The Precursors of the Second Coming

…evening. Tonight we're on lesson number 13. We're looking at the precursors of the second coming. Now, that's a big word we don't use a lot, but it simply means the things that must take place before Christ comes. When we read through Scripture, we hear God's Word say that His coming is near, His day is at hand, "Behold, I am coming quickly." And does that mean He can come at any moment? Or does that mean that there are things, signs, that must be revealed or take place before He comes?

And on top of that, trying to figure and wade through all that, we often have been our own first enemy in Christendom by people who pick dates. And that's been going on from the earliest times. Every time there would be a plague that would affect Europe, people would say, "This is the judgment of God. Christ the Judge is coming. This is judgment. This is the day of His return." Earthquakes, the same thing, right?

I know from just growing up, I was born in 1972. In 1988, there was a book that came out before 1988. And it was called... It was by a man named Edgar Whisenant. And Whisenant was a NASA rocket engineer, very smart guy, and a devout Christian. Well, he figured he could set the date for Christ's return. And so he wrote a book called 88 Reasons Why Christ Will Return in 1988. And his reasoning was, "Well, Israel became a nation in 1948." So add 40 years to that: 1988. And it was a smash bestseller. I remember people in my church talking about it. There I was, 16, and people were talking about this book. It sold 4.5 million copies, which is a lot of copies. And of course, that prediction failed. So he wrote a follow-up for the year 1989, because he figured his calculation was wrong. And then he wrote 26 Reasons Christ Is Coming in 1993. And then he wrote a fourth book, Why the World Will End in Nuclear Fire in 1994. And irregardless, he was wrong with each and every one of those predictions.

You may know more recently, Harold Camping was another man, I believe it was in 2001, who was a Bible host on the radio, a very popular radio host, who predicted that Christ would come, and of course, He did not. And so those speculations don't help. What we want to do today is not look at man's contrivance or man's wisdom, but look at what the Word of God says about Christ's return and the signs that precede His return. So let's begin with Bible point number one.

In His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ has inaugurated His kingdom. We talked about that last week. It's here. Christ ascended to sit on David's throne just as God had promised, promised is the first blank. You'll see that in 2 Samuel 7:12–13. God promised David that he would have a descendant who would sit on his throne and reign forever. And we see that fulfilled in Christ. We see that in 1 Chronicles 17:11–14, also repeated in Psalm 132. We see the fulfillment of that in Acts 2:30–33, where on the day of Pentecost, Peter says, This is the Son of David, whom David prophesied of in the Spirit, that He would sit on his throne, and now you see this; He has ascended to God's right hand. As well as Paul later on in Acts 13:34–35.

David's Lord now sits at God's right hand, Psalm 110, and we quoted a little bit earlier in our service tonight Mark 16:19, Hebrews 1:3, Hebrews 10:12, all showing that Christ is at the right hand of God Almighty. Christ has all power and all dominion over all things, Ephesians 1:20, 1 Peter 3:22, and Revelation 1:5.

Christ will return to judge. Judge is the second blank. Judge the quick and the dead at His appearing. Quick simply means the living. The quick and the dead will both be raised at His return, because it's Judgment Day, right? And He will separate the sheep from the goats. And you'll find this exact language, judging the quick and the dead, in Acts 10:42, 1 Peter 4:5, and 2 Timothy 4:1.

We now live between D-Day and V-Day. We talked about that last week, how Christ decisively has rendered Satan ineffective. He destroyed the works of the devil, what Hebrews says, in His first coming. He has bound Satan, Jesus said, by His own words. And He took the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and He nailed it to the cross, and He made a show, a public spectacle, of the principalities and the demonic forces, right? He conquered them. He conquered the grave, right? Death has been defeated. He is the firstborn of the resurrection, right? But yet, we still look for that day coming forward, that last day, in which Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, when death will be defeated in the sense of being vanquished and put into the eternal abyss as well. So we live in between D-Day and V-Day. The victory is won, but there is going to be a final day when everything will be laid to rest, right? And all things will be made new.

We now live between D-Day and V-Day. We look forward to Christ's triumphant return. Jesus promised that He will return to us in John 14:1–3. We often read John 14 in the light of funerals. Jesus says, I'm going to a place, to My Father's place, and I'm going to have where I'm going, I'm going to build a mansion for you, basically, a dwelling for you, and I'm going to come again and receive you to Myself. And He does do that in our death, the death of the saints. But He's actually talking about, because He's about to leave His disciples, He's going to return one day, and He's going to bring us into His actual presence by returning here, His glory being manifested among us.

