The Signs of Christ's Coming, Part 3

This is a sealed will. It is God's willing the world to Christ and as he opens one seal after another. He takes back the world. Each seal reveals what events take place as he retakes the world so grasshopper to get easy all summer. The aunt worked hard to set aside food and when winter came to grasshopper starve while the aunt survived comfortably. We can all learn from the aunt where emergency preparedness and saving for a rainy day is concerned, but preparing your soul for the future. That's an entirely different matter. Today on grace to you.

John MacArthur helps you understand why it's so urgent that you be prepared for eternity. As John continues a series called Jesus is coming.

Turn in your Bible or open the study Bible app to the book of Matthew.

And here's John with today's lesson were looking at Matthew chapter 24 the great Olivet discourse.

The sermon of our Lord given the teacher about his own second coming is a tremendous chapter, the disciples of asking the questions in verse three that trigger this great sermon. Their questions are tell us, when shall these things be what things the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, the coming of the Messiah in his kingdom. When shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age than answer to their question and verses four through the end of chapter 25 Jesus gives the longest answer to any question asked in the New Testament. He tells them that is coming is in the future. He doesn't tell them how far in the future. None of us knows that we know better than they did because we live in the 2000 years since, but we don't know how far yet. In the future but beginning in verse four. Jesus says there are some things that are going to happen before my coming when these things begin to happen.

Get ready.

In fact, in verse eight he calls them the beginning of birth pains the birth being the coming of the Messiah into his kingdom, and there are going to be some birth pains right at the end just before the Messiah comes in his kingdom is always telling them it isn't now, there are yet some birth pains to come in the future. He doesn't tell them how far into the future, but he does describe the character of these birth pains in the future that will bring in his glorious kingdom, and there are six of them. Beginning in verse four, number one was deception and Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed, or literally keep your eyes open beware that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive or lead astray. Many know it's going to the second of the signs dissension verse six and you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet in other words, this is just the beginning of the birth pains for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There so we find out in verse six that that time period is going to be characterized by wars and rumors of wars, if you're not involved in one immediately, or even if you are you will hear about other wars and where wars don't even exist. I will be rumors that they do hot or cold war. Every conceivable kind of war, global warfare nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there's no distinct difference between those two.

Unless we would say that a nation is a group of people without a king and a kingdom is a group of people with a king and that's the only distinguishing element and those to the point is that nations and kingdoms globally wide will be engaged in wars and rumors of war.

They say we've always had this in your right.

We've always had always had time periods of brief peace in the world and most nations themselves have had times of war. In times of peace and we're not denying that that will be true throughout all of man's date, there will be times of war. There will be nations fighting nations and kingdoms fighting kingdom but still what our Lord is saying here is that in the end the beginning of sorrows that bring the kingdom there will be worldwide warfare on a scale unknown prior to that time in massive proportions. There will be an intensification of war across the earth and the wars will be national nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be great groups of people, cultures against cultures. Look at Zechariah chapter 14 as Zachariah looks to the end time in verse one.

He says behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and the sky spoils shall be divided in the midst of the listener. This, for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle the whole world is going to converge on Jerusalem in a final incredible battle. The city is taken the house as a rifle. The women ravished.

Half the city goes forth into captivity. The residue of the people, shall not be cut off from the city and then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations is when he fought in the day about so this is a very consistent picture from the prophets, as well as from our Lord himself the end of the prophet Hagy. I verse 22 of chapter 2, I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms.

I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them and the horses and the writer shall come down everyone by the sword of his brother in that day, says the Lord of hosts will I take the O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of she LTL says the Lord, and make the is a signator I've chosen the says the Lord of hosts. It's as if Zerubbabel is seen in his descendent in that final time when God sends his own army to destroy the armies of the world and sets up that one who comes out of the loins of David out of the loins of Zerubbabel to be the king. None other than Messiah, so great dissension will come at the end we can see this now beginning to one fullness as the world is simply a powder keg ready for someone to set off a match and all of us live in this constant sort of threat of nuclear war and the constant strife and anxiety and fighting that goes on all across the globe simply setting the stage for this final Holocaust not to take you, even to the end of the book of Revelation as it describes it. Look at chapter 6 of Revelation and Revelation gives us even more detail as we look at this. Wars and rumors of wars, and kingdom against kingdom and nation against nation, and all of this great warfare that's going to come in the end, when you have the seals you have seven seals unfolded.

