We return once again to our verse-by-verse examination of the gospel of Mark. So will you take your Bibles and turn to Mark 13. This morning, we will be looking at verses 14 through 26. And this is actually the fifth part of a series on our Lord's Olivet Discourse that I've entitled "Jesus Prophetic Discourse on the End of the Age."

Before we read the text and look at it closely, there are a few things that I would like to share with you with respect to some of the key essentials in understanding and interpreting Bible prophecy. As you are aware, we as a church, and certainly me as a pastor, are committed to a consistent literal, grammatical hermeneutic. Hermeneutics being the science and the art of biblical interpretation. Therefore, the prophetic Scriptures should be interpreted in a literal, natural, normal sense, taking into consideration figures of speech and, and symbols and so forth. Therefore, I reject the method of interpretation that believes that the prophetic Scriptures should be spiritualized or seen as some kind of an allegory; that you look for hidden meanings in the Old Testament passages, and then try to get the New Testament to somehow shape and inform those meanings. But from my perspective, when interpreted in a literal, clear cut, normal, consistent hermeneutic, the original message of the Old Testament authors will be continued in the New Testament. The narrative of the Old Testament prophets will be explained even further, not transformed. The New Testament doesn't transform what was said in the Old Testament, it doesn't transcend what was said in the Old Testament. Practically speaking, among other things, this means that Jesus is actually going to reign on this earth in an intermediate kingdom, prior to the eternal state, and this will happen between His Second Coming and the final consummation of all things, which will be the end of all things. And this particular position is known as premillennialism. I am unabashedly a pre millenarian. It's sometimes called Chiliasm, as well, from the Greek term that means 1000. And practically speaking, this simply means that as you look at the prophetic Scriptures, you must keep in mind that there is a distinction between Israel and the church; they are not one of the same thing. The church has not permanently replaced Israel.

Secondly, you have to realize that Israel has a future as God has promised, He is not finished with them. And thirdly, we must realize that there will be a literal kingdom on earth, where Christ will reign in all of his glory; that this will be preceded by a period of seven years judgment upon the earth, and especially upon Israel, consistent with Daniel 70th week that's detailed in Daniel 924, as Jesus declared in Matthew 24:14.

Now, this position I might add, contrary to the opinion of some, was not invented in 19th century Ireland by John Nelson Darby, who's considered the father of modern dispensationalism and futurism, and you may have seen some of his arbitrary charts and others have used things like that to somehow explain scripture. But clearly, the New Testament writers and the first century saints were premillennial. This was not some invented concept. In fact, in Acts chapter one and verse three, we read that Jesus presented himself alive after his suffering "by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." Now, this would have been the absolute perfect time to tell them, guys look, you need to understand that the church now has replaced Israel, that all of those promises made in the Old Testament now need to be understood in a spiritual way; they will have a spiritual fulfillment in the church, that all the promises to ethnic Israel need to be understood in a spiritual way, they're not material, etc. But he obviously didn't tell them that, because what did they respond to him by saying in verse six? "So when they had come together, they were asking Him saying, 'Lord, is it at this time You're restoring the kingdom to Israel?'" Clearly, they were premillennial.

Moreover, Premillennialism was the Orthodox and exclusive view of the early church fathers. This would include all the major writers of the early periods of the church, even the disciples of the apostle John were premillennial. Men like Papias, the Greek apostolic father and Bishop of Hierapolis. Or like Polycarp of Smyrna, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian. And an examination of church history will reveal some very undeniable conclusions as my friend Dr. Doug Bookman, a New Testament scholar, has stated quote, "In the earliest days of Christianity, that is the centuries immediately after the apostles, Chiliasm, that is the persuasion that history would culminate with a 1000-year literal reign of Jesus on the earth, was virtually universal. The denial of Chiliasm and the concomitant rise of amillennialism were closely related to the acceptance of Christianity in the Roman Empire as a result of the conversion of Constantine and the subsequent rise of an official, authoritative centralized Church, which had a vested interest in the notion of a present spiritual kingdom. Throughout the eras of church history, there have been various groups of dissenting believers who affirmed and cherished the hope of Christ's earthly literal end time kingdom. When the Reformers, primarily Luther and Calvin, confronted and corrected the soteriological heresies of the Roman Catholic Church, they did not ultimately challenge or abandon the essential eschatology of that church." End quote. And so, I reject Roman Catholic eschatology, sometimes called amillennialism, or supersessionism. And my point with all of this is to simply say that when we approach the prophetic Scriptures, what you will see is that we will use a literal, grammatical hermeneutic that interprets all of Scripture, including the prophetic Scriptures in a literal, natural, normal sense. The church shares in the promises of Israel, but not in her unique identity as a nation. They are as Paul described them in Romans 11:16 through 24, the quote "natural branches" from a cultivated olive tree, some of which have now been broken off at the present time due to the hardening of their heart and the Gentile church is the wild olive branch that has been grafted into the quote, "rich root." The rich root of covenant or blessing, privileges originally promised to Abraham. And the church shares these promises with Israel, but never takes their place as a nation, despite the reject rebellion, even to this day. God has not abandoned them. He has not abandoned his chosen people. Paul understood this in Romans 9:10 and 11. You will remember in Romans nine you read about Israel's election, Romans 10, Israel's defection, Romans 11, Israel salvation when their Messiah King returns, and what an amazing history of these people.