Christ instructed us to watch for His return, for He will come at an unexpected, unexpected is the third blank, an unexpected hour, Matthew 24:42–44, Luke 12:40. Those are both what we call the Olivet Discourse. Christ promised blessings, blessings is the fourth blank, to His faithful servants at His coming, Luke 12:37 and 43. When He comes, He's not going to judge the wicked, but He's going to bless His saints. He's going to bless us with Himself. And it's quite remarkable language, we'll read this here in just a minute when we read on the back, that Christ will actually be serving His bride. We're the ones that should be serving Him, right? But we'll see that here in a minute.

As recipients of His gracious salvation, we, quote, "live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ," Titus 2:12–13. You ever wonder where in Scripture Christ is called God? That's one of the many places right there, referring to the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our longing for Christ is great, as it is promised, quote, "To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation," Hebrews 9:28. Salvation is the fourth blank, or the fifth blank. When you talk about salvation, you say, "Well, He already saved us?" Yes. But remember, salvation is past, present, and future. In the past, He justified us on the cross, right? His blood washed away our sins, so positionally, we stand righteous before His Father. Salvation is present because Christ is sanctifying us right now. He's removing the pollution of sin. He's already removed the guilt of sin from us, but through our conformity to Christ, He's removing the pollution of sin, where we're becoming more conformed to His image, right? And at His return, we will be glorified, right? We will be completely transformed into a perfect yet finite image of Christ, right? Our salvation is past, present, and future. So when He comes, He brings salvation, not only to deliver us from our enemies, which you'll see here, enemies attacking the church, here in just a moment, but also to finish salvation in one sense, to complete it, to bring it to its full blossom.

We anticipate the glory that Christ will bring us, as for, quote, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed," 1 Corinthians 15:52. This body will be changed and transformed into a glorious body that's incorruptible and cannot die, along with our soul being completely perfected.

All of creation joins us, quote, "in earnest expectation," and, quote, "eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God… because the creation itself also will be delivered," delivered is the sixth blank, "from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." When He comes, not only will we be made new, but so will all of creation. He will renew heaven and earth, lifting the curse, removing the thorns, removing the curse, and making it even better than the garden was, because Christ Himself will dwell among us and in us at the same time.

Look at Matthew 16:27. "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father." We will see God because we will see Christ, right? "With His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works," right? When He comes in glory, He's going to raise the dead, and everyone, both dead and living, will stand before Him in judgment to receive according to his works.

Flip over on the back. Look at 1 Peter 2:21–22. "Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him." This shows us that in the resurrection of Christ, perfected humanity in Christ was exalted to the right hand of God, and everything is subject to Him now.

Corinthians, I'm sorry, Acts 10:42. "And He commanded us to preach to the people." This is Peter speaking to the delegation that Cornelius brought him. "And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead." Because Christ perfectly kept the law, when He comes in judgment, He will be the Judge, right? He's the One whom God has ordained because He's the Righteous One, the righteous standard by which we will be judged.

2 Timothy 4:1–2. Paul tells Timothy, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching." He's telling Timothy the reason why you preach the gospel, the reason why you convince, the reason why you exhort, the reason why you rebuke, is that every man must stand before the Lord, right? So you want to present as many as you can faithful in Christ Jesus, whatever your influence is, as a mother, as a father, as a friend, as a worker, to show people Christ in His grace and His mercy.

Then look at Luke 12:35–37. If this doesn't take your breath away, speaking of how Christ will bless His people at His coming. "Let your…" Sorry, I'm having a hard time reading this here. "Let your waist," there it is, "be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come in and serve them."

Isn't that beautiful? Speaking out of the parable of a wedding and saying these servants are looking for their master, they're ready for their master when he returns from this banquet, and when he returns, he's so pleased with them that he girds himself like a servant and feeds them and serves them. And the Bible tells us in the book of Ephesians that for all eternity Christ will be bestowing upon us the riches of His grace, showering His grace upon His bride. What man doesn't love his bride? What man wouldn't do anything he could to bless his wife, right? So Christ does the church. So Christ bestows blessing and serves His people. That's amazing.

Put that over on the front. Application: Are you looking, looking is the blank, for the blessed hope and glorious appearing? Titus 2:12–13, we just read, calls the Lord's return the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our Savior. Are you looking for that? It's going to be a glorious thing. We look forward to many things. I'm already looking forward to this fall. We have a wonderful church fellowship over at Tonya and Keith's. The next week we're having a game night here on Wednesday night. Looking forward to having a lot of fun. Looking forward to Thanksgiving, right? Looking forward to Christmas. Those are all wonderful things where we get together with our church body, those whom we love, our family members. But nothing, nothing compares to His glorious appearing, of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a day that will be.

