Matthew's Gospel 23.
Jesus has been at the temple, and
he was challenged as to his authority by
the priest, and then he was asked questions
by the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and
then Jesus finally asked them a question, what
do you think of Christ, whose son is
he?
And when they said the son of David,
he said how can he be the son
of David when David by the Spirit called
him Lord?
And no father would ever call his son
Lord.
That's just so totally against the culture.
Just not done.
So they couldn't answer him, and neither did
they dare ask him any more questions after
that.
Now, still there in the temple, as we
go into chapter 23, we are still there
within the temple precinct.
Then Jesus turns from this questions and counter
questions with the scribes and Pharisees, and he
turns to the multitude that is gathered around
him, and to his disciples that are there.
And the first part, the first 12 verses
of chapter 23 are addressed to his disciples
and to the assembled multitude.
And then beginning with verse 13, he turns
to the scribes and the Pharisees and really
begins to lay a heavy one on them.
But first of all, notice Jesus then spake
to the multitude and to his disciples, saying,
the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses'
seat, or in Moses' chair.
The Greek word is cathedra, which is sort
of a school.
And you hear of a person who chairs
the Department of Philosophy and all.
And so it is the sitting there in
the, as a teacher, as a lecturer in
the area of Moses.
All therefore, whatsoever they bid you to observe,
that observe and do.
But do not ye after their works, for
they say and do not.
Now, Jesus had just given a parable that
they had, that the scribes and Pharisees had
recognized was against them.
He asked them and they caught themselves, or
he caught them, and they realized that they
were trapped by it.
He had said to them, there was a
certain father who had two sons.
And to the first, he said, go out
in the field and work for me.
And the son said, okay, dad, I'll be
glad to go.
But he didn't go.
Or the first one, he said, no, I
won't go.
And then later on, he repented and went.
The second one said, yeah, I'll go, but
he never went.
Now, Jesus said, which one really did the
will of his father?
And they said, well, the one that went
out.
And Jesus said, that's right.
Now, Jesus is, you see, saying here, look,
they say, but they don't do.
Now you observe to do the things that
they tell you to do, but don't follow
their works because they say things they, but
yet they themselves don't do them.
The New Testament is quite emphatic in the
fact that we are to be doers of
the word and not hearers only deceiving ourselves.
Paul, as he was writing his epistle to
the Romans, spoke of how that the Jews
so often felt that they were justified just
because they had the law, not because they
were doing it, but because they have it.
They felt that they were justified.
It's just like so many people feel that
they're Christians just because they live in the
United States, not because they are actively following
Jesus Christ.
But after all, I live in a Christian
nation, but Jesus said, look, these men are
saying it, but they're not doing it.
So follow what they say, but don't follow
their works for they bind heavy burdens and
grievous to be born.
And they lay them on men's shoulders, but
they themselves will not move one of them
with their little fingers.
Now it is interesting as you go over
to the Holy land and see the laborers
and the heavy burdens that they bind and
lay on these laborers shoulders.
It's unreal.
We have some fascinating pictures that look like
a big bundle of, of sticks and all
walking down the road.
I mean, all you can see are the
feet underneath, but these guys are so laid
in down.
They bound so many sticks and all together
and put them on these guys' shoulders that
all you can see are the feet underneath.
And it looks like sticks are walking.
And so it was a picture that was
very common to the people over there, the
little donkeys, they really load those little donkeys
down.
It looks like sometimes you have four legs
under the sticks walking or under this pile
of, of sheaves or whatever.
And they would, they would bind these heavy,
heavy burdens.
Jesus said, and then they lay them on
men's grievous to be born.
Now he is of course, speaking figuratively.
They could see the figure in their mind.
They had seen these fellows just loaded down
with, with loads that, I mean, you're just
straining to try and carry it because they
would lay so much on you.
And, uh, so Jesus is saying, this is
what the scribes and Pharisees are doing.
They lay these heavy, heavy burdens upon men
yet.
They would themselves won't even move with one
of their fingers.
They won't lift anything with one of their
little fingers for all of the works that
they do.
They do to be seen of men.
Now you remember the sermon on the Mount
in the, uh, six chapter, Jesus began by
declaring, take heed to yourselves that you do
not your righteousness before men to be seen
of men.
For verily I say unto you, you have
your reward.
And then he talked about how you gave
don't sound the trumpet before you like the
Pharisees who like to make a big to
do over what they give.
So all men can see what they're giving.
But when you give, do it in secret,
don't let your right hand know what your
left hand is doing.
When you pray, don't be like the public.
Don't be like the Pharisees and all who
love to stand on the street corners that
they might be seen of men, but go
in your closet, shut the door.
When you fast, don't be like the Pharisees
who, you know, who go around these long
faces and, and they, you know, they look
so gaunt and all, but anoint your face
and all that you don't appear unto men
to fast.
Now, Jesus is here declaring again, the very
same thing that the Pharisees and the scribes,
their whole religion was an external and their
whole purpose and motive was that men might
see them and look up to them as
spiritual leaders.
And so the very clothes they wore, the
very affectations that they developed were to impress
people with how spiritual and how righteous they
were, but it was all an outward show.
But inwardly, there was nothing there.
Be careful that you don't get caught in
a religious sham where it is just an
all outward demonstration.
And in your mind, you're thinking, I hope
everybody sees me, how righteous I am.
I'll go up on my tip toes just
in case, you know, and, uh, it, uh,
it's the whole idea is to affect men
with how spiritual and how righteous I am.
Some fella came up to me Thursday night
after service and said, I stood up tonight
while they were singing and I was worshiping
the Lord.
And someone came up and told me to
sit down.
And, um, uh, I was just there worshiping
the Lord.
I said, well, whoever told you to sit
down told you, right.
I said, if everybody else is sitting down
and you are standing, then all you are
doing is drawing attention to you.
We're not here to be attracted to you.
We're here to be attracted to Jesus Christ.
Now you've got to be careful that in
your worship of the Lord, that in your
service to the Lord, that you don't get
caught in the trap of doing things.
So as to draw attention to yourself, whatever
you do in your worship or in your
service, if the net effect is drawing attention
to you and this is, you know, what's
there within your heart, you're in the same
category as the scribes and Pharisees.
We've got to be very careful of this.
You see my old nature is totally corrupt
so much.
So that even when I am engaged in
my spiritual activities, my old flesh would still
like to do things in such a way
that everybody will know how spiritual I am.