It's kind of an interesting thing it's it's symbolic a will, left to someone was sealed seven times in Roman law, so it couldn't be violated without people realizing it. And this is a sealed will.

It is God's willing the world to Christ and as he opens one seal after another. He takes back the world.

Each seal reveals what events take place as he retakes the world for himself. The second seal opens verse four there went out another horse that was red and power was given to him that sat on it to take peace from the earth the false peace established by the antichrist is taken from the earth, and they begin to kill one another. There was given unto him a great sword.

So here you have the war. Here you have the world beginning to kill itself in a massive slaughter and when he had opened the third seal verse five. I heard the third living creature or angel say, and I beheld a little black horse. And he that sat on it had a pair of balances in his hand and he goes on to describe the fact that he's balancing out green and so forth. And it is famine condition. There's not enough food to go around and that's the result of war, and then you come to the fourth seal in verse seven. Verse eight describes it. I looked, and behold a pale horse in his name that settling was death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth. And here is the massacre of one fourth of the population of the world.

One other passage 1614 of Revelation. In verse 13, John sees these three unclean spirits. Their demonic spirits out of hell no doubt a great power high-ranking demons. They come out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

They are spirits of demons, working miracles they go forth to the kings of the earth and the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty for 16 says they are gathered to a place called Armageddon and I believe that the demon forces of the world gather all the armies of the world to converge on Jerusalem to destroy it and to keep the king of kings from coming back and they all calmed there ready to fight and was a Holocaust of war as they battle each other in the midst of that battle.

Christ comes and destroys them all so you can see that the Revelation as well as the prophets of the Old Testament support the words of our Lord, that will be a time of war and rumors of wars and nations rising against nation not go back to Matthew 24 and in verse six. Again, it it says you will hear of wars and rumors of war see that you be not troubled. Don't raise an outcry. Don't be alarmed, do not immediately panic because that is not quite the split second for the coming of the King. That's what he says see that you do not become troubled. Throw out all my means to raise an outcry to become alarmed because all these things must come to pass is all necessary for sin to have its final furious fling, but the end is not yet the end is not yet. It would seem as though it must be. But it is not yet there still a few things yet to come and they come in an ever increasing speed. So, our Lord says no this is not the time for the kingdom. This is not the time for the final judgment. This is not the time for the destruction of the ungodly. This is not the time for the renovation of Jerusalem and the purging of the temple that's in a future time, a time when there will be deception like the world is never known a time when there will be dissension on a worldwide scale like the world is never known as 1/3 sign. 1/3 beginning sign of the birth pains and it is devastation devastation deception dissension devastation the middle of verse seven and there shall be famines and earthquakes in various places. Most of the better manuscripts do not include the word pestilence here in Matthew's account is so Matthew says that Jesus said there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. In addition to the false Christ.

In addition to the worldwide massacres in the wars there will be disasters of staggering proportions over all the whole earth as the cursed Earth itself begins to disintegrate. Famines and earthquake bloom ion size mosque. The Greek word is size must, from which we get seismograph to measure earthquakes. Mark says these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Chapter 13 verse eight and Luke in Luke 2111 adds the word pestilences. Then he adds fearful sights and great signs from heaven a Matthew didn't include all of them but if you put the comp closet. Together we get famines and earthquakes, pestilences, fearful sights and great signs from heaven. That's all going to mark that in time. What are pestilences why more in the Greek it means diseases, plagues, fearful sights from the root file box from which we get phobia fear horrible events. It means fearful sights mean terrorizing happenings and signs from heaven, changes in the sky.

So in that time when the whole world begins to disintegrate. There will be plagues and diseases, as well as earthquakes and famines horrible events that are indescribable in terrorizing as well as changes in the sky itself now again the world is had its share of famines the world had its share of plagues its share of horrible events. Holocaust there even been times when there have been new, unusual signs in the heavens, but nothing nothing to even come close to this and notice what it says at the end of her seven in various places in other words, these things are going to happen here and there from time to time with the going to come in large doses.