Bible point number two: Christ's return is frequently spoken of as being near. 1 Corinthians 7:29 says, "The time is short." Short is the first blank. Romans 13:11–12 teaches that the day, day is the second blank, "the day is at hand." This is that last day. The day of judgment. The day of His appearing. The day when the resurrection takes place. The day when all things are made new. That day is at hand is what Romans 13:11–12 says. Philippians 4:5 states that the Lord, Lord is the third blank, "The Lord is at hand," meaning Christ's return is at hand. If something is within reach, you say it's at hand, right? I can reach out and grab it. That's how close Christ's return is.

Hebrews, I'm sorry, Romans 16:20 says Satan's, Satan is the fourth blank, Satan's end will come shortly. Doesn't it say that? The Lord Himself will crush Satan under your feet shortly. His end is near. 1 Peter, I'm sorry, Hebrews. Hebrews promises Christ will not tarry. Tarry is the fifth blank.

James 5:8–9 observes, "The coming of the Lord is at hand." Hand is the sixth blank. "The Judge is standing at the door!" Door is the seventh blank. And He's right there at the door. Christ is, all I have to do is open the door, and it's Judgment Day. 1 Peter 4:7 records, "The end of all," all is the eighth blank, "all things is at hand."

Revelation 1:1 says its content is about, quote, "things which must shortly," shortly is the ninth blank, "take place." Revelation 22:20 closes with Christ's promise, "Surely I am coming quickly." Quickly is the tenth blank.

These passages point to the certainty of Christ's return and how we should live in its light, in its imminence. Because Christ's return is certain, it is always, always is the eleventh blank, always near. Because it's certain, it's always near. We don't know when, but you have to realize our time and God's time is totally different, right? Remember when we discussed, three and a half years ago, we went over the nature and attributes of God. We talked about the timelessness of God, the eternity of God, how time is a merciful creation by God for mankind in light of his limitedness, in light of his finitude, right? If we could see like God and see the past, present, and the future as one eternal now, we'd be overwhelmed. We're finite creatures. We can barely take in an hour in a day, right? Most of us, we get confused when we think about our calendar. We have to look to see how many days out it is till Thanksgiving or Christmas or when our plans are, right? But God sees everything past, present, and future perfectly as one eternal now. He stands outside of time, but He came into time graciously in the person of Jesus Christ in the incarnation, limited Himself in that sense, Christ did, the God-man did, to be able to pay for our sins, right? But because of that, our perspectives are different, right? For God, all it is is He's at the door. Christ can return at any moment. For us, it may seem like a long time, right? But because His return is certain, it is always near.

Having come, as we have learned so far, we are already in His kingdom. We talked about this the last few weeks. Having come to Mount Zion, Jerusalem, having been made to be His temple and dwelling place, and having been made new creations in Christ and indwelt by His Spirit, we now eagerly await the glorious completion, completion is the last blank, of Christ's redemption. Can't wait for that day when all things will be made new.

Look at Revelation 22:20. This is the next to the last verse in the Bible. "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.'" Christ says, "Surely I am coming quickly." And then the writer responds, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" Right? We are to welcome His return.

Flip up on the back. Look at Romans 13:11–14. "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." Every day that passes is one step closer to heaven, right? One step closer to His return. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." We are called to holiness, right? When Christ comes, He's returning for a holy bride, right? And so in light of His coming, we want to be prepared, right? We want to be holy. We want to have as little transformation as possible, right? We want to be almost there when He comes. So live a holy life in light of His imminent return.

Application for number two: Be confident. Confident is the blank. Be confident that what God has started, He will complete. That's what Philippians 1:6 promises, right? We've sung that song before. "I'm confident of this very thing, that He who's begun a good work in you, He will perform it until" what? "The day of Jesus Christ," because that is when we will be glorified.

Bible point number three: while Christ's return is certain and near, we cannot know its hour. Hour is the first blank. Christ taught, quote, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only," Matthew 24:36. This is very similar, I believe it's in Mark: not even I know. Yeah. Now, that's a hard one to get our heads around. Theologians said, "Well, doesn't Christ know everything?" Well, He was speaking as the God-man. There were some limitations that He self-limited Himself. But there were other times when He had omniscient knowledge, even as the God-man, right? So whether it was because of His incarnation, He didn't know, in obedience to the Father, to perform the work of redemption.

It could also be, many have suggested, in Hebrew there are a lot of idioms. Idioms are just phrases of speech. In Hebrew culture, the father would often arrange the marriage, and there would first be what we call a betrothal period, which was kind of like an engagement here in America, but it was legally binding. You couldn't really get out of it. And during that betrothal period, the groom would go and prepare a place, often at his father's house, because they built compounds and had communal living back then. And then he would come in and sweep her off her feet, and they would have the marriage day and the celebration. And many people would come and celebrate the consummation of their union. And many times, the groom's friends would ask him, "When's the big day? When are you going to come in and sweep Mary Sue off her feet?" And he'd say, "Well, only the father knows." Because his father had arranged it. Of course, he was in coordination with his father. So perhaps this is an idiom. We don't know. But the point is, if Christ says, "No one knows, not even the angels," not even Himself, how should we put ourselves out there to guess the time or the day?