Israel is a magnificent object lesson of how God deals with all mankind, saving some, judging others, all to reveal His glory, through the Lord Jesus Christ who is both Lamb as well as Lion. Who is both a suffering servant, as well as the conquering Sovereign King of Kings and Lord of lords. But before he returns, as we see in the prophetic Scriptures, Israel will experience tribulation as well as all of the people on the earth. And that's the thing that breaks my heart as I watch people today blindly following the insanity of our politicians and of Islam and on and on and on. Jesus said in Matthew 24:21 and following, before he comes, there will be a "'...great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.'"

Now, as we approach our text with that little introduction, bear in mind that this is occurring on Wednesday evening before our Lord's crucifixion on Friday. Jesus is leaving the temple precincts with his disciples, making their way up the steep slopes of the Mount of Olives. That's why it's called the Olivet Discourse. And I've divided his lengthy answer to them under seven headings, we've looked at some of them already. We've looked at number one, the temples demolition, number two, the signs of the end, number three, the prospect of persecution. And the last time we were together, we looked some at number four, the abomination of desolation; we'll look at a little bit more of that today. But we're also going to examine number five, numbers five and six, the false Christ and prophets, the coming of the Son of Man, and then eventually we'll get to the final one, the warning to be prepared. Okay?

So let me read the text to you, Mark 13, beginning in verse 14, Jesus says, "'But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, standing where it should not be (let the reader understand) Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that it may not happen in the winter. For those days will be a time of tribulation, such as not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will. Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. And then if anyone says to him, "Behold, here is the Christ" or "Behold, He is there"; do not believe him; for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, they elect. But take heed; behold, I've told you everything in advance. But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.'"

Now, by way of quick review, the last time we looked at this issue of "the abomination of desolation," may I remind you in Matthew 24, beginning of verse 15, Jesus said, "'Therefore, when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.'" When you see the "abomination of desolation," literally the abomination which makes desolate. And Jesus is referring here to Daniel 9:27. And there we read, "And he will make a firm covenant," "he" being the Antichrist, "with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." So in the middle of the week, and this is referring to weeks of years, in other words, at three and a half years, this satanically empowered and satanically possessed Antichrist, will seize a restored temple in Jerusalem, betray the Jews, and demand to be worshipped for 42 months, according to Revelation 13 and verse five. That's the last half of the seven years.

Now there's a fascinating footnote I'd draw your attention to in Revelation 11 verses one and two. There we have John's vision that includes instructions for the measuring of the temple in that day that will be built in the first half of the tribulation. But there's a fascinating omission in verse two that suggests that the Church will no longer be around. It says, "'Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it.'" Now this refers to the Court of the Gentiles located outside the courtyard. And that court served as a, shall we say, a border beyond which Gentiles were not allowed to pass. And if they did, they could be executed. The Jews, or the Romans, would allow the Jews to do that; it was a first forbidden place. They didn't want them to, God didn't want them to defile that inner part with the brazen altar, and so forth. In fact, you will recall an Acts 21. You remember when the Jews falsely accused the apostle Paul, of bringing Gentiles into the temple. That was the whole issue, and it caused a riot and they got put in prison and so forth. And so the fact that when he says "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it," seems to symbolize God's utter rejection of the Gentile persecutors of that day, because of their wickedness. And although there will be Gentiles that will continue to be saved during the time of the tribulation, most of them during this time will be allied with Satan and the Antichrist in their hatred of the covenant people in Israel, and of course, believers as well.