I would like people to know just how
deeply committed my life is to God.
How much time I devote myself into just
seeking the Lord and his word.
In fact, in reality, I want people to
think that I do that more than I
really do.
And so often I try to give an
impression that I am more spiritual than I
really am, that I'm more deeply committed than
I really am, that I have a greater
prayer life than I really do.
But whenever I try to give that impression
to people, I am a hypocrite.
I'm guilty of hypocrisy.
I'm seeking to impress people.
I should be interested only in impressing God
with my righteous living.
And I know that God can't be impressed,
but I should only be thinking of God
when I am in worship, when I am
in prayer, when I'm giving, I should never
be doing it for the effect that I
can create in the mind of man, but
I should always just be doing as unto
the Lord in that secret place of fellowship
and communion.
Now, Jesus said for all of their works
they do to be seen of men and
they make broad their phylacteries.
Now, the phylactery was the little box that
they would bind on their wrist and bind
on their forehead.
And they were told under the law that
they were to take and bind the law
of God to the frontlets and to their
hands and so forth.
And so there are these little leather boxes
and every day when they go to pray,
except the Sabbath day, because on the Sabbath
day, you're not to bind or you're not
to bear any burdens and so forth.
So they don't do it on the Sabbath
day, but every day as they go to
prayer, they go through this ritual of first
of all, binding their arm and tying this
little box on their arm.
Now in this little box on the wrist,
there is, or on the hand, there is
a one chamber in the little box and
it has four passages of scripture from the
old Testament and little scrolls in this little
leather box on their hand.
The one on their forehead and they bind
another leather tongue around their forehead in this
little black box, leather box on their forehead.
And in that there are four compartments in
these same four passages on little scrolls, only
one little scroll in each four compartments.
Now these Pharisees, they would get big boxes,
broaden their phylacteries so everybody can see, you
know, man, I really, you know, heavy duty
prayer because look, you know, at the big
box that I've got here, you know, and
so they would broaden their phylacteries.
And of course the whole idea was people
might observe them and see them.
And then of course, they enlarge the borders
of their garment or these little tassels that
they would put on their garments.
And again, they were to be more or
less symbols.
There was that law in the old Testament
of these fringes on their garments that they
were to make.
And so they would enlarge these fringes.
Now today they still have the fringes, but
they put them on the prayer shawls that
they wear.
And of course, going to the Western wall
of the temple is always an interesting experience.
As you see them come up and they
start binding the phylacteries and they take their
prayer shawls with the fringes, even to the
present day and wrap them around in a
traditional way.
And then they'll go up and begin to
read their prayers before the wall.
And it's quite a fascinating scene to watch.
And so Jesus is saying though, that with
them, they were doing it in such a
way as to draw attention to themselves, that
they might appear before men to be holy
or righteous.
Now they love the uppermost rooms at the
feast and the chief seats in the synagogue.
The chief seats were down in the front,
but they were facing the congregation.
So that the whole congregation can see me
going through my little, uh, you know, prayers
and all, and the whole congregation can see
how righteous I am.
And they love those chief seats in the
synagogue.
They love the, the upper places in the,
in the feast and all.
And they love the greetings in the markets
to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi, doctor,
doctor, Reverend, but be not
ye called Rabbi for one is your master,
even Christ.
And notice all of you are brethren.
Now he's talking to his disciples.
He said, don't get into that spiritual, uh,
hierarchy trip.
You're all brothers.
There's not one above the other.
You're all one together.
You are all brothers.
Don't seek to promote yourself.
Don't seek the best places when you're bidding
to a feast.
He said, take the lower place.
And if the host says, Oh, come sit
up here.
He said, then you're in good shape.
But if you take the upper seat and
all says, Hey, what are you doing up
here?
You belong down the other end of the
table.
Then it's a very embarrassing thing.
So better that you take a lower seat
and let them bid you higher than to
take the higher seat and let them direct
you lower your brothers.
Don't try and develop a, a hierarchy where,
Oh, you know, Reverend Rabbi or whatever.
And then he said, and call no man
your father upon the earth for one is
your father, which is in heaven.
So the title of father was prohibited by
Jesus in my associations.
I have become acquainted and friends of many
ministers within the Episcopalian church and also within
the Catholic church.
And I have extreme difficulty in knowing how
to address them because for the life of
me, I cannot call them father.
So-and-so because Jesus said not to.
And so to me, it creates a difficult
thing as to how to address them because
you're usually introduced.
This is, you know, father, so-and-so.
And, I just, well, I just have a
hang up with this, but I just can't
address a man father in a spiritual sense.
I don't know, do what you want, but
I just have problems.
Neither be called masters for one is your
master, even Christ.
In other words, Jesus is putting down the
idea of titles.
These guys loved their titles, but, you know,
a title really has an effect, a separation
of people and the elevation.
And Jesus is really coming against this idea
of the elevating of one man over another
by some kind of a title.
And that is why I personally disdain titles.
I don't want a title.
And it's interesting the letters that I get
as people are trying to tack titles onto
my name.
And I always know they don't know me
very well.
If they knew me better, they wouldn't tack
a title on my name.
So, Jesus is saying, hey, you're all brothers.
So, hey, brother Chuck, but even that's a
sort of a title.
Just Chuck is good enough.
Jesus said, he, that is greatest among you
shall be your servant, not to establish this
spiritual hierarchy.
And, oh, you know, he's and whosoever shall
exalt himself shall be abased.
And he that humble it himself shall be
exalted.
Now, having declared that to his disciples, and
these are the rules for his disciples.
He now turns and addresses himself to the
scribes and the Pharisees.
And he has an eightfold denunciation against them,
pronouncing an eightfold woe.
To you, to my disciples, don't follow their
example.
They say, but they don't do.
They exalt themselves.
They draw attention to themselves.
They love to be exalted and elevated above
people.
But you are brothers.
If you're going to be the chief, be
the servant, humble yourself and God will exalt
you.
But exalt yourself and God will abase you.
Now, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.
We saying, Jesus, what a wonderful, Jesus, what
a wonder you are.
You are so gentle, so pure and so
kind.
And for the most part, Jesus was a
very gentle person.
So that when he gets to the place
of these strong denunciations, you really take note.
Now, some guy has a high temper and
is going around blowing off all the time.
You soon get to where you don't pay
any attention to it.
Oh, he's always, you know, blown off steam.