Christ compared the suddenness of His coming to the judgment of the flood in Matthew 24:39. Remember, He says that it's going to come like the flood. He says many were swept away in the days of Noah. They were taken by surprise.

Christ compared His coming to a thief, coming when you don't expect it. And we find that in Matthew 24, also Luke 12. Does a thief come knock on the door in broad daylight? Usually not. Usually, they're pretty smart. They wait for you to show signs that you're on vacation, right? Maybe some newspaper or mail stacked up in your mailbox, an Amazon package in front of your door, or they come at night when there's no lights on, whatever the case. They don't want to come when you're there, right? So He says that His coming will be like a thief, comes when you least expect it.

Paul likewise wrote, "But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief," thief is the fourth blank, "a thief in the night." Wonder where he got that from? Got that from Christ, right? 1 Thessalonians 5:1–2.

When I was growing up, I mentioned born in '72, in the early mid-'70s, there was a movie, one of the first Christian movies, it was called A Thief in the Night. Y'all remember that? It was very popular in many Baptist churches and Bible churches as well. Churches bought copies of it. It was the most, because VCRs were early in the day and they were still doing tapes back then, reel to reel, it was the most checked out and the most purchased video of its time. And it was kind of a precursor to the Left Behind series. It wasn't by LaHaye and Jenkins, but it was called Left Behind. And of course, they get that from this understanding of what Jesus taught about the days of Noah, the days of Noah. Those who were swept away were swept away in judgment, and those who were left behind were the righteous ones, right? But that thief in the night got its term right here from Jesus and also from Paul, because Christ would come as a thief in the night. Of course, in that movie, there'd be a pile of clothes and sneakers left behind, you know, and driverless cars.

Peter wrote, quote, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away." Away is the fifth blank. So not only does Jesus say it's going to come as a thief in the night, but also Paul, and also Peter uses that same expression.

Christ said, "Watch." Watch is the sixth blank. "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." So it's impossible to know the time. It's going to come as a surprise when no one's expecting it. But we are to be watchful. In other words, we are to live in light of His return, that He could come at any moment.

I think I've shared with you before, when I was in high school, I worked at an automotive shop when I got out of school each day. My mother homeschooled me for high school, and the man who owned the automotive shop, he had several mechanic bays and several guys like me who were gofers. We would turn rotors, do oil changes, and fix tires, that kind of thing. But the owner had this big black diesel truck, and you could hear it coming from a mile away. It was loud. And anyway, as people would do, the mechanics would be goofing off, having fun because the boss wasn't there, right? You know, we got our work done, but you know, we were throwing nuts in the containers, like you're throwing washers, but then we would hear, and so all of a sudden, we would drop nuts and we'd get back to our work, start sweeping, start polishing, and what, because the boss was coming, right? We are to live in light of Christ's imminent return because we want to be pleasing and we want to be found righteous when He returns.

Mark 13:35–37: "Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning, lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!"

Flip over on the back. Mark 13:32–33: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is."

In the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24:38–42: "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." The term Son of Man there, He's borrowing that, of course, from Daniel. That's depicting Christ's ascent to the throne of God, and He's worshiped, and He's given universal dominion. That same Son of Man comes now to judge, right? And in the days of Noah, the people who were not on the ark, they were blissfully ignorant. They were going about life, partying, getting married, giving in marriage, until judgment came. They were caught off guard.

Verse 40: "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left." Again, those taken away are taken away in judgment. "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming."

2 Peter 3:10–13: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." This world will be recreated because it's tarnished by sin, and everything in this world will be vaporized. "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." Look for that new heavens and that new earth. What a glorious day that will be. It'll be fit. The curse will be removed, and no evil will dwell in God's new creation.

Application for number three: Instead of date setting, pay attention, attention is the blank, to your life and doctrine. What does Paul tell Timothy? Take heed to your life and to your doctrine. Timothy, of course, was a pastor, and he needed to know doctrine. He could faithfully teach his flock. It's no different for us as parents, no different for us as brothers and sisters. We need to know doctrine. We need to know the things of God, who God is, and what His Word tells us about Him. But we also need to know more than just knowledge. We need to take heed to our life. Make sure we are living according to His Word. You can have all the Bible doctrine knowledge in the world, but if you're not living a holy life, if you're not living a life in devotion to God, it's worthless. Now, J. I. Packer used to say that theology is for both devotion and doxology. It's for us to praise God, to draw nearer to Him and worship Him. That's what it's for.