Moreover, this marked distinction between Gentiles and Jews, suggests that the church is no longer around because we know according to Colossians, 3:11, as well as in Ephesians two, that there is no distinction between Greek and Jew. So the unbelieving Jews are apparently alone at this point; alone in their beliefs, isolated by their stand, and the Gentiles are hating them. So the outer court of the Gentiles will not be allowed to exist. Well, why is that? Well, it goes on to say, "'...it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under the foot, the holy city for 42 months.'" That's three and a half year, the career of the Antichrist. And so what we're seeing here is a prophecy of just unparalleled oppression against the Jews that will ultimately culminate in the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles when the Lord returns. In fact, and Luke 21, verse 24, Jesus describes this time, he says, "'...they will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.'" And we're waiting for that time to ultimately be fulfilled. I might also point out that in Zechariah 13, verses eight and nine, we read how that two thirds of Israel will be destroyed during that time and only 1/3 a remnant will be saved and restored.

So the abomination that causes desolation triggers what the Lord describes in Matthew 24:21, as the quote, "great tribulation such has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will." I might add, parenthetically, that rules out that particular statement right there alone; rules out this idea that all of these prophecies were fulfilled in ad 70. Remember also that the first four seal judgments in Revelation, that of a pseudo peace, wars, famines, and death, all of those have taken place now, by this time, by the middle of the week. And Jesus calls this in Matthew 24, eight, just the beginning of birth pangs. So it's going to get far worse. And the first half was the beginning of God's wrath, because we see how God holds the seven sealed scroll, the title deed of the universe, and it's the Lamb right? That unfolds, it, that unrolls it. We know, of course, according to Second Thessalonians two seven, the Holy Spirit is going to step aside, allowing Satan to have full vent of all that he wants to do during that time, to deceive and to kill. But now in the second half of the tribulation, the frequency and the severity of the birth pangs will increase as God pours out his wrath and his fury upon the nations of the world and even his covenant people to bring them to a place of genuine repentance.

So the temple has been rebuilt, the sacrificial system has been put in place and all of the Sabbath restrictions, plus the feasts and convocations of Leviticus 23 are being observed. The nation of Israel has now negotiated the contract with the Antichrist to be protected. And all of that is all fine and dandy until the Antichrist demands to be worshipped, betrays the Jews and seeks to kill them. That's what happens in the abomination of desolation. Daniel describes his violent career in Daniel 8:24, "He will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will; he will destroy mighty men and the holy people."

Now back to Mark 13:14, and here we see another example of our Savior's infinite compassion for his own, because what he's doing here is warning people--a remnant--living in that day of what's going to happen. And so we see in verse 14, "...but when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), that those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. "Flee" in the original language is "pheugō" We got our word fugitive, actually from that. And this is what we see him telling them to do. You need to run for your life. Remember now, the satanically possessed Antichrist is desperate for revenge. He's insane with a jealous rage. He's demanding to be worshipped. They're not going to have any part of it, Christians aren't going to have any part of it. So he is incensed. So God is telling them here to flee to the safety of the mountains. The mountains and the cliffs in that area, I've been there a number of times, you can see that that's a place where you could hide and evidently that's what's going to happen. This east and south of Jerusalem; rugged, inaccessible kinds of terrain. Uninhabitable, apart from divine intervention, which is interesting in Revelation 12 and verse 14, we have a prophecy concerning God's providential care for his people during that time. There we read..."the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent"--again, the last three and a half years of the tribulation. Now, in the Old Testament, wings often picture divine protection. And this is probably, we can't say for sure, a reference to the angel, Michael, who is always seen in Scripture as the protector of Israel. He's certainly hard at work right now, is he not? And he will probably be the one that supernaturally transports the chosen people in some way, helps them in some way.