Don't worry about it, you know.
But if a fellow is generally very meek
and mild temperament, but suddenly he begins to
really let off the steam, then you say,
wow, what's going on here?
You know, something he really heavy.
And so Jesus really came down.
And now I'm interested in the attitude of
Jesus towards out and out acknowledged sinners and
contrast that with his attitude towards those spiritual
leaders to the woman who was taken in
adultery and brought to him by the Pharisees
and said, we caught this woman in the
very act of adultery.
And our law says, Stoner, what do you
say if she was caught in the very
act?
Where was the man?
Surely he must've been caught too, but the
poor women didn't have much right in those
days.
And so they brought the woman to Jesus
and he said, well, I say unto you,
let him that is without sin throw the
first stone.
And then he knelt down and began to
draw on the dust or write in the
dust and probably wrote out the sins that
these various guys were guilty of committing.
And one by one, they began to leave
the crowd until there was no one left,
but the woman and Jesus finally stood up
and he said, where are your accusers?
And she says, well, I guess they've all
gone.
And he said, well, neither do I condemn
you go your way and sin no more.
Very gentle, very forgiving, very loving, very kind
to the woman of Samaria who had had
five husbands and now had just moved in
with a man without the benefit of marriage.
Jesus talked to her about the glorious water
of life that would satisfy that inner need
in her life, where she wouldn't be thirsty
again.
And he spoke with her so gently of
eternal life and the things of God is
she was really a very wicked person, always
gentle with the sinners who were acknowledged sinners.
He never turned away one who came repenting.
His arms were always open to receive.
His words were always kind and forgiving and
loving.
But to those who had this pretense of
being so spiritual, those who had the pretense
of being so righteous and were trying to
foster themselves off on the common people as
spiritually superior.
I mean, Jesus really got heavy.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.
For you shut up the kingdom of heaven
against men, for neither go ye in yourselves,
but you will not allow those who are
entering to go in.
Not only have you not really entered in,
but you would hinder those who would enter
into the kingdom of heaven.
Unfortunately, this is also true today in many
areas of the church where the ministers of
those churches have been caught up into liberalism
and modernism, and they do not really enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but also they
prohibit people.
They stand in the way.
They make fun of the scriptures.
They make light of the scriptures, or they
seek to declare that the scriptures really aren't
the scriptures.
Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you
devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you
make a long prayer, but your prayers are
only pretensions.
Therefore, you shall receive the greater damnation.
Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you
come past the sea and the land to
make one proselyte, and when he is made,
you make him twofold more the child of
hell than yourselves.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say,
whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is
nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold
of the temple, he's guilty.
You fools, blind, what is greater, the gold
or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
And you say, whosoever shall swear by the
altar, it's nothing, but whosoever swears by the
gift that is upon the altar, he's guilty.
You fools and blind, whether is greater the
gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift.
Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, swears
by it and all of the things that
are on it.
And whoso swears by the temple, swears by
it and by him that dwelleth therein.
And he that shall swear by heaven, swears
by the throne of God and him that
sits thereon.
Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites.
I mean, he's really getting down on them
for their traditional teachings.
You know, if you swear you're making an
oath now, I swear by the temple, I'll
do it.
He swore by the temple.
Oh, well, that's all right.
He doesn't have to keep it.
You know, it's not a binding oath.
I swear by the gold in the temple.
Oh, look out now.
That's binding.
I mean, stupid, ridiculous, traditional things that had
been developed and then become a part of
their actual belief systems, dogmas that had turned
into doctrines, traditions that were being taught for
doctrine.
Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, because you
pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin.
Now, these are little spices and everybody had
their own spice garden.
They would raise their own anise, their own
cumin and mint, and they would be careful.
Of course, you know, cumin, how much cumin
do you use in your cooking?
But they would take out of the spice
garden and they'd take, you know, and give
10% to God.
Very careful to measure out their spices, their
mint, their anise, and their cumin.
Give God his 10%.
So careful.
Yet, Jesus said, you have omitted the weightier
matters of the law.
You've passed over completely judgment and mercy and
faith.
Now concerning the tithe, notice Jesus said, you
ought to have done that.
You ought to pay your tithes, but you
are not to leave the other undone.
Now, Jesus does confirm that they were correct
in paying tithes, but they were very incorrect
in not really seeking justice and mercy and
faith.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, he said,
which strain at a gnat or strain out
a gnat and swallow a camel.
Now, when they would drink their wine, they
would pour it through a cloth in case
a little gnat may have flown into the
wine.
For if they would drink the wine with
a gnat in it, the gnat wasn't kosher.
The gnat had blood in it and they
were not to eat anything with the blood.
Therefore, they would strain their wine so they
would be careful not to drink any gnats.
But they would, in turn, Jesus said, you're
swallowing camels.
Now a camel was also an unclean beast.
But it's interesting that when you get into
the fine points of picking in religious systems,
how picky people can get in small little
things, and yet they omit the more important
things.
And Jesus, of course, it all goes along
with your paying tithe of your spices, but
you're not really seeking judgment or mercy or
faith.
You're straining out the gnats, but you're swallowing
camels.
You blind guides, woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you make clean the outside of
the cup and the platter, but within you're
full of extortion and excesses.
Now, the picture is of a filthy cup
inside.
Outside you look at it, oh, I'm so
thirsty, get a drink of water, you know,
and you see this beautiful, clean, sparkling cup,
and you pick it up and you look
inside and all this filth and vermin in
there.
Yuck, you know.
The outside looks so good, but the inside
is so filthy.
And Jesus said, that's the way you guys
are.
You look so good on the outside, but
the inside, there's extortion, there's greed, there's all
of these excesses.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is
within the cup and the platter, that the
outside of them may be clean also.
More important that the inside be clean than
the outside.
Man looks on the outward appearance, God is
looking on the heart.
And in the New Testament, Jesus, and of
course through the epistles, is also emphasized that
more important than the outward actions are the
inner attitudes of a man's heart.
It's what's within that the Lord is really
counting and looking at.
People can have a outward observance of righteousness,
of religious rituals, of worship and all, but
within it isn't there.
The Lord said, look, it's got to be
inside.
That's where you've got to start.
And from what is inside will work out.
But the attitude is more important than the
action.
There are a lot of people doing the
right things in the wrong ways.
What they are doing may be right, but
the attitude in which they are doing it
is completely wrong.