In many places at the same time. So though we have had disasters never to this extent and on this wider scale in the history of the world see the whole world begins to self-destruct. When sin runs rampant now to take you to the end time and show you these things I have you turn again to Revelation. And here is John gets a vision of the end he sees all the things we just talked about earthquakes look at Revelation 6, verse 12 and I beheld, here is the sixth seal is the beginning of sorrows unfolds and I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and low. There was great earthquake, a great earthquake. Chapter 16 verse 18 and here is the seven angel pours out his bowl. Now you're at the very end. Now your way.

At the very end of the tribulation. There comes a voice out of heaven. In verse 18, thunder, lightning, and another great earthquake that literally fractures the great city into pieces in verse 20. Every island flees away.

The mountains are flattened great hail pours out of heaven and men blaspheme God. That's the earthquake at the very end. But there's another massive earthquake we just saw in the sixth chapter of Revelation as well so that time will be characterized by fearful earthquakes in Revelation chapter 11 verse 13. It tells us in here.

I think were a little closer to the beginning of the birth pains. Verse 13 the same hour that there was a great earthquake, and the 10th part of the city fell. In the earthquake were slain of men 7000 and the remnant were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven that happens in the city of Jerusalem.

So Jesus said it will be a time of earthquakes and, indeed, it will be a time of earthquakes that Jesus also said it will be a time of famine. Again, look at Revelation 6 verse six and here is the third seal that opens in the time of tribulation and a measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius and see thou hurt not the oil in the line don't touch the rich people's oil and the rich people's wine eke out a living. A denarius is one days wage a measure of wheat is a pint and 1/2 you work the whole day and all you can get with it is a pint and 1/2 of grain famine conditions, disastrous conditions and that is the reason. Verse eight says in the middle of the verse power was given under them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, the famine will result in a part of that fourth of the earth starving to death. So famine and earthquake were about pestilence or plagues. Look at chapter 16 and as you move toward the end closer to the end of the birth pains and you see the pouring out of the Bowls which I believe come in rather rapidfire succession verse two says when the bowls of wrath are poured out there fell a foul and painful sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and then worshiped his image. Some kind of terrible plague is going to come, that brings a grievous sore on people some kind of cancer and then the second angel poured out his bowl on the seed.

It became like the blood of a dead man. Remember back in the in the seals when it happened was only 1/3 of the sea. Now it's all of the sea. Now you're at the end and it's really coming fast. All of the sea and then in verse four, all of the rivers and the fountains of waters became his blood. And then verse eight. The sun begins to burn people scorch people with great heat, and then verse 10 the earth is full of darkness. The sun goes out and people begin to gnaw their tongues for pain, all these terrible unimaginable plagues out that's not enough. As I told you, Luke says horrible events, frightening events are going to take place and you go back to chapter 6.

As we been looking at you don't need to do that now.

We've already looked at it and you see the horrible things. There is a war and death and famine and massacre comes as the sky begins to fall apart as the earth begins to shake horrible fearful events.

Another fearful site is in chapter 14 verse 20. A horrible, unimaginable event is the bloodshed is so great that the blood comes out of the winepress to the horses bridles by the space of 1006 hundred furlongs for 200 miles.

The horses bridles will be dragging in blood 200 miles. The northernmost of the very southernmost tip of Israel will be a bloodbath in incredible and inconceivable event and then you were to chapter 16 verse three were as we just saw the sea turns the blood in the fresh water turns to blood sunburns, people, darkness comes they gnaw their tongues for pain, you can't even imagine the pain of being an absolute darkness and injuring yourself and running into things and being in fear and then in verse 13 of 16 here come three more evil spirits out of hell who worked wonders and gather the world. Armageddon just inconceivable things staggering.

Then in verse 18. The thunder's lightnings, earthquakes and all that the whole earth begins to fall apart.

Go to chapter 18 starting in verse eight, and you see that man system.