So Jesus warns those living in that day, "'those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.'" In other words, you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Now, I want you to imagine for a moment 1000s and 1000s, if not millions, of anti Semites, foaming at the mouth, wanting to kill Jewish people. And this is not a leap at all for us to understand because we see it multiple times every day on the news. We see the spoiled, entitled, social justice brats in our colleges and universities, calling for the destruction of Israel. And of course, many of these people are Muslims as well. And they hate America, they hate Christianity, they hate Jews and so forth. And others are just ignorant fools and agitators that are being paid. I noticed maybe you saw this there was an interviewer that stuck the mic in front of some of these gals that were screaming, and they had their COVID masks on along with all of the Palestinian headdress. And he asked them "So you're screaming for an Intifada? What does Intifada mean?" And he kept going around with the mic and they were just looking all you could see is their eyes. They were absolutely clueless. By the way that comes from an Arab Arabic word that means uprising, or to shake off. I mean, these dear people, they're dumber than dung beetles. They have absolutely no clue what's going on in Israel, what's going on in the world, and certainly no clue of what God says. And so what they're calling for is violence against Israel and they don't even know it. Another headline caught my attention. It was this madness of the left "Queer Storytime for Palestine." Did you see that one? It said "Lil Miss Hot Mess, a drag queen, led the event where he read from his book." And of course, it got a picture of this guy all dressed up with all the drag queen stuff. And he read from this book, "the hips on the drag queen go swish, swish swish." After which he led the children in the chant. "If you are a drag queen, and you know it, shout Free Palestine." And all these little children are screaming this.

Beloved, I want you to hear me say this loud and clear. You cannot imagine the depth of depravity that's going on in the world today. What we're seeing in the news is the proverbial snowflake on the tip of the iceberg. And a day is coming when the nostrils of the Lord Jesus Christ are going to flare and he is going to rise from his throne and he is going to wreak havoc on this world, as he has promised. We are witnessing the wrath of divine abandonment today, Romans 11, the unrestrained freedom of the human heart to manifest the unspeakable depravity within the demands of full expression. How sad when you see these people. I see them, I pray for them, I think, oh, they have no idea the eternal terrors of hell that awaits them, unless they repent and believe in Christ. I was reminded the other day of Job 20 and verse five, where we read "...the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the hypocrites but for a moment." Little do they know what the Prophet said in Isaiah 13, beginning in verse nine, under the inspiration of the Spirit, "Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless." And I might also add my friends, this antisemitism is not going to end with them. It's moving rapidly towards Christianity as well. Because Christianity cannot coexist in this satanic world that they're wanting in our country and around the world.

You see, the purity of our lives, as well as the testimony of the exclusivity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, serve as a living rebuke to their debauched lifestyles, and to the wickedness of their heart as they try to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. May I remind you a bit of history, the persecution of the church under the rule of the Roman Empire was unimaginably wicked. I won't take time to get into all of it, you're probably aware of a lot of it, but it did not end with the end of the Roman Empire. It did not stop. The Roman Catholic Church replaced Imperial Rome as the dominant power during the Middle Ages, and they were hell bent on eradicating the gospel of Jesus Christ. And through the so-called Christians, unimaginable persecution broke out. It continued on past Rome, you could see it in the Spanish Inquisition, You could see it in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre and in the 1500s when the Catholic mob broke out against the Huguenots in France. Huguenots, by the way, were people that believed exactly what we believe. Communist regimes and Islamic regimes have killed millions down through the centuries. John MacArthur said this, "In fact, it has been estimated by none other than a Roman Catholic source, that in all of church history, roughly 70 million Christians have been killed for their profession of faith. With two thirds of those martyrdoms occurring after the start of the 20th century. The actual number is likely much greater. The same Catholic journalist that he cites, in a news article estimates that an average of 1 million Christians have been killed every year since 1990."

So indeed, the final days of human history that God has ordained will include Satan being unleashed upon anybody that defies him, especially the Jewish people. And then, of course, both Jews and Gentiles that come to faith in Christ during that time, as God has promised. In fact, in Revelation 17, verse six, we read how the ungodly of those days will be, quote, "...drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus." I might also remind you that during the first half of the Tribulation, we have the two witnesses, that will probably be Moses and Elijah, consistent with Revelation 11. And they will have proclaimed the gospel right out of Jerusalem, many people will be saved. And then we read how that they're going to be martyred, causing the world to gloat and to celebrate, and then they're going to rise from the dead, resulting in great fear among the people, many more will be saved among the elect. And that will be a huge embarrassment to the Antichrist, which will cause him to become even more incensed So by the midpoint of the Tribulation, he will be absolutely apoplectic and determined to extinguish all resistance.

