Participants: Glenn Russell & Ranko Stefanovic (Host)
Series Code: MTBOTB
Program Code: MTBOTB00020A
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00:02 MTBOTBOOO20A
00:20 Welcome to the Books of the Books series here on 3ABN. 00:24 This series in particular is exploring the Gospel of Matthew. 00:28 It's such a joy to have repeated programs; opportunities to go 00:32 a little bit further, a little deeper in God's Word. 00:35 I know that I'm enjoying this time with Dr. Ranko Stefanovic. 00:39 It's really a pleasure. 00:41 I mean what a wonderful idea; to have a whole series 00:44 of programs on a book of the Bible. 00:46 Ranko you teach New Testament at Andrews University 00:50 Theological Seminary. 00:51 You're finding this study of scripture is invigorating, 00:54 isn't it? 00:55 Oh yes, there is nothing that can bring life to the soul 01:01 as reading the Bible. 01:02 And Glenn, you teach at Andrews University in the Department 01:05 of Religion, and I know your passion for preaching 01:08 of the gospel. 01:09 It's just a joy to get into God's Word. 01:11 Let's let Him lead us. 01:12 We're going to be discussing one of the most important 01:16 topics today regarding the Second Coming and our readiness 01:20 and preparation. 01:21 These next two programs; don't miss them because they're 01:24 fascinating insights. 01:26 Before we go to that, let's make sure we go to God in prayer. 01:29 Let's pray together. 01:31 Dear Father in Heaven, we ask that You'll guide in our 01:35 thinking, and our understanding, and our receptiveness. 01:38 We want to be doers of Your Word not just hearers. 01:41 We want to be those who will live Your Word and follow You. 01:46 And so, Dear Savior, through the power of Your Holy Spirit, 01:50 may we be taught by You. 01:52 In Jesus' name, Amen. 01:54 Now last time we were in the Mount of Olives discourse 01:59 of Jesus; Matthew chapter 24. 02:02 It's the last public statements that He's making 02:06 to His disciples. 02:08 They've come to Him. 02:09 He's finished in the temple. 02:10 He's left and they are shocked, and they are greatly concerned. 02:16 If their temple ends... 02:17 The end of the world. 02:19 ...that must be it. 02:20 ...there could be nothing worse. 02:21 The question the disciples asked Jesus was when. 02:25 But when we read the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24, 02:30 Jesus constantly reminds His disciples about the hour, 02:35 about the time; nobody knows. 02:37 When we read chapter 24, then we move to chapter 25, 02:42 it's constantly watch out because you don't know the time. 02:46 And we have to say, Glenn, here a few words. 02:50 For decades, for more than a century, even today, 02:57 there are many Christians that are trying to use some 03:01 statements of the New Testament, some sayings of Jesus 03:04 to establish the date of the Second Coming of Christ. 03:08 They are taking some vague statements and texts from 03:13 the Bible and dealing with that. 03:15 Actually Jesus makes very clear it's never been His intention 03:21 to tell us about the precise date of His coming. 03:26 I just want to tell something to the viewers. 03:29 If it was the intention of Jesus to tell us, to specify the date 03:33 of His coming, we would not have any need to go and to find those 03:38 vague texts, and understand in this or that way. 03:42 Jesus would make very clear to us; He would give us that date, 03:47 like what happened before in old biblical prophecies. 03:50 People did not have any need to wonder around in order 03:53 to understand the truth. 03:55 You see, the purpose of these signs that Jesus mentioned 03:59 to His disciples, as we saw last time, was to remind every 04:03 generation of Christians that Jesus was coming soon. 04:07 You see, Jesus is always coming soon, 04:09 but can never tell us when. 04:11 Can you imagine, Glenn, if Jesus told his disciples at the very 04:14 beginning, you know, before I come there will be centuries 04:19 of the medieval period, then centuries after that will pass, 04:23 then I'll come. 04:24 Would they be able to understand something like that? 04:26 You don't have to ask me that question twice because I notice 04:29 as a teacher; we procrastinate. 04:32 We put off till the last minute. 04:34 We would wait as long as we could. 04:36 It is never God's will to tell us about that. 04:41 But this is out of curiosity, if you like to learn about that. 04:45 I remember when my son, who is today an adult, one day when he 04:52 was a little boy about, I think, 6 to 7 years of age, 04:55 I decided to visit my in-laws and my own parents. 