The Signs of The Times
Notes
Transcript
Part I.
Part I.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Olivet Discourse or teachings concerning the end times.
The disciples wanted to know about the end times and when it would occur.
For time sake this morning we will only focus on our text.
However Jesus states these words prior to our text:
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Often times, preachers or at least those who really don’t know how to exegete scripture have a hard time understanding this part of scripture. Remember that you have to put the complete scripture together to understand it.
Preachers will read over this and get to the other stuff without really explaining what’s going on in this text because they don’t really know themselves.
But real quickly, Jesus said one of the surest signs is that Jerusalem would be surrounded and destroyed. Why? Because they rejected the Messiah, they continued to sacrifice the daily sacrifices for sin and rejected the one true sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin.
The Temple was a representation of God’s presence with his people. And because of what Jesus did on Calvary, there was no need for a temple to be present:
Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
This Samaritan woman was having a conversation with Jesus about the correct place of worship. And Jesus had to correct her on that, but who goes a bit further and tells her “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:
See you need to understand, Jesus is not talking about having a judgemental spirit and deciding who is really worshipping and who isn’t. THIS IS A MISUSE OF TEXT, BECAUSE JESUS SAID JUDGE NOT....LEAST YE BE JUDGED.
But what Jesus is really saying here, is that a time was coming and is now where the real worshippers won’t be restricted to Mount Gerizim or to the Temple in Jerusalem. Worship will not be restricted to animal sacrifices and the other liturgal elements of the levitical laws.
But true worship, will not be done in a temple, and watch this, true worship may or may not be done in the church! Because you can go to church, you can sit in church, and NEVER WORSHIP!!! Just because you went to church doesn’t mean that you worshipped God. But True worshippers worship in the spirit and in the truth!!! I had to exegete the word “truth” because I wanted to make sure I had the correct understanding. There is gold and then there is fools gold. There is real and then there is counterfeit. And what Jesus is saying is that God is Spirit and in order to truly worship him, you just can’t go to a building, you just can’t sit, you just can’t go through the routine, you must worship him in spirit, you must have his spirit and when you worship him in spirit, that is what genuine, real, worship is.
So Jesus prophesies that this form of worship has become obsolete, they will reject the messiah and the Lord says in verse 22 “For these be the days of vengeance, that all things are written may be fulfilled.” That’s why Jesus said “Woe to Jerusalem”.
The Temple to which signified “The presence of God” would be destroyed, because God would no longer abide within the Temple but with his people. That one Temple couldn’t house all of the glory of God anyway, but God can live in his people!
Jesus said Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. What does that mean? Many antisemitic people use this scripture to point to the fact that those who occupy Jerusalem aren’t real Jews. The Hebrew Israelites use this scripture often and unless you really know the Bible, it would appear to make sense. But even Satan knows how to use scripture to deceive.
So what does that scripture mean?
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Blindness has come to the Jews until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in or until the full number of Gentiles come to Christ.
And last I checked, people are still coming to Christ, and last I checked, many of the Jews still do not believe in Jesus......let me be proper because they call him by his birth name Yahushua. They insult him, they discredit him, they don’t believe in him, but it has allowed us a chance to be saved.
Part II.
Part II.
So that is the first part of the prophecy, part of it has been fulfilled, some of it is happening right now! Tell your neighbor it is the “sign of the times”. Rome and the Temple was destroyed in 70AD, millions of Jews murdered in the city, many were captured and made slaves, others escaped to foreign countries.
But the last part is still being fulfilled, Gentiles, those who are not of Jewish decent are still coming to the LORD to be saved. Blacks, whites, indians, chinese, arabs, people of every nation of every language.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
IT IS GOD’S WILL FOR ALL OF HUMANITY TO BE SAVED!!! IT IS NOT LIKE GOD AND IT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE GOD TO MAKE A HUMAN RACE AND THEN ONLY SAVE A RACE BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN......THE DEVIL IS A LIAR!!! GOD IS NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH BUT THAT ALL COME TO REPENTANCE.
So now Jesus says:
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
There will be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars. Cosmic disturbances.
Then there will be upon earth distress of nations with perplexity.