So Jesus knows all of this and he's warning, compassionately warning, those who will be targets of the enemy, verse 15, "'The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house.'" If you know anything about that land, even to this day, they have kind of a deck on the tops of their homes where they go in the evening to relax. And he's saying that when this happens, don't even go downstairs to get your provisions, run down the sidesteps and flee for your life. Verse 16, "'and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat. But woe to those who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days!'" Can you imagine ladies how hard it would be to have to be pregnant during that time, or to have a little one that you're trying to care for. You're going to need nourishment to stay alive and to nourish the child. And then he says, "'But pray that it may not happen in the winter.'" And of course, the wintertime is a rainy time, a cold time. Sometimes there's snow; extremely difficult to survive. Jesus said in Matthew 24:20, "'pray that the flight may not be in the winter or on Sabbath." Interesting thought, by this time Old Testament Judaism will once again be enacted; be put in place. And of course, those Jews, at that point, prior to all that happening, think that the Antichrist is not going to harm them, that all was good. And evidently they will act as they did in the Old Testament and in Jesus' day. And they would attack anybody that would dare move about on the Sabbath. Perhaps what this is, that's what this is describing. We can't be certain.

So Jesus is warning about the perils of this time. They will be severe. The danger is so great. Don't risk being caught, trying to gather your supplies and your possessions. Imagine if it were to happen to us, the first thing you would want to do right? Is go home and get all your stuff, pack up your truck and head out, say you don't have time for that.

Well, next we turn to three more signs to signal his soon return. The first one is unprecedented death and destruction in verse 19. "'For those days will be a time of tribulation such as not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will.'" This holocaust is described by the Lord Jesus Christ in this text, but also in Daniel and in John. Daniel seven, verse 25. We read and, "He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time." Again, the last three and a half years. And John speaks of this in Revelation 11 two, again, speaking of the temple, "...it has been given to the nations; and they will tread underfoot the holy city for 42 months." Three and a half years.

Verse 20, "'Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.'" Now, interesting concept. What does he mean he "shortened the days?" Well, it could refer to this three-and-a-half-year period being cut short, which literally means to curtail or to stop instantly. But I struggle with that interpretation because it begs for relevance, since this time is already predetermined, it's going to be three and a half years. So it's possible that this is speaking of daylight hours of the actual 24 day that will be shortened perhaps to provide safety under the cover of darkness. We know that he did this before. He did this in the age of the Egyptian charioteers, when they were pursuing the Jews in Exodus 14; a pillar of cloud by day and came between them and a pillar of fire at night. And so, there was light for the Jews at night, darkness for the Egyptians. There's also three texts that I noticed in Revelation that seems to strengthen this possibility. Remember, when the sixth Seal Judgment is unleashed upon the world according to Revelation six beginning of verse 12, a great earthquake will occur, and the sun will become like blood and the stars of the sky will fall to the earth as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. And the sky will be split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up. And so here we see catastrophic destruction. And this destruction could disrupt the normal light of the sun. Likewise, in chapter eight and verse 12, of Revelation, there's a similar description of a peoples in the luminaries, it says, "...a third of the sun and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars will be smitten so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way." Likewise, in Revelation 16, verse 10, where we have a description of the fifth bowl judgment. There we read, and "the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened." So we can't be dogmatic, but certainly we can see that the Lord is going to protect them. In some ways, as Jesus says in Matthew 24:22, he says, "'...no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.'"