I'm not sure if I missed that. Christ compared His coming to a thief, coming when you don't expect. Expect. Sorry, I skipped that one. When you don't expect. He's a thief, coming when you don't expect. Thank you.

Bible point number four: the sign, sign is the first blank, the sign of the times. You've probably heard that expression many times from pulpits. You've seen it in songs and in literature. People talk about the sign of the times. The sign of the times is a phrase that is often used regarding the precursors of the second coming. It is used to describe things or events that precede, precede is the second blank, His return.

The only time that this phrase is used in Scripture is in Matthew, which says, quote, "Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, 'When it is evening you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red"; and in the morning, "It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening." Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.'" Times is the third blank. "'A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.' And He left them and departed."

Mark's Gospel says He departed and went over to the other side of the shore, got as far away from them as possible. The Pharisees and Sadducees were not coming to Christ in good faith at all. They were antagonistic towards Him, and they were antagonistic to each other. The Pharisees believed in a Messiah to come. They were thinking more of a political Messiah. The Sadducees did not believe in a Messiah to come. They were not really interested in a sign other than trying to trip Him up. They were more interested in their alignment with the Romans, in their favor with the Roman government.

The sign of the times doesn't primarily refer to what God will do in the future, but refers to what God has done in the past, past is the fourth blank, and is revealing in the present, present is the fifth blank. It's not so much what God's going to do in the future, but what He's done in the past and what He's revealing in the present. In the context, they come to Him and they ask for a sign. They're asking for some outlandish sign, something that's perhaps tangible or something that's visible, that He can prove that He is the Messiah.

Well, Christ has already been doing this through His miracles, through casting out demons. He says, If I cast out demons by the finger of God, you know the kingdom of God is among you. It's on you. It's here. He's been healing the blind. He's been causing the deaf to hear. He's been causing the mute to speak. He has brought the kingdom, and Jesus sees a hypocrisy. They pride themselves in thinking they can even prognosticate the weather, which is odd because they use the same sign to say it's going to be a good day or a bad day. The red sky is the same. But He says, You pride yourself in knowing the weather and thinking that you can predict the future based on the weather, but you can't even see the I AM, the Messiah, right here in front of you. You don't even understand. You can't even grasp that.

The Pharisees couldn't discern that the promised Messiah was in their midst. Sadducees just wouldn't. They didn't believe in the Messiah. The Messiah's kingdom had arrived. Christ did the works Isaiah had foretold. And we see that in Matthew 11:5, just a prior chapter. Remember when John's disciples come to Christ? They say, Are You the One, or do we look for another? And what does Jesus tell them to do? Go and tell them that the lame walk, the blind see, the prisoner is set free, right? These were things that the Messiah was promised to do in Isaiah 60 and 61, right? Jesus even used that in His sermon, in His very first sermon at Nazareth in Luke 4. He says, Today this is fulfilled in your sight. Right?

The Pharisees couldn't see it, and they set themselves against, against is the sixth blank, against Him, Matthew 12:22–32. They ascribed the work that He was doing to that of Beelzebub, lord of the flies. They were ascribing the miracles that Christ had performed to the work of demons. And that's where Jesus talked about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, right? To take the work of God and ascribe it to the devil.

It is true that the sign of Jonah pointed to a future judgment. He says, The only sign you're going to see from henceforth is the sign of Jonah, speaking of His resurrection, right? That was still future. But the primary reference of the sign of the times was to the past prophecies and their present fulfillment. These signs truly reveal both God's present grace, grace is the seventh blank, and God's coming judgment, judgment is the eighth blank. All the signs point to God's grace and also to His judgment.

Flip over on the back. Matthew 12:22–32. This is His account. "Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him." The Jews believed that if a person was demon-possessed, blind, and mute, no rabbi could heal this person. No one could. That was like a triple whammy. He was demon-possessed. He was blind. He was mute. This was someone who's totally in Satan's grasp, and no rabbi had the power to do that. But for Christ, it was nothing. He healed him. "So that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, 'Could this be the Son of David?'" Not the Pharisees, not the Sadducees, but the Jews who were around, the people in that region, they knew that this was the Son of David, long prophesied, the Messiah.

"Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, 'This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.'" He's aligned with Satan, Satan's henchman. "But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God… has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?'" Christ has bound Satan in His coming. "'And then he will plunder his house.'" That's what He did by healing the man who was possessed of a demon, who was blind or deaf, deaf and mute. "'And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.'" He warns them. "'Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.'"

Talked about that. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a settled rebellion, refusing to accept Christ as Lord, and instead ascribing His saving work to that of the devil. And if you die in that without having your opinion of that, hell is your place. That's your desert.