I would rather do the wrong thing and
have a right attitude than do the right
thing and have a wrong attitude, because God
can change my activities in a hurry.
But many times it takes an entire lifetime
to change the attitude of a man's heart.
What's in your heart is what the Lord
says counts.
Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you
are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear
beautiful on the outside.
They would go and whitewash the sepulchres.
But within, on the outside, they look so
pretty, so clean, but inside are full of
just skeletons, dead men's bones, and all of
the putrefying rotten flesh.
Even so, ye also outwardly appear righteous unto
men, but within you're full of hypocrisy and
iniquity.
Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, because you
build the tombs of the prophets and you
garnish, decorate the sepulchres of the righteous.
If you go over to Israel today, you
can see in the Kidron Valley some of
the tombs of the prophets that have been
built.
In fact, they call them the tombs of
the prophets.
Also, you can see how they garnish the
sepulchres.
You can go to what they call the
tomb of David, and there is a big
silver casket there in which David's remains supposedly
are lying.
And all of the garnishing, all of the,
you know, the trappings and all that they
have around this, and they come there and
sit and pray there by David's tomb.
But oh, they really still garnish so much
this tomb of David.
You honor your fathers, is actually what he
is saying.
You give honor to your fathers.
And you say, if we have been in
the days of our fathers, we would not
have been partakers with them in the blood
of the prophets.
Oh, have we been there?
We would have been righteous and we would
have been pure.
Wherefore, you are witnesses against yourselves, for you
are the children of those who killed the
prophets.
Fill up then the manger of your fathers,
ye serpents, ye generation of vipers.
How can you escape the damnation of hell?
Hey, he sounds like a hellfire and brimstone
preacher.
Wherefore behold, I send to you prophets and
wise men and scribes.
And some of them you're going to kill
and crucify.
And some of them you're going to scourge
in your synagogues and persecute them from city
to city that upon you may come all
the righteous blood shed from upon the earth,
from the blood of righteous able to the
blood of Zacharias, the son of Barakas, whom
you killed between the temple and the altar.
Verily, I send you all these things shall
come upon this generation.
You're guilty.
Actually, in the crucifying of Christ, they became
guilty of the worst of the heinous sins
that man has ever committed.
Their fathers had killed the prophets, Isaiah, and
so many of the prophets were slain by
the people in their days.
But Jesus said, you are going to kill
the one of whom all the prophets or
Stephen laid on the charge.
You killed the one of whom all the
prophets spake.
Now, Jesus turns after this heavy denunciation and
he reveals his heart.
Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets
and have stoned those that have been sent
unto thee.
How often would I have gathered thy children
together, even as a hen gathers her chickens
under her wings, but you would not.
In spite of all that they had done,
Jesus said, look, I would still love to
gather your children together.
The love that God had had not diminished.
He still loved them, but it was they
who refused.
It wasn't that the opportunity wasn't there.
It wasn't that God was not merciful and
forgiving.
It wasn't that God wouldn't do it still
for them, but they would not.
Thus, as the result, your house is left
unto you desolate.
It's come to an end.
It's been left desolate.
It's all over.
You've received the opportunity of the grace of
God.
You have refused it.
And thus the nation Israel will no longer
be the light through which God will shine
forth to a dark world.
Your house is left desolate.
For I say unto you, you will not
see me again until you are saying, blessed
is he who comes in the name of
the Lord.
You won't see me until the persecution is
so heavy, the tribulation so great that you'll
be saying, oh, blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
And they'll be crying out and praying for
him before he returns.
Recently in one of my trips to Israel,
I was speaking at a Congress in Jerusalem,
which was called the Peace of Jerusalem Congress.
It was a Congress in which the churches
of the world were expressing towards the people
of Israel our love for them and our
support for them.
And when I arrived at my hotel room,
I had a letter there from one of
the rabbis, from Mia Shareem.
And he was saying, what are you doing
here speaking of support for Israel?
Israel has no right to exist as a
nation.
And he went on and was really taking
me to task for speaking at this Congress
in support of the nation of Israel.
And so I took the letter to some
of my Jewish friends there in Jerusalem.
And I said, look at this greeting that
I got from one of your rabbis.
And of course, these friends had helped set
up this whole meeting and were all gung
ho because they realized the value of the
support of the church for the nation of
Israel.
And I said, look what one of your
rabbis has sent to me.
And they read it and they said, oh,
don't pay any attention to it.
Those guys are fanatics.
They're just radical.
They're fanatics.
Don't pay any attention to it.
I said, but he's a rabbi.
Yeah, but rabbis can be fanatics too.
I said, oh, really?
Then you mean that he's no doubt wrong
in his idea that Israel shouldn't be a
nation because he's just a fanatic?
He's made a mistake in this?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
I said, do you realize that some rabbis
made a serious mistake 2,000 years ago
and that unfortunately you're still following their serious
mistake?
I said, how do you know?
But what they weren't a bunch of radicals,
just like this rabbi that wrote me, who
made a tragic mistake.
And here though, 2,000 years later, you're
still following the advice of those rabbis who
rejected Jesus as the Messiah.
I said, they were fanatics.
They were radicals.
The guys were silent.
Now, Jesus went out, left the house desolate.
He's rejected.
Now they rejected him.
Now he has rejected them.
Leave the house desolate.
You're not going to see me again until
you're saying, blessed is he who comes in
the name of the Lord.
And so they're not going to see him
until he comes, until he comes again.
So as Jesus was going out and departing
from the temple, his disciples came to him
to show him the buildings of the temple.
They were remarking really on the stones, one
of the gospels tells us.
And according to Josephus, they were huge stones,
many of them weighing up to 110, 120
tons, all carved out so perfectly that they
fit together so smoothly that you cannot, even
to the present day, insert a knife blade
between them.
How in the world they ever carved these
so perfectly and lifted them into position is
still a mystery today.
The engineering by which Herod built the western
retaining wall using many of these same huge
stones is still a engineering marvel today.
And they, however they did it, it was
really a marvel of engineering.
So they were showing Jesus the buildings, this
fabulous building that was built up there on
the Temple Mount by Herod.
And Jesus said unto them, you see all
of these things?
Verily I say unto you, there shall not
be left here one stone upon another that
shall not be thrown down.
This prophecy of Jesus was literally fulfilled some
40 years later when Titus came into Jerusalem
with the Roman troops, set fire to the
temple, which was the last stronghold in Citadel
in which the inhabitants of Jerusalem were holding
out.
