Hi and welcome to the
Books of the Book series
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on the Gospel of Matthew.
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I'm Glenn Russell, Professor of
Religion at Andrews University,
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partnering with 3ABN on
this wonderful series exploring
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the major concepts, and ideas,
and passages of the gospel
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of Matthew.
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Our teacher is Dr. Ranko
Stefannovic as we're studying
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God's Word together.
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Ranko is a professor of the New
Testament at Andrews University
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Theological Seminary.
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Ranko we're glad to
have you with us here.
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Let's go to God in
prayer as we get started.
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Lord we ask that You will
come and be with us as we open
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Your Word.
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We want to know You more.
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We want to understand the
deeper things of Your Word.
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We want to grow in our love
for You, so come we pray through
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Your Holy Spirit.
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May we recognize
Your presence here.
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In Jesus' name, Amen.
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Amen.
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We're in the last part
of the Gospel of Matthew,
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the last part of Jesus' earthly
ministry, just a few days
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before the cross.
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And He's giving His disciples
those famous passages that many,
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many Christians
study: Matthew 24 and 25.
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Let's wrap up Chapter 24
today and go into Chapter 25.
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We saw when Jesus stated to the
disciples that Jerusalem and the
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temple, in consequence
of rejecting the Messiah,
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will be destroyed by
the Romans in A.D. 70.
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The disciples were stunned.
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The disciples approached
Jesus with the clear question:
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When will these things happen?
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They associated the destruction
of the temple with the Second
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Coming of Jesus, assuming that
this is the end of the world.
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So they were interested: When?
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But Jesus surprised them.
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As we went through Chapter
24 we saw actually that Jesus
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never, never explained to
His disciples when the end
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would come.
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He told them there would
be indications in the world;
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the things and events that will
take place; all this to remind
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them that the end is coming.
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Always to remind them and keep
afresh in their minds of the
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reality of the
Second Coming of Christ.
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And by watching those
signs that Jesus told them,
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from that metaphor of
the fig tree, when you see it
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you'll know that
He's close at the door.
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But the problem is
we don't know when.
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Do the disciples
wondered when Jesus...
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By the way, Glenn, I
would like to mention something.
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If you go to the book of Acts,
in Chapter 1, the disciples
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did not get it.
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After the resurrection
the disciples came to Jesus,
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in Verse 8 of the book of Acts,
asking Jesus, Are you going now
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to establish Your kingdom?
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What is that
that Jesus told them?
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It is not given to you to
understand the things that the
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Father has not revealed
to you by His own authority.
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And you can understand
that, Ranko, because our natural
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desire for something good
and wonderful is to know when.
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Glenn, I must say something.
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I'd like to know
what the future brings.
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Oh my!
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If about fifteen or
more years ago, I think,
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something like that, fifteen
years ago, I knew what would
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happen to my son.
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You remember that my
son was almost killed.
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Our family went
through a terrible tragedy.
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Uh huh.
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If I knew what would happen
to my family, probably I would
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make different plans of
where to live and what to do
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in my life.
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We would like to know
what the future brings.
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But Jesus Christ gave
us a reminder of what the
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future will bring.
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But, unfortunately, we
don't know the exact time,
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the exact time
when it's that time.
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God in His mercy may
have held back the exact time,
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but there should
be a sense of urgency.
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Look at Verse 42.
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Yes.
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Watch therefore, for you do
not know on what day your Lord
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is coming.
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But know this...
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So there's a
watching, and there's a waiting.
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Therefore, verse 44,
you also must be ready.
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Actually, I would like to
invite the viewers to go through
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Chapters 24 and
25 to see how many...
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Well, let's go to 25:13, Be
on the alert for you do not know
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the day or hour.
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Jesus constantly reminds
them, you don't know when.
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Okay, we don't know
exactly when, but we know
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that it is close.
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Do you see the difference?
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We know that it is near.
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He is at the door.