Here's describe and it just disintegrates right then and there. Verse eight says therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges are and the her. Here is the worldwide economic system called Babylon and the rest of that chapter describes her devastation. The other thing that Luke said finally will be earthquakes, famines, plagues, horrible events and finally signs from heaven we've already noted some of them the whole of the heavens begin to fall apart back to chapter 6, verse 12, and earthquake. The sun becomes as black as sackcloth and that of course was prophesied by Joel and Joel chapter 2 repeated by Peter in his sermon in acts two and the earthquake followed by the sun, becoming black, the moon becomes like blood. The stars of heaven fell under the earth. Can you imagine that, like the fig tree cast or untimely things. When she shaken by a mighty wind. Yet little things that just come out on the fig tree and a great Eastern win comes by shakes that tree and blows all of its pigs and they all come tumbling to the ground so it will be when God shakes the heaven all the stars fall in the heaven itself will depart like a scroll, you take a stroll, you pull it apart, let go, but it just rolls up the whole heaven just rolls up like a scroll, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. Staggering. Chapter 8 back to verse 12. Again the third part of the sun is smitten. 1/3 part of the moon and third part of the stars third part of them, darkening the day show not for 1/3 part of it in the night. Likewise, the whole of the calendars off all the weeks are awful. The seasons are often the tides are off everything. Everything is this judgment is poured out signs from heaven, and then of course when the final bowls are poured out as we saw on every island flees away in the mountains aren't found in hail comes out of heaven, weighing about 100 pounds each plagues inconceivable and the Lord says all these are just the beginning of the end just the beginning and I've given you a glimpse of the things at the beginning and I've taken you also to the Bowls, which is the final culmination, but there's a beginning of these things earthquakes plagues signs from heaven horrible events, famine, and they escalate to an unbelievable proportion toward the end of these are the birth pains. Notice what it says in verse eight. All these are the beginning of birth pains that would've been understood as it were, the Jews understand that yes they would let me stop from our travels through Scripture to just speak for a moment the Jews had been taught that before the Messiah came, there would be birth pains very familiar Jewish concept ever shine the great Jewish scholar says and I quote Jewish writings speak very frequently of the labor pains of Messiah. So when he said this is the birth pain they would've known what he was talking familiar terminology in all of these things tell us that the coming of Christ is near and they will all come at the end time in such a way that it is far beyond us to even conceive that's John MacArthur with a look at the signs of Christ's return.

It's part of his current series here on grace to you titled Jesus is coming along with being grace to use featured speaker.

John also serves as Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary. Now the end time details that you're looking at John.

It's easy to sort of lose track of the exact sequence.

There's a lot of teaching out there that interprets these texts totally different from you. How important is it to get this right. How important is it to get God's word right right you think God wanted us to understand it or do you think he intended it to confuse us. It's ridiculous to think that God revealed his word and wanted us to be in the dark so I understand that this is revelation that is God is revealing truth and so he's revealing in such a way as it can be understood. Now I want to say this.

The Bible assumes that people are going to need a teacher. It it assumes that it it it it assumes that not everybody is going to be able to read the Bible and come up with everything that's tucked in there with clarity and, for example. That's why you remember the Ethiopian eunuch who says to Philip how can I understand this. Isaiah 53 and less some man should guide me and that's why the Lord is given to the church.

Apostles and prophets and evangelists in teaching pastors for the perfecting of the saints. So we do understand that we need teachers and that they are gifts of the Lord to his church, but the Bible is certainly in the hands of a faithful teacher is understandable and should be understandable and there should be agreement at all points because the word of God is clear what I've tried to do in dealing with the second coming is just take the Bible at face value and I honestly believe that eschatology and the end is one of the clearest doctrines, even as to the sequence and the details so I've written a book called the second coming.

The subtitle signs of Christ's return and the end of the age you need to know the end of the story because the end of the story is the reason for the story, so we want you to get a copy of the second coming softcover book available right away from Grace to you and friend. Prophecy does not have to be confusing. You can know exactly what's ahead and why it matters for you today to help you with that. Pick up your copy of the second coming. Contact us now you can call 855 grace or shop@ourwebsitedety.org the second coming is reasonably priced and shipping is free again to get this book for yourself or a few copies to give away.

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