We see now, the nations are in turmoil, we see global warming taking affect, sea levels rising, record heat in the summer, record cold and snow in winters, earthquakes in unimagineable places, wars and rumors of war, violence everywhere, who would have every thought in our life time that they would have to put armed policemen in our schools as a deterrent for mass shootings in our schools.
Jesus said perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides, costal lines are being pushed back, and soon beaches will disappear. Cities will be under water.
People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth. Matthew’s gospel records men’s hearts failing them for the things they see coming upon the world. There is no such thing as a good news. If you’re lucky you might see some on your local news but not before you get hit with the bad stuff. People are stressed, people are confused, people are afraid, and there is so much that is going on that people are losing their minds and we haven’t seen anything YET!!!!
And the Lord told me to tell the church to STRENGTH YOUR FAITH FOR THE THINGS THAT ARE FASTLY APPROACHING!!! WE BETTER MAKE SURE WE ARE SAVED, WE NEED TO BE READY FOR THE LORD’S RETURN BECAUSE IT IS IMMINENT!!!
Verse 27:
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
And He’s coming in a twinkling of an eye......it’s going to be so quick and happen so suddenly that if you are caught in sin you won’t have time to repent. The scriptures says he’s coming with great power.
Verse 28:
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
When you see these things happening, the NLT says “So when all the things BEGIN to happen......look at your neighbor and testify and tell them “It has begun to happen”. It’s happening NOW! Jesus said “LOOK UP, AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS.” Not so much that you are staring and gazing and the sky.....that too.
But rather, with all the stuff that is going on in the world. All the chaos that we see, all of the day to day struggles that we experience, Jesus never meant this scripture to scare people into the church. Who was Jesus talking to? His disciples, he tells his disciples to “LOOK UP, they were going to endure some hardship but “LOOK UP”.......oh yall think I’m just talking about the disciples of the early church.
Jesus is speaking to all his disciples and the word of the day is “LOOK UP”!!!! BE ENCOURAGED.......LIFT YOUR HEAD UP........FOR YOUR REDEMPTION.......YOUR SALVATION.......YOUR DELIVERANCE DRAWS NIGH!!!
Part III
Part III
CLOSE:
Jesus then says:
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
WATCH OUT........WATCH AND PRAY. Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, which is drinking strong drink and liquor and having a good time with your friends. Drunkenness, is intoxication......you don’t need only wine to be intoxicated. You can be intoxicated by drugs, you can be intoxicated with the world and when you are intoxicated you lose touch with your surroundings, your senses are dulled, you do things that you shouldn’t do, you make foolish decisions, you are not aware of the time. God says.....you need to be aware of the time you are living in.
The cares of this life, your not living for Jesus.....you are living for yourself and everything you do is not to bring glory to God but to gratify your flesh. Those who are intoxicated with the cares of this life are drunk with things that they have put before God. What is it, that you have put before God? Who is it , what is it, that you have made your idol and are bowing down worshipping at their altar?
Because if you are doing this, you are going to get caught unawares. And even if you die before he comes back, who is to say that you will have the opportunity to get it right before you die. Because the LORD often times doesn’t give a warning and tell you “Hey, you’re going to die tomorrow.....you need to repent.” BAM.....your in a car accident. BOOM.......you’ve had a heart attack.....thought you were healthy. POW stray bullet takes you out......CRUNCH you got mauled by a dog. Many people are going to be caught off guard like a trap.
Jesus says to his disciples “Keep ALERT.....AT ALL TIMES. AND PRAY THAT YOU MIGHT BE STRONG ENOUGH TO ESCAPE THESE COMING HORRORS AND STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN.
SO JESUS TOLD US RIGHT HERE IN THIS LAST SENTENCE WHAT WE NEED TO DO. WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO? WE NEED TO PRAY THAT WE MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO ESCAPE THESE COMING HORRORS AND STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN.
The altar is open......ANYONE THAT WANTS TO BE SAVED AND YOU WANT TO PRAY THAT GOD GIVE YOU STRENGTH TO STAND, YOU WANT TO PRAY THAT YOU BE ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THE THINGS THAT SHALL COME TO PASS. COME ON LETS PRAY.
Now some of you all won’t come to the altar to pray.....but you know what.....I’m going to pray that prayer......matter of fact I’m going to be first partaker and lead the prayer. Anyone that wants to pray with me join me at the altar.