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Okay?
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Yes.
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So there's an urgency,
but not an exact moment.
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But now there's a
shift in Jesus' presentation.
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But before that shift,
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Not at all.
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Jesus, you see, Glenn
would you read from Verse 36
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to Verse 41?
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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 only.
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As for the days of Noah,
so will it be in the coming of
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the Son of man.
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For as it was in the days before
the flood they were eating
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and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage,
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until the day when
Noah entered the ark.
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And they did not know
until the flood came, and swept
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them all away.
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So it will be with the
coming of the Son of man.
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Then two men will be in a field;
one is taken, the other is left.
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Two women will be grinding
at the mill; one is taken,
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and one is left.
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Okay.
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You know that to illustrate
the suddenness of His coming,
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Jesus uses six parables, and
how to live as we are waiting
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for the Second Coming of Christ.
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The first parable is
based in the historical reality
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of the flood.
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I must say something.
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So many times I hear preachers
that are referring to the time
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of Noah, you know, that
will establish the date of the
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Second Coming of Christ.
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You know in history what
people are doing 120 years, etc.
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But I see other Christians that
say, you know, Jesus told us
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when He will come.
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When?
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Before His Second Coming
people will eat and drink;
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they will marry and
divorce; they will build houses,
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and build better houses.
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It appears that people have
never been doing something like
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that just before the
Second Coming of Christ.
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It sounds like
pretty normal behavior.
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Actually what Jesus
was trying to tell us,
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Glenn, what can we say
about the time of Noah?
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Do you remember that?
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Noah preached to the people
for a long period, 120 years,
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reminding them of the
flood that would come.
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Nobody believed.
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Finally, you remember that
song, "Two by two, two by two,"
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all those animals, they actually
came and entered the ark.
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Suddenly people became silent.
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They saw that
something was going on.
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But the angel of the
Lord, according to the book
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of Genesis, closed the
door and people are watching
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what will happen.
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The first day came and
was over and nothing happened.
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The second day nothing happened.
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The third day nothing happened.
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And people suddenly started
laughing, coming and laughing
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there at Noah,
probably knocking on the Ark.
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Do you see that?
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The fourth day, the fifth day,
the sixth day; nothing happened!
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The seventh day.
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You see, people were
going and getting married,
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planning marriage, building
houses, eating and drinking;
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celebrating.
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Everything looked normal.
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And then Jesus said,
and the flood came suddenly.
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Does that make sense?
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The flood came suddenly.
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So Jesus said, So it will be
at the day of the Second Coming
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of Christ.
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So Jesus said, Two people
will be working in the field.
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Why do you work in the field?
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You want to provide
the food for the next year.
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One will be taken.
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Jesus will come.
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One will be taken and
another one who was not ready
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will be left.
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Two people will be working there
in the house, grinding there.
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Okay?
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One will be taken and
another one will be left.
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We don't have here
any Secret Rapture.
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Jesus is talking
about His coming.
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This is what will
happen at His coming.
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You see, those who are
ready will meet Jesus Christ.
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Those who are not ready,
they will not meet Jesus Christ.
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And for those who are not
ready it will be like a thief
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in the night.
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Yeah, I'd like to say a
few words to the viewers.
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We must be ready.
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You see, my faith in Jesus
Christ and His coming is not
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based on different speculations
trying to establish the date of
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His coming.
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My faith in the Second Coming
is not based on the fact that
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I know when He will come.
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My faith is based
and established on that;
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on the reality of His coming.
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That He is coming, and
indeed He is coming very soon!
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And Jesus said, Be ready!
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Be ready because you
do not know the exact time
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of His coming.
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This is the main
message of Matthew Chapter 24.
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Now He's introduced us to
the illustration from Noah,
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but there's some
other stories that...
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There are six parables.
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Right.
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We are going now
to the second one.
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Alright.
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Please can you
read the next parable?