And so they set fire to the temple,
actually against Titus's order.
He wanted to preserve the temple, but some
drunken soldier shot a flaming arrow.
The temple caught fire.
The people inside were cremated.
The gold in the dome melted and came
down in these crevices.
And so they threw down the temple stone
by stone to get the gold until finally
not one stone was left standing upon the
other.
Today in Jerusalem near the western wall, just
east of the entrance into the Temple Mount
by which you go up to Al-Aqsa
Mosque.
As you look down on the right hand
side to the old Roman road, which is
down at the bottom of the valley there
that has now been excavated, you can see
some stones lying in just as they fell,
just as they were pushed by the Roman
soldiers in 70 AD when they sacked Jerusalem.
And they believe that some of these stones
were actually from that temple of which Jesus
spake.
And you can see the rubble down there
in the bottom of the valley as these
stones were just pushed over and cracked and
broken and are still lying in disarray in
the bottom there on the street.
Broke these great pavement stones of the street
as they fell.
But Jesus, the prophecy of Jesus was literally
fulfilled so that not one stone of Solomon's
temple was left standing upon another.
They've all been thrown down.
Now he left then the temple area and
he went over to the Mount of Olives
and he sat down there on the Mount
of Olives and the disciples passing through the
Kidron.
And of course, you that have been there
can picture this in your mind now going
out from the temple area, probably passing through
the east gate and over on the Mount
of Olives and sitting there probably under some
of those olive trees.
The disciples came unto him privately and they
said, tell us when are these things going
to be?
That is the destruction of the temple.
And what will be the sign of your
coming in the end of the age?
Not the end of the world as the
material world is going to dissolve and be
gone, but the end of this age, the
age of man's rebellion against God, the end
of the age of of man's iniquity and
sinfulness before you usher in the new age
of God's glorious kingdom.
What are going to be the signs?
And so Jesus answered and said, take heed
that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name saying,
I am the Messiah and they shall deceive
many.
It is true that through the ages, many
men have come claiming to be the Savior
of the world.
And it is true that these men have
deceived many.
There are even those today who have large
followings who claim to be the Messiah.
This claim has been made by many leaders
of cultic groups.
David Berg leading the children of God, Sunyat
Moon leading the Moonies and so many laying
claim to being the Messiah.
Jesus said, don't let any man deceive you.
Now he said, you're going to hear of
wars and rumors of wars.
Don't be troubled for all of these things
must come to pass, but the end is
not yet.
Wars and rumors of war.
Since the time of Christ, there have been
13 years of war to every one year
of peace.
So the fact that there's going to be
a war, the fact there's a war going
on in Iran and Iraq is no sign.
But Jesus said, for nations shall rise against
nation and kingdom against kingdom.
In the Greek, this be speaks of world
wars.
And this is a sign there shall be
famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.
These all constitute signs of his return world
wars.
We've had two of them beginning in 1914
famines.
The earth today is plagued with famines.
It is estimated 15 million people annually die
of causes related to malnutrition, pestilences,
viruses, and earthquakes in diverse places.
All of these are just the beginning of
the sorrows.
This is starting it.
Now they're going to deliver you up to
be afflicted.
They will kill you.
You will be hated of all nations for
my name's sake.
And surely the disciples, all of them were
martyred with the exception of John, the beloved
in Fox's book of martyrs.
He lists the deaths and the manner of
deaths of all of the disciples.
And it's a book that will really give
you a appreciation of the heritage that we
have and the price that was paid to
bring it to us.
Then many shall be offended.
They'll betray one another.
They'll hate one another.
Many false prophets shall arise and deceive many.
There will be the false messiahs and then
there will also be false prophets arising and
deceiving many people.
And my wife told me not to get
on that tonight.
So I won't.
And because the iniquity shall abound, the love
of many shall wax cold.
Today we are living in a time when
iniquity abounds and the result of the abounding
iniquity is the love of many people has
really grown cold for the things of the
law.
But he that shall endure to the end,
the same shall be saved.
Hang in there.
He's saying, and this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for
a witness into all nations.
And then shall the end come.
Now there are those who see a problem
with the coming of Jesus Christ in the
near future, because they say there are many
tribes that have not yet heard the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Paul, the apostle, when he wrote to the
Colossians some 30 years after the birth of
the church said, and the gospel, as it
has come to you, as it is in
all the world.
And as far as Paul was concerned, the
gospel in his day had gone into all
the world.
It is true that there are still areas
of the world that are yet basically unreached,
but not any major national group.
The gospel has gone to every major national
group.
Uh, the, the gospel has been rejected.
It's been outlawed in some areas, uh, but
nonetheless it has gone.
However, Jesus is just declaring this gospel of
the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness.
And then shall the income.
He does not say that the church will
be the instrument necessarily that is preaching this
gospel.
Now I do know that many mission groups
take this as their, uh, a real challenge
and impetus for foreign missionary work, but I
do not feel that, uh, it is a
necessary, uh, requirement, uh, that the Lord cannot
come for the church until we have taken
the gospel into all the world.
And thus, you know, uh, our primary emphasis
should be missionary outreach, getting the gospel into
all the world.
So Jesus can come again in the 14th
chapter of the book of revelation there.
John saw an angel flying through the midst
of heaven, having the everlasting gospel verse six.
I saw another angel fly in the midst
of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach
to them that dwell on the earth and
to every nation and kindred and tongue and
people.
Notice the gospel is being preached to every
nation, kindred tongue and people saying with a
loud voice, fear God and give glory to
him for the hour of his judgment is
come worship him that made heaven and earth
and the sea and the fountains of waters.
So the gospel will be preached.
And of course this is right at the
end of the great tribulation period.
But the proclaimers of the gospel at that
time really are not the church, but the
angels flying through the midst of heaven.
Now, whether or not this is satellite telecommunications,
I don't know, but surely they fly through
the midst of heaven and they have the
capacity of beaming the gospel unto all of
the nations.
And, uh, whether they're not, the Lord will
use that for the fulfillment of this.
I don't know, but I do know that
God has intended and God plans to give
every man a chance and every man will
be warned.
Another angel in chapter fourteen flies through the
midst of heaven, warning people not to worship
the Antichrist, not to take his mark and
warning them of the impending doom of anybody
who dares to worship him or to receive
his mark.
So that is not really a requirement that
the church spread the gospel into all the
world.
