.
(29:37) They were to proclaim repentance. They were to proclaim faith. and they were to proclaim the coming reign of God over all the earth. And of course, John later is inspired to record in the book of Revelation 11 and verse 15. Revelation 11 and verse 15. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become.
(30:10) The kingdom is of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." This is the gospel message. And of course it would not be accepted by most. But it would stand as a witness, a testimony against the world, the world or a world, this world which had rejected God's rule. And only after the gospel of the kingdom was proclaimed to all nations would the end come.
(30:42) This was the work given to the disciples and it remains the work of the church even now. And of course, Christ goes on from there to explain that to the Philadelphiaians, you must go. Meaning those whom God would protect. He had prepared a place for them. And Christ wanted his disciples to understand this yet future event. His teachings had a progression.
(31:10) So first the disciples needed to understand the age they would live through which was deception and betrayal and lawlessness. Second they needed to understand that they would have to endure faithfully through it. Third that they would need to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom as a witness to all nations and that that work would continue right up until the end of the age.
(31:37) And then after that he warned that his people would have to go. Matthew chapter 24. Let's notice this. Matthew chapter 24 again and verse 15 where he says, "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand." So, the abomination of desolation is a real visible prophetic event.
(32:09) It's one foretold in the book of Daniel and confirmed in the writings of the apostles. It marks the moment when God's people must act, not out of fear or uh, you know, but really out of obedience and trust. That's what the point of this is. Christ isn't saying, "Hey, I want you to get all uh apprehensive and I want you to get all worried.
(32:31) " He's saying, "No, I want you to understand there's going to be a time where where God's people will have to flee." He uses the word flee, as you'll see, but not because of fear. Out of obedience, God is going to protect his people. It's a promise. Now, historically, a forerunner of this event was seen in 167 BC when Antiochus Anti I think it's Antiochus, I think, is how you pronounce it.
(32:55) Antiochus Epiphanies desecrated the temple by setting up an altar to Zeus and sacrificing swine upon it. But Christ pointed beyond that moment to a future fulfillment. It will involve a political religious power standing in a consecrated place exalting itself in defiance of God. Let's notice Daniel 11. Daniel chapter 11 and verse 31 and forces shall be mustered by him and they shall defile the sanctuary purchase.
(33:46) They shall take away the daily sacrifices and place there the abomination of desolation. Now Paul was inspired to add to this in 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2:es 3 and 4. Okay. 2 Thessalonians 2:es 3 and 4 where Paul says, "Let no one deceive you by any means. For that day will not come unless the falling away comes first.
(34:24) " And the man of sin is revealed, the son of predition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Paul's warning here is urgent and we have to take it to heart. You know the word he uses here for falling away is the word uh apostasia.
(35:03) Apostasia it means a apostasy. Okay. It's the way we it's the word we call apostasy. Okay. But it doesn't simply mean drifting into confusion. And it means rebellion, a revolt, a willful departure from the truth once known. Rebellion against God's truth does not always begin with open hostility.
(35:24) Sometimes it begins with neglect, with complacency, with letting the truth slip quietly out of our hands. In God's eyes, not deliberately holding fast to his truth is itself a form of rebellion. Because what we do not fight to retain, we lose. Christ's warning, which we read in Matthew 24 15-16 about the abomination of desolation, follows the apostasy Paul warns of.
(35:57) This tells us who Christ is talking to after the abomination of desolation. Because the faithful will see this abomination for what it is, a final act of defilement, a de a a declaration of war against the God of heaven, the signal that the end has arrived. And at that moment, Christ's words will be clear. It's time to go. Back over in Matthew 24 16 to18 it says then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
(36:31) Then him who is on the housetop or excuse me let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. Let him him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. There's no hesitation in Christ's command. There's no room for delay. The instructions immediate. The danger is real, of course.
(36:54) But fleeing is not an act of panic. It's an act of faith. It's not running in fear. It's responding in obedience. And even then, the abomination itself is not the final word. It is the sign. It is the signal. But the faithful must still wait on God's direction. So in other words, we see the sign and and the instruction isn't run willy-nilly and just get out.
(37:22) God will be directing his people to a place of safety. So the point is not that we must know how and when God will lead his people to safety. We don't know that. The point is to be watching and ready. Luke chapter 21, let's turn over here. Luke chapter 21 verse 36 where Christ warns, "Watch therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the son of man.
(38:14) " Notice also Revelation 3 and verse 10. Revelation 3 and verse 10. Here we are Christ prophesying about the churches and the future and fate of the churches. So Revelation 3 and verse 10 here he's talking to the church at Philadelphia. And it says here to this church, this era, because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.
(38:50) those who are considered worthy or who have this Philadelphia heart and mind, God says you're going to be protected from what will come to test the rest. Now notice also Revelation 12 and verse 14. So, Revelation 12 and verse 14, but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent.
(39:28) This is that 3 and 1/2 year period of the wrath of Satan that we call the tribulation. And so this faithful group of people will be protected by God. We don't know how. It's not the scriptures just not clear with precision about how God is going to do this. But we know he will keep his word and that he will protect his people. It's a place prepared by God.