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Verse 45 of Matthew 24, Who
then is the faithful and wise
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servant, whom his master
has set over his household,
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to give them their
food at the proper time?
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Blessed is that servant, whom
when his master comes will find
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him so doing.
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Truly I say to you, he will set
him over all his possessions.
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But if that wicked servant
says to himself, My master is
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delayed; and begins to
beat his fellow servants,
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and casts them, and
drinks with the drunken;
00:10:22.89\00:10:26.03
and the master of that servant
will come on a day when he does
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not expect him, and at an
hour when he does not know,
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and will punish him, and
put him with the hypocrites:
00:10:33.26\00:10:36.82
there men will weep
and gnash their teeth.
00:10:36.85\00:10:39.41
So we have here a
parable of two servants.
00:10:39.44\00:10:43.38
What is the
point that Jesus made?
00:10:43.41\00:10:45.77
You see, what we have here,
this parable, (actually it's
00:10:45.80\00:10:51.68
linked to the previous one;
the illustration that Jesus uses
00:10:51.71\00:10:55.42
from the time of
Noah and the flood.)
00:10:55.45\00:10:57.15
And, Glenn, I'd like,
please, to ask you for a favor.
00:10:57.18\00:11:00.45
If you can read these linking
texts, that serve as a link
00:11:00.48\00:11:05.15
between the Noah saying
and these verses, 42 and 44.
00:11:05.16\00:11:12.38
Just to see what the main
point is that Jesus is trying to
00:11:12.41\00:11:15.31
make for us.
00:11:15.34\00:11:16.31
Watch therefore for you do
not know on what day your Lord
00:11:16.32\00:11:19.47
is coming.
00:11:19.50\00:11:20.47
But know this, that if the
householder had known in what
00:11:20.48\00:11:23.04
part of the night the thief was
coming, he would have watched,
00:11:23.07\00:11:26.47
and he would not have
let his house be broken into.
00:11:26.50\00:11:29.13
And Verse 44.
00:11:29.16\00:11:30.26
Therefore you also must be
ready: for the Son of man is
00:11:30.29\00:11:34.02
coming at the
hour you do not expect.
00:11:34.05\00:11:35.72
So what is the main point of
referring to the time of Noah?
00:11:35.75\00:11:39.19
That the flood came suddenly;
so the Second Coming of Christ
00:11:39.22\00:11:43.69
will be sudden.
00:11:43.72\00:11:45.49
How it's important to be ready
for the Second Coming of Christ.
00:11:45.52\00:11:49.98
But you see, building on
that concept; now Jesus uses
00:11:50.01\00:11:54.48
a parable of two servants.
00:11:54.51\00:11:56.98
Glenn, we have to
work it now together.
00:11:57.01\00:11:59.36
What was the assumption that
the unfaithful servant made?
00:11:59.39\00:12:05.59
The delay; my
master's not coming.
00:12:05.62\00:12:08.04
Who knows when He will come?
00:12:08.07\00:12:09.40
I would like to say to the
viewers, we are all tempted
00:12:09.43\00:12:14.64
to do that when we are carried
by this life to say, you see,
00:12:14.67\00:12:18.19
everything looks
normal in nature.
00:12:18.22\00:12:20.37
You see, the promise of Jesus
coming has been already for two
00:12:20.40\00:12:24.62
thousand years.
00:12:24.65\00:12:25.77
Who knows when He will come?
00:12:25.80\00:12:27.70
We are not talking here about
Christians who have given up
00:12:27.73\00:12:32.52
that believe in the
Second Coming of Christ.
00:12:32.55\00:12:35.44
I mentioned previously my
father who has been a Christian
00:12:35.47\00:12:40.10
for sixty years.
00:12:40.13\00:12:41.45
When he accepted Jesus
Christ as his personal savior,
00:12:41.48\00:12:45.36
he fell in love with Him.