So that Jesus can return.
Jesus then said, when you therefore shall see
the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel,
the prophet standing in the holy place, who
so reads, let him understand, then let him,
which be in Judea, flee to the mountains,
let him, which is on the house top,
not come down to take anything out of
his house.
Neither let him, which is in the field,
return back to take his clothes, but woe
unto them that are with child and to
those that are nursing in those days.
Now, Jesus makes reference to the abomination of
desolation that Daniel spoke about.
And then he said, who so reads, let
him understand.
Now, do you understand the abomination of desolation
that Daniel spoke about?
If you do not, then you should study
it so that you can understand what the
abomination of desolation is that was spoken by
Daniel, the prophet.
We find that this first appears in the
ninth chapter of the book of Daniel, where
the angel declares unto Daniel that there are
seventy sevens determined upon the nation of Israel
to finish the transgressions, to make an end
of sin and to make reconciliation for iniquity,
to bring in the everlasting kingdom, to finish
the prophecies and to anoint the most holy
place.
Now, therefore, no one understand that from the
time the commandment goes forth to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah,
the prince will be seven sevens and sixty
two sevens and the walls will be built
again in troublous times.
So the prophecy to Daniel concerning the nation
of Israel and the city of Jerusalem is
that there are seventy sevens that have been
determined upon the nation of Israel and sixty
nine sevens would transpire between the time that
the commandment would go forth to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem, which did go forth in four
forty five B.C. by Artaxerxes.
And from that time it would be four
hundred and eighty three years, seven sevens, forty
nine years and three or and two sevens
or four hundred and seventy whatever, sixty two
years, four hundred eighty three years altogether.
And that from this time.
To the Messiah, so Christ came four hundred
eighty three years after the commandment went forth
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
But then the angel said to Daniel, but
the Messiah will be cut off.
With nothing for himself or the Messiah actually
will be cut off and not receive the
kingdom.
And the people will be dispersed, they will
be a flood or the dispersion.
And so the prediction of the Jewish nation
being dispersed after the sixty nine sevens.
Now, in the beginning, he said seventy sevens
are determined upon the nation Israel.
So there is a one missing seven year
cycle that God is determined upon the nation
of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.
The Messiah came after the four hundred eighty
three years, the Messiah was cut off.
He did not receive the kingdom.
The Roman troops came, the Jews were dispersed.
So you still have a seven year period
that is not yet fulfilled.
Now, the Lord does not leave us in
total darkness concerning this seven years.
He then went on to say now the
prince of the people that shall come.
That would be the leader of this final
world empire, the ten nation federation in Europe,
who is called the son of perdition, the
man of sin, the beast or several different
names in the scriptures commonly called the Antichrist.
He will make a covenant with the nation
of Israel.
Through his covenant, he will be hailed as
the Messiah.
And thus the covenant no doubt will entail
somewhat the rebuilding of the temple, because they
say today that they will recognize the Messiah
because he will help them to build their
temple and restore the worship.
And that's how they plan to recognize the
Messiah.
So he makes a covenant with the nation
of Israel.
But in the midst of that seven year
period or after three and a half years,
he will break the covenant as he establishes
or sets up the abomination which causes desolation.
Now, the abomination which causes desolation is when
he after three and a half years returns
to Jerusalem and comes into the holy temple
that has been rebuilt and stands in the
holy place, defiling it by declaring or showing
that he himself is God.
Paul tells us in second Thessalonians chapter two
that he will stand in the temple of
God, showing that he himself is God and
demand to be worshiped as God.
And Jesus said, when you see this, the
abomination of desolation that was spoken of by
Daniel, the prophet, then flee to the wilderness
and pray that your flight will not be
in the winter, nor on the Sabbath days,
talking definitely Jewish language to Jewish people.
Now, according to the book of Revelation, the
antichrist or the beast, the man of sin
is going to make war against Israel.
And God, he said, is going to give
them wings of an angel to bear them
to a wilderness place where they will be
nourished for three and a half years.
And when the dragon sees that they have
been escaped from him, he will send out
an army after them and the earth will
open up and swallow the army.
But they will be preserved of God in
this wilderness place for three and a half
years.
In Isaiah 16, God said to Jordan, actually
to Petra, open up your gates and receive
my people, bear them safely to Petra that
they might be there until the indignation, the
tribute, which is the old Testament word for
the great tribulation until the indignation be overpassed.
So Jesus is saying, look, when you see
this abomination of desolation or three and a
half years into this final seven year period,
when you see this abomination of desolation, that
Daniel spoke about standing in the holy place,
that's the sign for you to get out
of there and get out of there fast.
Don't bother going to your house to get
anything.
Just get out.
The Lord will preserve you when you get
down to Petra, but get out of there
as fast as you can.
And so that is what the abomination of
desolation is.
It is when the Antichrist stands in the
temple showing that he is God and demands
to be worshiped as God.
This is the final straw of man's rebellion.
And this is what precipitates the great tribulation
period.
It is at this point that God's fury,
the cuff of the indignation of his wrath
will overflow and God's judgment will come down
upon this Christ rejecting world.
And you will have the period known in
the Bible as the great tribulation period, which
will last 1,290 days.
And it is given in great detail in
the book of Revelation, beginning with chapter six
and going through chapter 18.
So if you want to know the things
that will be transpiring during that three and
a half year period of time, God has
spelled it out in great detail for you.
All I can say is you don't want
to be here and thank God you don't
have to be here because God has not
appointed us unto wrath.
That's his word to us.
Now, Jesus said, pray that your flight will
not be in the winter, neither on the
Sabbath day for then shall be great tribulation.
Such as was not since the beginning of
the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be the time of the greatest tribulation
that the world has ever seen.
Now, there are some who say that this
took place.
The abomination of desolation took place when Titus
came in and destroyed the temple.
No, because the great tribulation had not taken
place.
It did not follow Titus's destruction of the
temple.
And John writing the book of Revelation wrote
long after the temple was destroyed by Titus
and details the great tribulation as a yet
future event that will take place after the
church things.
In chapter four, verse one of the book
of Revelation.
Now, after these things, after what things, the
things of the church in chapters two and
three, I saw a door open in heaven.
The first voice of a trumpet saying to
me, come up hither.
And I'm going to show you things that
are going to be after these church things.
And immediately I was caught up by the
spirit.
I saw the throne of God and he
describes it chapter five.