(39:55) And when the time's right, he's going to reveal it to us and he's going to get us there somehow. Matthew chap 24 again verses 21 and 22 for then there will be great tribulation. So now God's chosen to be protected are in a place of safety and then it says here in verse 21 for then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time.
(40:32) No, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. Until that time, we understand, we endure, we proclaim, and when the time comes, we go. Now, to the remnant, Christ has a message. You must revive because after the abomination of desolation is set up, God's faithful, those described as having the Philadelphiaian attitude will be led to a place of protection.
(41:11) But not all are going to be protected. Many of God's people, those who allowed compromise, complacency, or selfdeception to creep in, will not be counted worthy to escape. We know the Leodysans, for example, are warned about this. Let's go back to Revelation 3 and notice what God says about them because they are members of the elect. But notice what he says here.
(41:41) Revelation 13 or Revelation 3 18 and 19 where he tells them, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich and white garments that you may be clothed that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eyes that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
(42:12) Therefore, be zealous and repent. So, the tribulation is not only punishment for a rebellious world. It is also a final test, a final opportunity for those in the church who must be awakened and purified. Will any come out of the tribulation with faith? Yes, there will be those who repent under this final pressure.
(42:41) Those who hold fast to what they had once let slip. Who will wash their robes in the blood of the lamb and stand before God justified. We have a clue about this in Revelation 7. Revelation 7 13 and 14 after describing a great multitude that come out of the tribulation. And here it says verse 13 and 14. Then one of the elders answered to me saying, "Who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from?" And I said to him, "Sir, you know.
(43:16) " So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb." So we're not told the exact reward that awaits them. We do not know whether all of them will be in the first resurrection or any of them frankly. But we know this. God will remember their repentance.
(43:38) He will not forget their faithfulness in their trials. This is why Christ gives his warnings. This is why he reveals the true signs of his comingings. Not to, you know, entertain everybody with some show, not to satisfy curiosity, but to call his people to repentance, to protect them from deception, to help them endure through darkness, and to prepare them for his return.
(44:09) Back over in Matthew 24:es 23 and 24, notice now the people of God who have the Philadelphiaian attitude are in a place of safety being protected. So who is Christ talking to except those who remain? He says here in verse 23, then if anyone says to you, look here is the Christ or there do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.
(44:41) You have been warned. So, he tells these remnant of the elect that there will be false signs to be on guard for, but also that the real signs will be unmistakable. Notice verse 29. the real signs. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
(45:06) The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven will be shaken. So while men may be given power to do signs and we see that in scripture enough so that even the very elect could be deceived, Christ says, "Yeah, but here are the real signs, signs no man can mimic, no man can create. The sun is going to go dark. The moon is not going to shine.
(45:30) And the stars are going to fall. The heavens themselves will shake. But yet, this is not the end of Satan's wrath. It's the beginning of God's. The day of the Lord will open with terror and trembling, and the world will finally understand what is coming. And then the sign that will that all creation has awaited for. Verse 30.
(45:55) Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Christ is going to come just as he said, not in secret, not in silence, not some quiet rapture of the people on some secret mission of Christ, but a trumpet's going to sound.
(46:22) Verse 31. And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. And they will gather together his elect from the four winds from the one end of heaven to the other. Not secret, not quiet, visible for all to see. God is up to something. Christ has returned. And he is gathering together the elect, his first fruits, to finally be resurrected and become members of his kingdom.
(46:50) Those who endured, who held fast, who overcame, they're going to be gathered. They're going to be transformed into their final glory to be like Jesus Christ. As Paul says to us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, what we call the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where we're where we're told by Paul in verse 52, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorrupt.
(47:32) able and we shall be changed. This is what we look forward to. This is that incredible future that Christ has promised to his first fruits. Christ's words on the Mount of Olives were not delivered to the crowds. They were spoken privately to his disciples, to those who had left everything to follow him. To those who would carry his truth forward, to those who like us would need to endure great difficulties while looking for the kingdom of God.
(48:08) He wanted them to understand. So he warned them plainly about what was to come. Deception, betrayal, hatred, lawlessness. He told them to endure so that they could do what was necessary. He gave them a mission to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to all nations and through them established a church which would carry on that mission.
(48:32) And that mission is being carried on today in the church of God. And then he told them that when that final sign appeared, the abomination of desolation, that they were going to have to go to a place prepared for them, a place of safety. But others, those who had let this the truth slip, who drifted, who grew lukewarm, they remain and they're going to be tested.
(48:59) But even for them, Christ's warnings offer hope. Because those who spiritually revive, who repent and return, they can still overcome. Christ gave us the real signs of his coming. Not so we could speculate, but that so that we could become ready. So that his people, the church, would not be deceived.
(49:27) So that those who are asleep might wake up. so that those who are watching would not give up. The signs are real. The warnings are clear. The kingdom is coming. And he has told us all these things beforehand. So that when these things come to pass, we will not be shaken, but we will remember and we will endure. So let us take his words seriously.
(49:58) Let us hold fast what we have and let us do the work so that we may be counted worthy to escape all these things which must come to pass.