It's interesting, by the way, I noticed in Matthew 24:22, that's the first time in the New Testament that the term "elect" is used--the reference to all whom God has sovereignly, predestined to be saved, both Jew and Gentile. But Jesus then goes on to describe yet another sign, not only will there be unprecedented death and destruction, but secondly, demonic deception, notice verse 21, "'And then if anyone says to you, "Behold, here is the Christ," or, "Behold, He is there"; do not believe him; for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.'" By the way, this is another passage that you simply cannot force into ad 70. This is the most precious and compassionate warning for those people. I thought about this. I mean, imagine being at that time living in that time, you're desperate for help, you're easy prey for anybody that would offer you help. And of course, Satan is going to provide as he always does, charlatans, to show you the way to show you to the Christ. But then, with all of the expectations for believers at that time, waiting for the Messiah, naturally, they're looking for him. The human and demonic agents of the Antichrist at this time, we're going to be butchering Gentiles and Jewish Christians, even nonbelieving Jews. Again, as I read earlier, Revelation 17 six, they are "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus." So obviously, at that time, everybody is going to be in survival mode. Believers at that time, they're going to be looking for the Messiah. Imagine if that is your family. And you're going through all of this. You're terrified, you're excited, you're hungry, you're exhausted, you're trying to care for your family, and you are vulnerable. And then some demonic phony, infiltrates your ranks, wherever that might be, and says, "I am the Christ" or "I know where he is." And then you fall for it. And you're turned into the Antichrist and you're destroyed.

And they're going to have demonic powers to validate their claims. They're going to have great signs and wonders. By the way, this is this the same old tricks that Satan has used down through the centuries, all designed to mislead and deceive. But isn't it interesting? He promises that the elect aren't going to be deceived. My what a promise, an amazing thought. I think of John 10, beginning of verse 27, "'My sheep hear,'" what? "My voice and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.'" You all know what that's like? You hear some wing nut, say some theological absurdity. It's like, no, that's not right. At least I hope that your reaction.

Now, it's interesting had Jesus just stopped there in verse 22 and said "false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect." Naturally the question will be, okay, again, you're living in that time, now in the future, and you're wondering, well, how will I know, how will I be able to discern fact from fiction? How will I be able to recognize the true Christ? Oh, the Lord is so faithful here. He says in verse 23, "But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.'" Which indicates that he's already talked with him about this much in the past, but there's going to be more now, and this brings us to the third sign, the dazzling display of His glory. Here's how they're going to recognize the true Christ, verse 24. "But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.'" And they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.'" Again, as a footnote that did not happen in ad 70. Jesus said in Matthew 24 and verse 27, commenting on the same thing, "'For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.'" In other words, what Jesus is saying is, look, don't worry. You'll know when it's me. There will be no mistake when I arrive. That's what he's saying. I think about lightning, lightning comes instantly, right? And then you have the deafening thunder. Lightning never goes unnoticed, right? We all see it. Everything stops, it's awesome. It is a glorious spectacle, even terrifying. It may come from the east, but it's visible even in the west.

Beloved, this adds new meaning to a grand entrance, right? This adds new meaning to, shall we say the grand finale. I mean, this is the Lord returning. In Revelation one, verse seven. There's a description that the Lord gives us of his appearance. "BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITHTHE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him." And in Psalm 97, verses, one through nine, we read of the anticipation of the coming of the Lord to judge the earth and there the same scene as described. "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. Clouds and thick darkness surrounds Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries round about. His lightnings lit up the world; the earth saw and trembled. The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness and all the people have seen His glory. Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, who boasted themselves of idols; worship Him, all you gods. Zion heard this and was glad, and the daughters of Judah have rejoiced because of Thy judgments O LORD. For Thou art the Lord Most High over all the earth; Thou art exalted, far above all gods." What a glorious spectacle that will be when the Lord returns.

After all of the darkness, both physical darkness and spiritual darkness, suddenly, the sky is illuminated with the brilliance of his Shekinah--the effulgence of His glory will blaze forth and no one will miss him. They missed him the first time when he came in humility. They won't miss him the second time when he comes in glory. Jesus predicted this once before in Acts 1:11. Remember when his flabbergasted disciples watched Jesus ascend into heaven. Two angels come and say to them, "this Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come just in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." O child of God, this is the Jesus that I worship. This is the Jesus that we proclaim. We do not proclaim some effeminate social justice warrior that's carrying a banner that says "Jews Lives Matter." That is not the Jesus of the Bible. This is not some smiley face, God that winks at sin, and somehow wraps himself in rainbow garb and parades around with drag queens and sodomites and lesbians as his messengers. This is not some genie in a bottle, who can satisfy all of your desires if you just learn how to manipulate him just right. This is not some smiley face, God that winks at sin. This is not some impotent deity that paces the throne room of heaven, hoping that people will finally hear him knocking at the door of their heart and let him in because if they don't, they'll never be saved. Folks, that is not the God of the Bible. This Jesus, dear friends, is the thrice Holy God of Isaiah six. This is the ineffable tetragrammaton, the too wondrous to utter from the lips, four letters, this is the Lord this is YAWEH.