04:58 My wife said to me, Why don't you take our son with you? 05:02 Oh boy! 05:04 I had to drive for about seven hours. 05:06 And to have a boy 6-7 years of age, to put him there 05:10 in the rear seat; boy I was really concerned. 05:13 But that's okay. 05:14 I wanted to have my son with me. 05:16 I put him there in the car and I started driving. 05:18 Can you imagine; after 10-15 minutes my son said, Dad! 05:23 I said, What, Vladimir? 05:27 What was the question? 05:29 Are we there yet? 05:30 Are we there? 05:31 What was my answer? 05:33 You know son, we have to drive for about seven hours. 05:36 We will make some stops there, some stops there, 05:40 some stops there, etc. 05:42 He wouldn't be able to understand it. 05:44 It would not be able to settle in his mind. 05:47 My answer was, Yes son, just be patient a little while 05:51 and we will be there. 05:52 Then after fifteen minutes, Dad, how much more time? 05:57 I said, Just be patient. 05:59 We are almost there. 06:01 Actually, this was the conversation that I had with 06:04 my son during those seven hours. 06:06 And so many times I think about our God. 06:09 If God would tell us exactly everything that the future will 06:13 bring, and what will happen in the future, how much we 06:16 have to wait. 06:17 If Jesus tried to use that divine language 06:20 and foreknowledge to explain to the disciples about those 06:23 long ages to pass between that time and the Second Coming 06:26 of Christ they would not be able to understand. 06:28 God deals with us in accordance with the ability that we are 06:35 able to understand. 06:36 This is the purpose of these signs; to remind every 06:40 generation of Christians that Jesus is coming very soon. 06:43 But then Jesus goes to the specific and we read the plan 06:47 one more time. 06:48 Can you read verse 15? 06:49 You read it last time. 06:50 So when you see the desolating sacrilege, the abomination 06:54 spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the Holy Place, 06:57 let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea 07:01 flee to the mountains, let him who is on the housetop not go 07:04 down to take what is in his house, and so forth. 07:07 And then it says, pray to God that your flight from Jerusalem 07:11 does not take place in the winter, or on the Sabbath, etc. 07:15 Who is Jesus talking here about? 07:16 This is not the time of the great tribulation that will take 07:20 place prior to the Second Coming of Christ. 07:23 Jesus is here talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, 07:26 and answering the questions of the disciples, 07:33 When will these things take place? 07:34 The answer is when you see the Roman army surrounding Jerusalem 07:39 then you know it's time for the destruction of the temple. 07:43 How do you know that? 07:44 Are we reading correctly or as many million Christians 07:47 they believe that this is not the case. 07:49 By the way, if you go to the gospel of Luke, chapter 21, 07:54 Luke has the same sayings of Jesus to his disciples, 08:00 but he adds some significant elements to tell us, 08:04 and we can get much deeper inside. 08:06 It's actually chapter 21 verse 20, 08:09 Listen; a little bit different. 08:12 Glenn, can I read it? 08:14 Jesus said, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, 08:21 then recognize that her desolation is near. 08:26 What was Jesus talking here about? 08:27 About the destruction of Jerusalem. 08:29 It is very clear of the text. 08:31 And He had to answer that question. 08:33 That was the burning question of the disciples. 08:35 And then He told them, Pray to God. 08:38 Pray to God that you don't flee during the Sabbath day. 08:41 We know why; because of the sanctity of the Sabbath. 08:43 Or during the winter time because it's very hard. 08:47 Jesus said it would be very bad for women who were pregnant 08:52 to flee from Jerusalem. 08:53 So this is all in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem. 08:56 But then Jesus goes on. 08:58 Glenn, can you read verses 21 and 22? 09:01 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 09:05 Let those who are inside the city depart. 09:07 And let not those who are out in the country enter it. 09:10 For those days... 09:11 No, no, no, I'm referring to the Gospel of Matthew. 09:13 You're back to Matthew? 09:14 Sorry, sorry, sorry! 09:16 Matthew 24:21? 09:17 21 and 22. 09:18 Alright. 09:20 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not 09:26 been from the beginning of the world until now. 09:28 No, and never will be. 09:30 And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would 09:34 be saved. 09:35 But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. 