He describes the scroll in the right hand
of him that is sitting upon the throne
and the worship and glory that is given
to Christ when he takes the scroll and
assumes the authority and the power that is
his chapter six.
He begins to break the seals of this
scroll.
And as he does, first of all, the
white horse with his rider, the Antichrist coming
over, taking over the earth, followed by the
wars and the famines and the death.
And then we, we proceed on into the
great tribulation period yet future.
Now, Jesus said concerning these days, unless those
days were shortened, no flesh would be saved,
but for the elects sake, those days shall
be shortened.
The elects God's people, the Jews.
So the tribulation will be so horrible, the
war and all that will break out the
great battle of Armageddon.
So fierce, so great that unless God would
shorten those days, no flesh would remain.
And so for the elects sake, God will
shorten those days.
Then, if any man shall say unto you
low here is Christ or there don't believe
it for there shall arise false Christ and
false prophets.
Now there will be the false Christ, the
Antichrist, and he will have the false prophet
who will come to cause the world to
worship him.
And revelation chapter 13 tells you about the
false Messiah and the false prophet who will
lead the world to worship the false Messiah.
And we are told in revelation that they
will come with great signs and wonders and
miracles.
And of course, in a second Thessalonians chapter
two is Paul is talking about this man
of sin.
He talks how he deceives the world with
the signs and the miracles and the wonders
that he is able to perform.
Now, a person who has premised his faith
and belief upon signs and miracles and wonders
is really in sort of a dangerous position.
If you don't premise your faith in the
word of God, but you're looking for signs,
miracles, and wonders, hey, you haven't seen anything
yet.
When the Antichrist comes, he's going to be
able to do all kinds of supernatural things.
And because of that power, he will deceive
many.
Jesus is warning over and over.
Don't be deceived.
If possible, the signs and wonders are so
great.
If possible, even the very elect would be
deceived.
Behold, he said, I've told you now before
it happens.
Wherefore, if they say unto you, behold, he
is in the desert, go not for it.
Or if they say he's in the secret
chambers, believe it not.
Jehovah witnesses say that Christ came in 1917
into a secret chamber where he now rules
the world.
We've entered into the millennial age.
Isn't this glorious friends?
The Bible says that Satan will be bound
during this period of time.
If Satan is bound with this great chain,
all I can say is the leash is
too long.
Now, Jesus is talking of his coming.
And he says, for as the lightning cometh
out of the East and shineth even to
the West, so shall the coming of the
Son of man be.
Now, does that sound to you like a
secret coming in a private chamber someplace?
I'll tell you there's nothing secret about lightning.
It lights up the whole sky.
And for wheresoever the carcass is, there will
the eagles be gathered together.
Now, there's a lot of problem on the
interpretation of what Jesus meant by wherever the
carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered
together.
And the interpretations fight each other and are
in direct opposition to each other.
The one interpretation is that the carcasses refer
or the carcass refers to all of the
dead bodies that will be in the Valley
of Megiddo after that great slaughter in the
war there.
And where God invites in Revelation chapter 17,
the birds of the air to come feast
upon the Kings and the chief captains of
men and so forth.
And that it will be the vultures that
will come into the Valley of Megiddo to
devour all of these slain bodies that are
there.
And someone even had a rumor that vultures
were multiplying very rapidly in Israel and that
all the vultures were laying four and five
eggs instead of the usual two and all,
which is all a bunch of poppycock, but
people get those stories going and then they
have a way of embellishing them and enlarging
them.
Now that's one interpretation.
The other interpretation, and let me say the
word is eagle, not vulture.
And the other interpretation is so different from
the first.
And they say the carcass is really the
body of Christ and the eagles are the
saints.
So you see how diverse the interpretations of
this particular verse actually are.
Now I, for one, I'm not willing to
get into the dispute of which interpretation is
right.
There are many things that I have filed
in my file up here in my brain
that says, wait for further information before you
make a solid decision or commitment.
This is one of those areas.
I really don't know which interpretation is right.
And I I'm really open.
I don't know.
And I confess, I don't know.
I can see the problems with either interpretation.
I can see the validity for both interpretations.
And I personally do not know which interpretation
is correct.
And thus you are free.
I've given you both interpretations to choose whichever
one fits your schema best and you can
go with it.
Now, immediately after the tribulation of those days,
shall the sun be darkened?
This will be the final aspects of the
tribulation, the great cataclysmic signs in the heavens,
the sun darken, the moon will not give
her light.
The stars shall fall from heaven and the
powers of heaven shall be shaken.
And then shall appear when immediately after the
tribulation of those days, then shall appear the
sign of the son of man in heaven
and then show all the tribes of the
earth mourn and they shall see the son
of man coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.
Now the Jehovah witnesses really have a time
when they get to this verse of scripture,
double talking and they'll, they'll, they'll throw you
off of this one immediately.
They don't like this scripture at all because
Jesus already came and he's in a secret
chamber.
Nobody saw him except their leaders who are
now getting their instructions from him as he
is setting up his theocracy through them upon
the earth.
But here it says, and they shall see
the son of man coming in the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory, all
of the tribes of the earth.
And he shall send his angels with a
great sound of a trumpet and they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds
from one end of heaven to the other.
Now, those who take the post tribulation theory
that Jesus is not going to take the
church out until after the great tribulation, use
this as one of their chief verses to
defend their position for he shall then after
he returns after the great tribulation, he will
then send his angels with a sound of
a trumpet, the trumpet God shall sound and
they shall gather together his elect from the
four winds from one end of the heaven
to the other.
Now, one thing that they always disregard is
that the Bible speaks of that Trump by
which the church will be caught up to
glory as the Trump of God always shall
sound.
Whereas they confuse that with the seventh trumpet
of the book of revelation, because the Trump
of God is called the last Trump.
And so they say the seventh Trump is
the last trumpet in the book of revelation.
But again, in the book of revelation, they
are the trumpets of the seven angels and
the seven angels prepared to sound their seven
trumpets.
And there's a vast difference between the seventh
trumpet, which is declared to be a woe
and that Trump of God, whereby the church
shall be called to her reward.
Now this particular verse is one of those
compilations where Jesus put together three verses out
of the old Testament whereby God has promised
that when the return of Christ takes place
in the kingdom is established that God is
again going to take back the Jews as
his people as a nation.
And he's going to bring them back in
the land and honor them once more.