Flip back over on the front. Application: Let the sign of the times draw you near to Christ in love. Love is the blank. Because these signs all testify of both Christ's grace and Christ's judgment. Let these signs not be something that you prognosticate about or try to guess: "Was this earthquake a sign? Is this hurricane in the Gulf, is this a sign?" But instead, let them draw you near to Christ in love, because all of His signs that precede His return are reminders of His grace or His judgment.

Let's look at some of the signs in particular. Bible point number five: we see the sign of the times already present in the early church. For example, at Pentecost, Peter ascribes the signs, signs is the first blank, and wonders. Remember what happened there? Tongues of fire came upon them in the upper room. The place was filled with the sound of a mighty, rushing wind. Many theologians talk about this as basically a new Sinai here. Sinai had a very similar theophany. There were storms, and there was fire on the mountain. Well, here in the upper room, the Holy Spirit is being poured out, right? On the congregation, His true people, the people who had been made accepted by the blood of Christ. Whereas on Sinai it's, "If you will obey My commandments, then you'll be My people," right? So we see these theophanies, these signs and these wonders, and they speak tongues that they do not know. Over 16 different languages are spoken. People hear the gospel. They all come to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost, and now they're hearing the gospel, that Christ died and rose again, in their own tongue and in their own language. The gospel is going forth to the nations, even here.

Peter ascribes the signs and wonders being displayed as the end, end is the third blank, end-times fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, and we'll find that in Acts 2:16–21. We'll read that here in just a moment. He says this is the end times that was spoken of by Joel. This is what you see right here. These end-times signs, the sign of the times, are breaking out in your midst at the earliest formation of the church.

Likewise, in the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24, also found in Mark 13 and in Luke 21, Christ describes a number of signs, which we'll look at in just a minute, which seem to have their fulfillment in Jerusalem's coming destruction, which took place in AD 70, but will also have fulfillment at Christ's return. And we're going to look at that, and we'll spend a whole lesson on the Olivet Discourse. It can be a very interesting passage, but it often causes a lot of confusion because it seems like Christ is talking both about a very soon appearing in judgment and also one that's perhaps farther off too. But we'll spend a whole week on that, going through all the ins and the outs of that, along with the signs that are listed there.

All of the signs of the times described in the New Testament can be seen as present, present is the fourth blank, at the time of its writing. All the signs that Christ speaks of in the Olivet Discourse, all these signs are present at the time of the writing in the early church, and also continually, continually is the fifth blank, manifested until Christ returns. Were there not wars and rumors of wars, and were there not earthquakes in the time of Christ? Even on the cross, wasn't there a great earthquake, right? What happened on the cross? The sky turned black, right? As we sang this past Sunday, I wasn't here, but I wish I was, the sun refused to shine, right, when they crucified my Lord.

But these signs continually manifest themselves, right? Have we not continued to have wars? Have we not continued to have earthquakes, right? I don't want to... Well, I guess I'm not afraid to mention his name. I think it's John Hagee who had the four blood moons a few years ago. They look at a sign of a moon turning red, and there were four, and they figure if there's three or four of them in a year, then that's of special significance, then something prophetic is happening, right? There's always these signs, right? There wasn't a time of... When the New Testament was being written, there's time now. They're manifested, and there will be until the day that Christ comes.

The sign of the times calls the church to watch, to pray, to obey, and to hope. The sign of the times calls the church to watch, pray, obey, and hope, because they're all reminders of the grace of God and the judgment of God. I'll give you specific examples of how they remind us of God's grace and judgment in these next three Bible points.

The sign of the times... Application for number five, actually: How do the sign of the times encourage faithfulness? How do they encourage faithfulness? Think about an old covenant sign, the sign of the rainbow. When you see that, what are you reminded of? God will not judge the world again in a flood, right? And until Christ comes, we're going to have summertime, we're going to have harvest, snow; they'll be consistent. God will be taking care of His creation. He's not going to destroy it again. He's going to renew it one day by burning up the sinful and making all things new, right? The same thing with the sign of the times. They're there to point us to Christ, to point us to His grace, to point us to judgment. We watch, we pray, we evangelize. That's what obey is all about, right? To share the gospel. And we put our hope in His return.

Bible point number six. Actually, let's look at the back. I did not read to you Acts 2, and I want to do that. This is at Pentecost. "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel." Peter is explaining to the people who are speaking in these foreign languages, and some people are saying they're drunk. He says, "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel." This is the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. "'And it shall come to pass in the last days,' says God, 'that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'"

The key thing there, amongst all those various signs, which were taking place then and will take place at Christ's return, is salvation is now offered to all men, right? The kingdom has come. God has shown us grace in Christ Jesus. We can repent, for the kingdom of God is here.