In Acts 17, beginning in verse 30, we read, that he is the one who is now "declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men, by raising Him from the dead." Folks the Jesus that I preach, the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus that I plead with you, to believe in and to trust as your only hope of salvation is the Lord of hosts. He is a jealous God, he is an avenging God, he is a holy God, and an awesome God in His judgment. And never forget this, he is going to do all that he has promised, He is going to judge the world in his Second Coming, as we read in Revelation 19, verse 12, when he returns, "His eyes are a flame of fire." In verse 15, and following, "From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh, He has a name written, 'KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.'" Oh, dear friends, the glory of Christ's second return, and the promise of his Kingdom to be established, the whole world will be the theater that will manifest his ineffable glory--how I long for that day. I am so tired of seeing my Savior and King mocked and ridiculed. I long for that day, as Habakkuk describes in Habakkuk, two and verse 14, "when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." When finally his kingdom comes, and His will is done, on earth as it is in heaven.

I was thinking about this last week. What if there were no earthly kingdom? What if the cataclysmic culmination of human history is nothing more but a devastated planet. Think about that. How unbelievably tragic for the Creator, the Messiah King to return in breathtaking glory, come to this earth and all there is are the ashes of devastation and the stench of death. That is not a glorious ending. And that is not the ending that we read in Scripture. May it never be. No, he has promised through his servant Daniel, chapter two and verse 35, that the stone referring to Messiah "...that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." You see, again, the Messianic, or the millennial kingdom will be the consummating bridge between a cursed human history and the kingdom in the new heaven and the new earth of Second Peter 3:13 when the last Adam will rule and reign, where the first Adam failed, when the four eternal, unconditional biblical covenants the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant will finally be fulfilled. When Israel will finally say "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," as Jesus predicted; when all Israel is saved, and finally able to fulfill their role, as the Lord originally intended them to be, as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Exodus 19 six. When the Lord will fill the new millennial temple, portrayed in Ezekiel 40 through 48. Oh, how I long for that day. As my friend David Larsen once said, "An ideal vision of the perfected kingdom of God, referring to the Millennial Kingdom, where every detail and facet discloses how spiritual truth and doctrine are enshrined and embodied in physical form and shape."

Now friend I asked you is this the Jesus that you worship? If so, you will fear him, you will tremble at his word. You will serve Him with all of your heart, he will be the priority of your life. Because a day of judgment is coming beyond my ability to describe. And if you have refused to trust in Christ as your Savior, that day will be unimaginably horrific if you live through it. And if you don't, it will be exponentially worse in the eternal torments of hell. Because you're going to stand before Him one day, as the Lord of the universe, and you will have nothing to offer him. We're told of this in Zephaniah one, verse 18, "Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD's wrath, in the fire of His jealousy, the whole world will be consumed, for He will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth." So my friend if you have never been reconciled to God through faith in Christ, if you've never honestly admitted the depths of your depravity, and cried out to him for mercy, and for his saving grace, I plead with you to do that today before it's too late, come to Christ, in repentant faith. And for those of us who know and love Christ, I hope that you will be encouraged with what you've heard today. And here's why, our God reigns. We know how the story ends. It's going to be tough between now and then; it's going to get a whole lot worse than it is now. We've lived in a bubble, you know, but it's going to get far worse. And that's okay, because the Lord will sustain us. He will prove himself powerful on our behalf. And he will continue to ignite our hearts with a longing for His glory. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for the magnificent self-disclosure that you have given us in your word. Thank you for the great prophetic truths of your word, that give us a sense of what is going to happen. We can't possibly know all of the details, nor do you even want us to, otherwise you would have given us more. But you've given us enough to know that you are indeed going to accomplish all that you have declared and decreed and determined in eternity past. And in this we relax and we rejoice, but we cry out to you to reveal yourself more and more to us and through us that we may experience all of the blessings that are undeservedly ours because of your grace. Use us mightily for the sake of the kingdom. Give us opportunities to present the gospel and to live it out with boldness and with clarity. That in our lives Christ will have the preeminence in all things. For it's in his name that I pray. Amen.