And in Deuteronomy chapter 33 and four in
that particular promise is the Lord is talking
about returning them from their captivity.
He said, and if any of you are
driven out to the uttermost parts of heaven
from there, will the Lord thy God gather
thee.
And from there he will fetch you.
Notice he will gather together from the four
winds from one end of heaven to the
other, but that heaven, if you be scattered,
he will gather you from there.
Deuteronomy 34 in Isaiah 27, 12, and 13.
There, the Lord said again, as he is
predicting the regathering of the people, all ye
children of Israel, the end of verse 12,
it shall come to pass in that day
that the great trumpet shall be blown and
they shall come, which were ready to perish
in the land of Assyria, the outcast from
the land of Egypt.
And they shall worship the Lord in the
holy Mount at Jerusalem.
And so the trumpet, the great trumpet sounding,
Jesus makes reference to that.
And then once more in Isaiah chapter 11,
verse 12, here they are told to be
gathered from the four corners of the earth
or from the four winds, as Jesus makes
reference here.
And a sign, you'll assemble the outcasts of
Israel, gather them together, the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
So it is not at all, uh, damaging
to the scripture, but only in harmony with
the other prophecies that this be understood to
be the elect Jews, not the church.
Now, Jesus said, learn a parable of the
fig tree.
When his branches yet tender and puts forth
leaves, you know, that summer is nine.
So likewise, when you see all these things
know that it is near, even at the
doors.
So when you see these things that he
has been speaking about, uh, the, uh, world
wars, the pestilences, the earthquakes, the false Christ,
uh, the tribulation, you'll know that his coming
is at the doors.
The fig tree is used symbolically in the
scripture to represent the nation Israel.
And when you see the branches yet tender
and puts forth its leaves, you know, that
summer is nine to say that Jesus is
really predicting the rebirth of the nation.
Israel as the final sign is stretching a
little bit.
The actual text itself.
Basically, Jesus is just saying that when you
see the trees budding forth, you know, that
summer is getting close.
Therefore, when you see these signs that he
has been predicting, you'll know that his coming
is close.
In fact, he said, this generation shall not
pass till all these things be fulfilled.
And that would be the generation, of course,
that sees, uh, these signs that he has
been referring to heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass away.
But of that day and hour, and this
is the emphasis now through the, uh, remaining
part of this chapter that day in the
hour, no man knows not the angels of
heaven, but my father only.
So Jesus is saying that no man knows
the day or the hour only the father
so that anyone who presumes to know the
day or the hour is making an unbiblical
presumption.
But there are many people who try to
explain away this.
No man knows the day or the hour
and try to proclaim that they do know
the day or the hour, but they fall
in that category of false prophets.
But as it was in the days of
Noah, so shall the coming of the son
of man be for, as in the days
of Noah that were before the flood, they
were eating and drinking, marrying, giving him marriage
until the day that Noah entered into the
ark.
And they knew not until the flood came
and took them all away.
So shall the coming of the son of
man be that.
And so again, the Noah, he is just
saying it's going to be like it was
in the days of Noah.
That is, they were going on with business
as usual, right up until the time of
God's judgment.
They didn't know until the flood came and
took them away.
So it will be people will be oblivious.
The world will be oblivious of the return
of Christ right until that moment when he
comes.
And so that is what he is saying.
Actually, there are those, and you can say,
well, in the days of Noah, there was
the population explosion in the days of Noah,
there was the wickedness and so forth.
But in reality, the illustration to be just
strictly, uh, within its context and holding strictly
to the context.
It was just liking it to the surprise
that the people had when God's judgment finally
came, they did not know until the flood
came and took them all away.
So shall the coming of the son of
man be, then two shall be in the
field.
One shall be taken the other left to
women.
She'll be grinding at the mill.
One will be taken the other left.
Now again, two divergent interpretations.
One says they are taken away to judgment.
And those that are taken away are the
unfortunate ones because they are taken away for
judgment.
And those that are left are the fortunate
ones.
The other is that this is a reference
to the rapture of the church.
Those that are taken away are blessed.
And those that remain stay for the judgment.
And there are arguments on both sides, um,
whichever fits your scheme watch therefore.
And this is what applies to all of
us watch for, you know, not what hour
your Lord does come.
Now he said, no man knows the day
or the hour because you don't watch.
You don't know the hour he's coming.
It's going to catch a lot of people
by surprise.
They're not going to know until the, until
the Lord actually comes and all.
Now, if the good man of the house
had known in what watch the thief was
coming, he would have watched and would not
have allowed his house to be broken up.
Therefore be also ready for in such an
hour, as you think not the son of
man coming.
So the twofold watch and therefore be ye
ready.
Who is a faithful and wise servant whom
when his Lord has made him ruler over
his household to give me in due season.
Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when
he cometh shall find.
So doing, doing what giving to the household,
their meat in due season, ministering unto the
needs of others.
Blessed is that servant who is doing this.
When the Lord comes verily, I send to
you that he shall make him the ruler
over all of his goods.
But, and if that evil servant shall say
in his heart, my Lord delays his coming
and he shall begin to smite his fellow
servants and to eat and drink him with
the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he is not
looking for him.
And in an hour in which he is
not aware and shall cut him asunder and
appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.
And there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.
The danger of saying the Lord is delaying
his coming.
Now I feel that any time that a
person declares the necessity of some event before
the Lord comes for his church is in
essence saying the Lord is going to delay
his coming until the antichrist is revealed or
the Lord is going to delay his coming
until after we've gone through the tribulation.
And, and it is in essence saying the
Lord is delaying his coming.
Jesus said, look, you don't know the day
or the hour.
Therefore watch, therefore be ready.
And the idea that the Lord is going
to delay his coming until after some particular
event does not really create a real impetus
towards diligence in serving the Lord, but usually
has as its effect a slothfulness according to
the words of Christ.
And that is a dangerous position to be
in when the Lord returns to be in
a slothful state.
May the Lord be with you and watch
over you as you go forth in the
name of Jesus to bear witness of God's
love and God's truth to an indifferent world.
May the love of Christ so flow forth
from your life that people in your neighborhood
around your work will just be touched by
God's love as you become his instrument, bearing
his truth and his love to them.
May your week be filled with God's blessings
as the Lord guides you step by step
in the fulfilling of his purpose and his
plan that he has for you this week,
that which he wants you to accomplish for
his glory.
So, God be with you and keep you
in the love of Jesus Christ.