Welcome back. We're
exploring Matthew chapter 24.
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The disciples asked Jesus
a question with three parts
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and that question
is found in verse 3.
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Tell us, when will this be?
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What will be the
sign of your coming,
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and of the close of the age?
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We've been exploring that Ranko.
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Yes, yes.
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So Jesus provided
the answer with answers.
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It's better to say in accordance
with the questions that the
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disciples were asking.
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First He tried to tell them
there will be signs to remind
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the disciples and all Christians
coming after them of the
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nearness of the
Second Coming of Christ.
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We have to keep in mind that
when Jesus gave these generous
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signs, He never wanted us to
take those signs to establish
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the date of the
Second Coming of Christ.
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But these signs remind us of the
nearness of the Second Coming
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of Christ.
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Does it makes sense?
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A very important distinction.
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But not to establish the
date of the Second Coming.
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Then Jesus went
to more specific.
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The disciples asked Him about
the destruction of Jerusalem.
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So He told
them, there is a sign.
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When you see the Roman
army that surrounds Jerusalem,
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you know that the end
of Jerusalem and the temple
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is here.
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By the way, we have that church
father and historian Eusebius
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actually telling us that
when the Roman army surrounded
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Jerusalem finally they made
a withdrawal for a short time,
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and Christians immediately
in that recognized the warning
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of Jesus.
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They left Jerusalem.
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They found shelter and
protection in a small place
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called Abila there in Galilee.
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And according to Eusebius
no Christian actually suffered
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during the
destruction of Jerusalem.
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They recognized
very, very, very...
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So this prophecy was fulfilled
during the lifetime of some
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of the listeners,
and it saved them.
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Yes.
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And then after Jesus talks about
the destruction of Jerusalem,
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there will be a long
period, century long period,
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of the middle ages.
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Okay.
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The time of the great
tribulation, and then after
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that Jesus goes
to the next point.
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Keep in mind that the disciples
did not ask Jesus about the
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signs of His coming.
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They asked about the sign.
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Why?
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Because evidentially that's
the sign that the prophet Daniel
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mentioned about the Son
of Man coming on the clouds.
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So they ask
Jesus about that sign.
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When would that sign appear so
that they know that the Second
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Coming of Jesus
Christ would take place.
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And Jesus gives them the sign.
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What do you
notice here in verse 13?
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After this darkening of
the sun, darkening of the moon,
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the earthquake, and the falling
of the meteors, in verse 30
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Jesus says, and then
the sign; do not disappear.
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It's singular.
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Then the sign of the Son
of Man will appear in the sky,
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and then all the tribes of the
earth will mourn and they will
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see the Son of Man coming on
the clouds of the sky with power
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and great glory and he will send
his angels to gather the elect
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ones from before the winds from
one end of the sky to another.
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By the way, we know that the
same identical words are found
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in the book of Revelation,
chapter 6 in association with
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the Second Coming of Christ.
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So when are we going to know the
exact date of the Second Coming
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of Christ?
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When Jesus actually
appears On the clouds.
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We cannot calculate, but we know
that it is near according to
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these signs.
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It doesn't make sense.
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There an urgency.
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I want to make sure we
caught a point you made earlier,
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and that is that Jesus had to
separate in the disciples minds
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the destruction of Jerusalem
from the end of the world.
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And He had to show that
there will be a period of time.
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This whole millennium of time,
and then there will be more
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signs, and then...
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The end.
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...then with the end.
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Yeh.
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Okay.
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Now we are moving on to verse
32 because there is much more
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to be said.
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Glenn, can you
read verses 30 to 35?
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From the fig
tree learn its lesson.
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As soon as its branch becomes
tender and puts forth its leaves
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you know that summer is near.
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So also when you see all these
things, you know that he is near
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at the very gates.
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Truly I say to you, this
generation will not pass away
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till all these
things take place.
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Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my word will not pass away.
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Let's go to verse 32.
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Jesus said, From a
fig tree learn a parable.
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We talk about the parable.
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See the illustration.
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Jesus says, When its branches
have already become tender
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and put forth its leaves, you
know that the summer is here.
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So when you see all these
things, recognize that he is
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near; right at the door.
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Actually, in the last several
decades some of the books that
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appeared on the market here
in the United States impacted
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the beliefs of millions
and millions of Christians
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in the United States.
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Let me tell you how these
books are trying to explain
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these texts.
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Actually the fig tree here
is the symbol of the nation
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of Israel.
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And when Jesus said, When you
see the fig tree put forth its
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leaves, it actually points to
the establishment of the modern
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state of Israel.
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So when Christians see that
the modern state of Israel was
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established there in Palestine,
that they will know that it is
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just a matter of time
until Jesus will come,
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and we can strictly calculate
the Second Coming of Christ.
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How to calculate?
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Because they go to
the next text, verse 34.
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Truly I say to you, this
generation will not pass away
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until all these
things take place.
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They see the generation
that witnessed the establishment
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of the modern state of Israel;
that generation will not die.
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That's becoming
problematic though.
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That's right, why?
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What is the...
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Because the same books,
and people do not notice it,
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they several times change
the date of the Second Coming
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of Christ because Jesus did
not come according to the first
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calculation that they made, then
the second, and evidently they
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will now have to change to the
third one because the generation
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that witnessed the establishment
of the State of Israel in 1949
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is already gone.
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They will have to
establish a new one.
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Actually, how do you know
that Jesus did not mean that the
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fig tree
represented the State of Israel?
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Glenn, we have to go
to the Gospel of Luke.
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You remember we
mentioned chapter 21?
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Parallel passage.
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The same parallel passage.
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Here it is.
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It's verse 29.
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Let's see how Luke said it.