Bible point number six: the sign of the times display God's grace, grace is the first blank, to all, all is the second blank, all men. His signs are gracious. They show His mercy to all men. In the Olivet Discourse, Christ said, "And this gospel of the kingdom," this good news of the kingdom, and remember, the kingdom of God is the same as the gospel. It's the same as Christ, right? Christ brings the kingdom. He is the Messiah. He is the King. "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations." Nations is the third blank. Nations means Gentiles. It means all people.

Predominantly, in the Old Testament, we see God's revelation being made into and through Israel, into and through the Jewish people. To them were the patriarchs. To them came the covenants, right? From there, they were to be a witness to the nations, right? And the Messiah was predicted in the Old Testament. We find in Isaiah it says, And I will give You as a covenant, not just to Israel, but to the Gentiles as well. It's too small a thing for You just to be their Savior, but to be the Savior of the entire world, right? And so we see that prophesied in the Old Testament, and we see that here taking fulfillment in the New Testament.

It says, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." So you see, that's a precursor. The gospel goes out before the end comes, right? Christ will return when the last of the elect is saved, right? In Paul's time, he actually says that the gospel's gone out through all the world. So that was even being fulfilled in New Testament times, in the times when Paul wrote his epistles. Is it not being fulfilled today? It's being fulfilled all throughout history, right? The gospel is being preached under every star, under every tree, on every piece of land. We think about people like Saint Patrick, right? The slave turned missionary. We think about men like William Tyndale translating the Bible into English. We think about ladies like Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong. We think about missionaries like William Carey and Adoniram Judson, who went across the world to preach the gospel, right?

We preach the gospel in one way, in a sense, to hasten His return. Not that we can strong-arm God, but we know that one of the precursors is that the gospel will go out throughout the entire world. Let's do our part, right? Because you never know. You may lead someone to Christ and, boom, here comes Christ, right? What a glorious thing that would be.

Likewise, just as the gospel goes out to the nations, many scholars ascribe Romans 11:25–26 as a sign of the times when it says "that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel," Israel is the fourth blank, "will be saved." In other words, many ascribe that section of Romans to the end times, that part and parcel of the Gentiles being saved and brought into the kingdom, there would be a restoration of Israel as well. We're going to spend a whole lesson on that. Not all scholars agree with that take. There's four or five different ways that that can be looked at, and we'll go through all those various points of view when we do that.

But the point is, the nations would include Israel anyway, right? The gospel goes out through all the world, starting in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world. Samaria is kind of interesting. You say, "Well, why do they mention Samaria?" Well, isn't Samaria where the ten lost tribes of Israel were from, right? So we see all of the gospel starting in Jerusalem, to Judea, Samaria, the reunification of both of the southern and northern tribes, to the uttermost parts of the world, right? Christ came to save the entire world. And He says, There'll be one flock and one Shepherd, right? I have sheep that you do not even know of, who are not of this fold. I'm going to bring them in. That's, graciously, the Gentiles that have been grafted in.

Until Christ comes, we must preach the gospel. Gospel is the fifth blank. It is a mandate that we preach the gospel. Jesus, of course, after He rose from the dead, says, "All authority has been given to Me," right? "In heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations," right? He's saying, Join Me in My work of hastening My return.

Flip over on the back. 2 Peter 3:8–9: "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." We talked a little bit about that earlier, how God stands outside of time. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness." This is not slow. "But is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." It may seem as if Christ tarries and may seem as if His coming is slow. That's because of His long-suffering. That's one of His key characteristics. He says in the Old Testament, He says that in the New Testament, right? I am long-suffering, full of loving-kindness, showing mercy to generations, right?

Flip back over on the front. 1 Timothy 2:4 shows the heart of God. It says, "who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." It's the heartbeat of God. Let that be our heartbeat as well.

Application: How does the Great Commission hasten, hasten is the blank, His day? How does the Great Commission hasten His day? 2 Peter 3:12 talks about how we should look forward to and hasten His coming, it being sped up. How does the Great Commission hasten His day? Again, you never know when the last of the elect will be saved. When the last of His sheep is safely in His fold, then He comes. What a wonderful day that will be.

Bible point number seven: the sign of the times display man's opposition, opposition to God. We've already seen in Bible point number six where it shows God's grace to all men. But the signs also show that man needs to repent. They show man's opposition to God. Now, this is shown in tribulation, apostasy, and antichrist.

Tribulation, which is the second blank: persecutions, sufferings, and trials are the experience of the church until, until is the third blank, Christ returns. John, in chapter 1 of Revelation, he says, I am a co-laborer with you, I'm a partner with you in the tribulation, in the kingdom, in the patience of our Lord. There was tribulation in the first century. There always have been persecutions. There have been tribulations and persecutions all throughout church history, and there will be until Christ returns, and He will end it then.

