Signs Of The Second Coming Of Jesus
7-27-2011 Vol. 5 Part 2a
Psalm 38:1-11 NKJV A Psalm of David. To Bring to Remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness. I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are full of inflammation, And there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You. My heart pants, my strength fails me; As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me. My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, And my relatives stand afar off. Father we praise your name, we give you all the glory. We thank you for all that you do for us. Hear our prayers and bless those that read your message. Provide them with peace, comfort, joy, and assurance of your presence. Bless their finances, health, and loved ones. You are awesome! Thank you Jesus! Amen!
SIGNS OF CHRIST’S RETURN (Matthew 24:1-9)
Matthew 24:1-9 NKJV Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 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." 3 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?" 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6 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. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 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.
The temple must have been an awesome sight. In verse one as the disciples were leaving the temple they were admiring the beauty and construction of the temple. In the course of conversation they must have made a statement to Jesus about it grandeur, and he responded it would be torn down. Not one stone would remain in place. This is a very different response Jesus made. It sounds like a response from a different conversation that took place another time, but Jesus would do this from time to time. It is like the response Jesus gave Nicodemus. Nicodemus makes a statement to Jesus that it is very evident he is a man of God because of the things He did. Jesus replies you have to be Born Again to see His kingdom. If we had a conversation with someone and got these types of responses, we would say, hello, where are you?
The response Jesus gave ties in with a prophesy of the Old Testament where it is stated the ground would be tilled up. Micah 3:12 NKJV Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest. Here are some other verses that also tie in with what Jesus was saying. 1 Kings_9:7-8; Jeremiah_26:18; Ezekial_7:20-22; Daniel_9:26-27. Why do you think Jesus responded this way? It doesn’t seem to flow with the rest of the chapter. One would think that Jesus is talking about his body being the temple and he would be killed, doesn’t it? But he doesn’t say anything about it being restored in three days. What Jesus is talking about is the actual temple and that it would be completely destroyed, which it was in 70 AD by the Romans under the command of Titus. So how does this tie in with the rest of the chapter? Jesus is telling us about a prophecy that will happen in the near future for the disciples and us to believe in what he is about to say about the end of time events. I don’t remember what year the disciples died, but I do know some of them were alive at 70 AD and saw this prophecy come to past. So we must believe in what is contained in Matthew Chapters 24 and 25. So let’s get started and see what we can learn about the upcoming events, and if what is going on in current times has any significance to the end time events in these two chapters.
Verse four is where the disciples are asking Jesus what the signs will be of His return and the end of the age. They are seated on Mt. Olive when these questions are asked so there is a span of time between verse 3 and 4. How much time I don’t know, but with careful reading it is like a whole different chapter compared to verses 1and 2. Somehow the disciples knew the world would come to an end and they are asking for more details about the end of the age. Maybe during their walk to the mount there was a discussion about the world ending.
Verses 4 through 9 are speaking of things leading up to the Rapture and also of events after Born Again Christians will be removed from this earth, which is the Rapture. I want to point something out to you here and that is this. Born Again Christians are often times referred to as the Church, the Bride, Saints, and Saved. So when you read the Bible, don’t get confused as to what the author is referring to.
The Rapture kicks off the seven years of tribulation with the antichrist appearing on the scene at the midpoint (3 ½ years). What is going on in the world right now won’t hold a candle to the events that will take place during the Tribulation. The reason being is because all of God’s people will be removed from the earth along with the Holy Spirit. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, sin will run rampant.
Deception: The first thing Jesus tells them and us is to beware, there will be many that will come and proclaim they are the Messiah and spread false doctrine deceiving many. Here are a number of other verses that go along with verses 3 & 4. (Jer_29:8; Mar_13:5-6, Mar_13:22; Luk_21:8; 2Co_11:13-15; Eph_4:14, Eph_5:6; Col_2:8, Col_2:18; 2Th_2:3; 2Pe_2:1-3; 1Jo_4:1)
I feel we are seeing this unfolding presently. Go on the internet and do a search for messiah and you will find people proclaiming to be the messiah. It isn’t just someone proclaiming to be the messiah that we have to be watchful for, it also pertains to false religions. Just watch some of the religious channels. You can see people flopping around like fish, barking like dogs, rolling on the floor laughing, etc. Not only this, just listen to the message they’re proclaiming. The message isn’t about Bible scripture it is about, if it feels good do it, it is all about love and how god (I didn’t capitalize god, because this is not the god the Bible teaches.) will forgive you no matter what you do without repentance. You don’t hear anything about what will happen to you if you are not Born Again and you live a life of sin, which is eternal Hell. What these religions are teaching is a god that is made up to justify your actions (sin) and also to keep a large following of people so the money keeps rolling in. This is a false god and it violates the 1st Commandment of our Holy and True God. So I have said this before and I will say it again. What you see, hear, and practice must be validated with God’s Holy Word the Bible, I don’t care what religion you practice. Don’t make the mistake some people make by thinking they know what the Bible states, verify it with the Bible and if you still have questions, verify it with reputable sources and not just within your religious groups. And above all ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth and then listen to Him. What is revealed to you may hurt and cut you to the bone, but remember your Eternal Life depends on it. This goes for me also, if something doesn’t sound right, call me on it and I will make a retraction if I’m wrong. I have several pastors and scholars I use as resources if I don’t understand something. That is why it is so important to read and study the Bible, so you will know the truth.
During the Tribulation there will be mass deception by the antichrist. In fact there will be a veil come over those that have heard about salvation, but didn’t accept Jesus as their Saviour. They will no longer have a chance to accept Jesus as their Saviour. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NKJV The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Revelation Chapter 13 and Daniel Chapter 11 give more details about how the antichrist will deceive people.
Disputes: Verses 6 and half of 7 are all about wars and rumors of wars. Thinking back in my lifetime there has been wars and uprising here and there, but there was peaceful times also. What about the last 10 to 12 years? There has been war going on in the Middle East and presently it doesn’t appear to be going away very fast.
Where do terrorist attacks fit in? They play a part in both rumors and pestilence. I will expand more next week on how terrorism is also pestilence. Think about 911 and what type of things were said by the public, the people we work with, what people said while out socializing. I’m sure you heard people say some hateful things and what should be done in retaliation. I would consider these things rumors, because we didn’t know for sure what our government was going to do. These types of things will continue to escalate as time moves forward. These are big items, but what about border skirmishes and race wars? These also fit right in causing constant distress and turmoil. It is estimated that right now there is one military weapon and four thousand pounds of explosives for every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth.
I’m up to five pages already, so I will stop here and continue next week with this part.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth,
Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."
Bill
Last Week’s Trivia: Who in the Old Testament raised someone from the dead?
Answer: 1 Kings 17:20-22 Then Elijah cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, why have You brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?" 21 And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, please let this child's life return to him." 22 The LORD heard Elijah's prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived!
This week’s Trivia: Who did God add 15 years of life to?
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