09:38 There are many Christians that think Jesus is here referring 09:42 to the time of the great tribulation. 09:45 The same one mentioned in the book of Revelation 09:47 about the time of the great tribulation prior to the 09:50 Second Coming of Christ. 09:51 Unfortunately, that's not the case when we read the text. 09:55 This great tribulation has to follow the destruction 09:58 of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed by the 10:02 Roman army. 10:03 Evidentially Jesus here is referring to the long period 10:07 of centuries; centuries long period known as the middle ages 10:12 when about 50 million faithful followers of Jesus Christ 10:17 were killed during this period. 10:20 Everything that Jesus stated here actually refers 10:23 to that period. 10:25 So let's go one more time. 10:26 Jesus now answers the questions of his disciples telling them 10:35 after those general signs that He explained. 10:38 First there would be the destruction of Jerusalem. 10:40 The sign will be when the Roman army surrounds the city. 10:44 Then destruction will come. 10:45 Then that event will follow by the centuries long period 10:52 of the middle ages. 10:54 Okay, a terrible tribulation, persecution that will happen. 10:59 And that is the third part in Jesus' speech. 11:02 Glenn I would ask you if you would read verses 29 to 31. 11:10 Immediately after the tribulation of those days 11:13 the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. 11:17 The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven 11:20 will be shaken. 11:21 Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, 11:24 and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, 11:26 and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven 11:30 with power and great glory. 11:32 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call 11:35 and they will gather his elect from the four winds; 11:38 from one end of the heavens to the other. 11:40 So now what do we have here in this text? 11:43 That Jesus said that this time of the great tribulation 11:48 of the medieval period that actually concluded with the 11:51 18th century when the events of the French Revolution; 11:56 the oppressive power of forcing religion on people 12:05 finally, actually came to the end. 12:07 Jesus said that about the time of the conclusion of the 12:10 tribulation something will happen. 12:12 And what is that? 12:14 There's some phenomenal events here; the sun being 12:16 darkened, the moon not giving its light, the stars falling 12:19 from heaven. 12:20 Actually, Christians who lived in the 18th century, 12:23 they saw in some of those super natural phenomena, 12:28 like the great earthquake, Lisbon Earthquake, in 1755. 12:34 Then the Dark Day in 1780, and the darkening of the moon 12:40 the same night. 12:42 Also the events of the French Revolution that took place. 12:45 And finally, in 1833 the falling of the meteors 12:49 in the Atlantic Ocean. 12:50 They actually saw the fulfillment of these indications 12:56 that Jesus provided here; these events that would take place 13:01 and happen in the world, especially in the western world, 13:05 following the time of the great tribulation. 13:08 I know that sometimes Christians today, they try to doubt 13:12 about these signs. 13:13 Were they really something that Jesus pointed to, etc.? 13:17 I want to say something to the viewers. 13:21 We can talk about that. 13:23 We can say yes or no. 13:25 But it's important that the Christians of that period 13:29 recognize in these events the fulfillment of those signs 13:34 that Jesus mentioned that would usher the history of this world 13:39 into the final stage of history leading to the time 13:42 of the Second Coming of Christ. 13:44 We know that actually this event created such a climate 13:47 of revival and reformation in the United States, known as the 13:52 second great awakening. 13:53 The great revival, the great movement of the Holy Spirit. 13:56 Movements! 13:57 We have the establishment of Bible societies, 13:59 feminist movement, missionary societies, reform movement in 14:04 education, in health, in everything. 14:09 Really that was something significant. 14:11 We can now doubt, we can talk, yes or no, but the fact is that 14:15 these events made an impact, and Christians, more than ever 14:19 before in history, started looking forward to the 14:22 Second Coming of Christ. 14:23 Well, Ranko, we're going to take a break here and come back 14:26 to those three questions the disciples asked Jesus, 14:29 and a little bit more about Matthew chapter 24. 14:32 Right after our break we'll be right back. |
Revised 2014-12-17