00:12:45.39\00:12:46.88
My father knew nothing to
talk about but the Second Coming
00:12:46.91\00:12:50.48
of Christ.
00:12:50.51\00:12:51.48
Actually, I visited my father
the last time before he died.
00:12:51.49\00:12:54.57
Believe me, he was a
skeleton covered with skin.
00:12:54.60\00:12:58.06
But suddenly when we started
singing the songs about the
00:12:58.09\00:13:00.94
Second Coming of Christ,
and I read the promise of Jesus
00:13:00.97\00:13:03.65
from the gospels,
suddenly my father was filled
00:13:03.68\00:13:08.87
with new energy.
00:13:08.90\00:13:10.57
It is with that
hope that he died.
00:13:10.60\00:13:13.51
My father firmly
believed that Jesus would come
00:13:13.54\00:13:16.95
during his time.
00:13:16.98\00:13:18.18
But He did not come.
00:13:18.21\00:13:19.57
So you see, we are
all tempted with that.
00:13:19.60\00:13:21.61
You know, we don't know
when, so who knows when?
00:13:21.64\00:13:25.86
Let us just live in this life.
00:13:25.89\00:13:27.94
But what is the right attitude
according to this parable?
00:13:27.97\00:13:32.32
What about the wise servant?
00:13:32.35\00:13:34.42
The servant who is so doing.
00:13:34.45\00:13:35.89
In other words, how we deal
with the delay is an indication.
00:13:35.92\00:13:40.87
So the wise servant, he doesn't
speculate, establish the date.
00:13:40.90\00:13:44.86
He doesn't know when the
master will come, but he says,
00:13:44.89\00:13:47.98
he can come today;
so he's ready for today.
00:13:48.01\00:13:52.05
Tomorrow for him is today.
00:13:52.08\00:13:53.94
The day after tomorrow is today.
00:13:53.97\00:13:56.43
I really like what William
Miller, the founder of the
00:13:56.46\00:13:59.99
Millerite Movement, said
after the failure, you know,
00:14:00.02\00:14:03.09
of that date and
the expectations of the
00:14:03.12\00:14:05.71
Second Coming of Christ.
00:14:05.74\00:14:06.74
He said, From now on I
have fixed my mind on one date,
00:14:06.77\00:14:11.89
and I will stick to that date,
00:14:11.92\00:14:15.24
until the time I die.
00:14:15.27\00:14:16.58
What is that date? today?
00:14:16.61\00:14:18.64
If Jesus does not come
today; not tomorrow, today,
00:14:18.67\00:14:24.35
the next day?
00:14:24.38\00:14:25.35
If Jesus does not come again,
today, today, today, this is how
00:14:25.36\00:14:30.37
we must live because
Jesus is coming for us today.
00:14:30.40\00:14:34.03
Glenn, after this program you
and me, we can sit in the car
00:14:34.06\00:14:36.85
and be killed in a car accident.
00:14:36.88\00:14:38.18
For me, Jesus has come.
00:14:38.21\00:14:39.84
That's right.
00:14:39.87\00:14:41.46
We must always be
ready because we do not know.
00:14:41.49\00:14:44.26
But we know that He is coming,
and this is the main point
00:14:44.29\00:14:48.06
that Jesus is trying to make.
00:14:48.09\00:14:49.81
And if you haven't heard
the Pillars music of that
00:14:49.84\00:14:53.83
very message; today,
today, you'll want to make sure
00:14:53.86\00:14:56.50
you get that.
00:14:56.53\00:14:57.50
Go to the website for 3ABN.
00:14:57.51\00:14:58.83
Fantastic song
about readiness for Jesus.
00:14:58.86\00:15:02.97
We'll be right back after our
break as we explore these other
00:15:02.98\00:15:06.03
parables of Jesus that
deal with the readiness for the
00:15:06.06\00:15:09.21
Second Coming.
00:15:09.24\00:15:10.21
We'll be right back.
00:15:10.22\00:15:11.19