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Glenn, can you read it?
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Luke 21:29 And he
told them a parable.
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Look at the fig
tree and all the trees.
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As soon as the...
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Let's look here.
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Can you read it one more time?
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Look at the fig
tree and all the trees.
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All the trees!
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So Jesus did not mean to
take one fig tree as a metaphor
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for Israel.
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He simply uses a
metaphoric saying illustration;
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Just look at the fig tree.
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When you see that the leaves
are shooting out, you know,
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you know that
the summer is close.
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So when you see all
these events taking place,
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pointing to my coming, you
know that my coming is near.
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Can you imagine how the
Christians can miss the point,
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because right after the
fig tree and this generation,
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what is that that Jesus said?
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Verse 36?
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But of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels
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of heaven, nor the
Son, but the Father alone.
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See how people
can miss the point?
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Now there are other Christians,
and Christians that we know
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very well, that in history try
to deal with and interpret this
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expression: this
generation will not pass away.
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We have enough time, Glenn.
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You have to help me that we go
and see what is this generation.
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Do you know where this
generation is mentioned
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for the first time?
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Actually, it's
mentioned in chapter 23.
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We're at it.
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It's verse 36.
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Glenn, would you read this text?
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We're back to Matthew?
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Matthew chapter 23, verse 36.
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And this is after the
woes that we just described.
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That Jesus says that
Jerusalem will have judgment;
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the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Romans.
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Then Jesus said what?
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Truly I say to you, all this
will come upon this generation.
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What is this generation?
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Is it the
generation of the disciples?
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Uh huh.
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Does it make sense?
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I would like for you to
notice something that usually
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the readers of the Bible
do not notice when they read
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Matthew chapter 24.
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It's the expression that Jesus
used: you, you, this generation.
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Okay, in verse 24, please,
you will allow me to go quickly
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through that.
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Verse 24: Jesus says,
See that no one misleads you.
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Let's read verse 6.
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You will be hearing of
wars and rumors of wars.
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See that you are not frightened.
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Let's read verse 9.
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Then they will
liberate you to tribulation.
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They will kill you and
everybody will hate you.
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Verse 15, Therefore when
you see Jerusalem surrounded by
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Roman army;
abomination of desolation.
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You will say that
when you see that.
00:10:10.21\00:10:11.54
Verse 23, Then if
anyone says to you.
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Let's stop here.
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What are the disciples, you know
you, it refers to the disciples,
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and the generation of Jews
at the time of the disciples.
00:10:22.18\00:10:27.26
What were the disciples and
the Jews of that time supposed
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to witness?
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All the signs and the
destruction of Jerusalem.
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Does it make sense?
00:10:35.80\00:10:37.13
It's making sense; yep!
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They were supposed to; this
is the generation who will not
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pass away until they witness
all these signs, including the
00:10:40.84\00:10:44.01
destruction of
Jerusalem to take place.
00:10:44.04\00:10:46.27
But then notice something.
00:10:46.31\00:10:47.91
When Jesus talks about
His coming, in verse 13.
00:10:47.94\00:10:52.65
I'd like to invite the viewers
to pay attention to that.
00:10:52.68\00:10:56.79
Jesus says, verse 13, And
then the signs of the Son of Man
00:10:56.82\00:11:03.69
will appear in the sky, and
then all the tribes of the earth
00:11:03.73\00:11:08.43
will mourn.
00:11:08.46\00:11:09.80
Now watch out!
00:11:09.83\00:11:11.17
It doesn't say, and you
will see the Son of Man.
00:11:11.20\00:11:14.74
It says, and they.
00:11:14.77\00:11:16.60
Do you see the
switch from you to they?
00:11:16.64\00:11:19.57
What Jesus made very clear was
the disciples were not supposed
00:11:19.61\00:11:23.98
to watch the
Second Coming of Christ.
00:11:24.01\00:11:26.45
Who are those who watch
the Second Coming of Christ?
00:11:26.48\00:11:28.65
One generation in the future.
00:11:28.68\00:11:31.42
They, not you, they will witness
the Second Coming of Christ.
00:11:31.45\00:11:35.96
Does that make sense?
00:11:35.99\00:11:37.33
That helps us with
verse 34 doesn't it?
00:11:37.36\00:11:40.36
Please, please.
00:11:40.40\00:11:41.70
And verse 34, Truly I say to
you, this generation will not
00:11:41.73\00:11:45.73
pass away.
00:11:45.77\00:11:47.10
What was the
generation supposed to witness?
00:11:47.14\00:11:49.87
All the signs, and the
destruction of Jerusalem,
00:11:49.90\00:11:54.74
but not the
Second Coming of Christ.
00:11:54.78\00:11:56.58
Jesus never said, you,
this generation will witness
00:11:56.61\00:11:59.58
the Second Coming of Christ.
00:11:59.61\00:12:01.02
It's always in the context
of the destruction of Jerusalem.
00:12:01.05\00:12:05.29
It was such a tremendous
message of warning, and of hope,
00:12:05.32\00:12:11.43
and protection.
00:12:11.46\00:12:13.06
How should we live with the
urgency of the Second Coming?
00:12:13.09\00:12:18.43
Yes.
00:12:18.47\00:12:19.80
In the conclusion of this
study, I would like to remind
00:12:19.83\00:12:23.27
our viewers that Christ in His
promise is giving us all those
00:12:23.30\00:12:30.35
signs to remind us of the
reality of His Second Coming.
00:12:30.38\00:12:34.45
We don't know the day or hour
that He will come, but we know
00:12:34.48\00:12:38.29
that He is coming, and He urges
us to be ready for that day.
00:12:38.32\00:12:44.06