It appears that Christ predicts an escalation of these, this tribulation, persecution, suffering, and trials, an escalation of these prior to His return, Matthew 24:21–31. Again, that's in the Olivet Discourse. When Christ returns, He will tribulate, tribulate is the fourth one, those who tribulate His church, 2 Thessalonians 1:6. When He comes, those who are tribulating, those who are persecuting, those who are oppressing the church will be tribulated by God Himself. It is no understatement to say that Christ will give them hell. That's what 2 Thessalonians tells us, that He will unleash the fury of God from the presence of God, from His very throne.

Likewise, apostasy, apostasy is the fifth blank, is predicted before Christ returns, 2 Thessalonians 2:1–4. We'll read that in a minute. In other words, there's a... It'd be a great falling away, people leaving the faith, people who you thought were part of the church, but they went out from you. John experienced that, right? He wrote about that. You thought they were from you until they went out from you. What does Paul tell Timothy? That they're not always going to endure sound doctrine, right? But they will want to have their ears tickled, right? And they will follow after false teachers.

This rebellion, this apostasy, is linked to the man of sin, quote, "man of sin," that's what Paul in Thessalonians describes him as, who opposes Christ, 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12. Many link this man of sin to John's antichrists, that's plural, antichrists, in 1 John 2:18. The only place in Scripture where the term antichrist, plural or singular, is used is in John's epistles. Oftentimes people think that the man of sin, the man of lawlessness, the man of perdition that's spoken of in 2 Thessalonians, they equate that with the Antichrist or antichrists. Same with the book of Revelation. There's no mention of the Antichrist in the book of Revelation, but often people will talk about the false prophet as being aligned with that, and even the beast, right?

Got to be very careful. And people will often speak with far more certainty than they should on some of these topics. We must tremble at His Word, right? But we do know that John predicted that there would be antichrist to come, and there were already antichrists in his day. And how does he define the antichrist? Those who are against Christ, those who deny Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, those who deny His death, burial, and resurrection, right?

This lawless one will be destroyed, destroyed is the next blank, at the brightness of Christ's coming, coming is the last blank. This lawless one, who seems to lead this apostasy right before Christ returns, will be destroyed at the brightness of Christ's coming. Whether that's a single man or whether it is a group, whether it's an organization, there's all kinds of theories that theologians talk about, but the main point is that His enemies are vanquished when Christ returns. We see very similar language in Revelation 20, that when Christ returns, fire consumes His enemies, right?

Let's flip over on the back. Let's read this passage here in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 that links this apostasy, this man of rebellion, this son of perdition, to Christ's return. "Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first." Let's begin with this apostasy. "And the man of sin is revealed," this is a name for that lawless man, "the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Basically, he's trying to take God's place, right? Trying to be the object of the church's worship.

"Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work." He seems to indicate that it's already a present thing at the church in Thessalonica. It's already at work. This mystery of lawlessness is already at work. "Only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way." That this lawless one is even being restrained, it appears, at the time when Paul is writing this letter. Again, we have to approach this very carefully and not overgeneralize, and not be too certain of things that aren't so certain, right? But the point is that God's in control. Let's capitalize He, because most theologians view what is restraining this man of lawlessness, this work of iniquity, as God, because God restrains iniquity in people's hearts, right? If He didn't restrain the iniquity in our hearts, we'd be toast, right, if we were left to our own devices.

"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming." So the very breath of Christ's mouth will destroy this lawless one, at the brightness of His coming. "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." In other words, this lawless one would even be able to do counterfeit miracles. It's interesting that these, really, what we call vivid signs of the times that are spoken of are actually counterfeit ones, right, in this case.

"And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." So again, the purpose of this work of lawlessness is to lead people away from Christ, keep people in their sins, right? Christ will destroy that and put an end to that at His return.

Application number seven: "Let us hold," hold is the blank, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering," Hebrews 10:23. Sounds familiar. I think we must have read that earlier tonight, didn't we? "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering." As Christians, we must believe in God's promises. We have a conference coming up just in a month's time or so that is going to be called Shattered, right? Speaking against these false… that impoverish people's souls. They promise them life; they give them death. They promise them water; they give them broken cisterns with dry dust to inhale, right? They promise them food and satisfaction and nourishment. They give them vapor; they give them nothing, right? So we must hold fast our confession, hold strong in what we believe, not only for ourselves, but with our families and our scope of influence, to teach people to hang on to Christ, "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."

Bible point number eight: the sign of the times also display God's judgment. They display God's grace to all men. They also display God's, or man's opposition to God, showing that man's rebellious, right? But they also show God's judgment. This is shown in wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilence. And you'll find these listed as associated with the coming of Christ in the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24:6–8, Mark 13:7–8, and Luke 21:9–11.

This doesn't mean that people who suffer from disasters were marked for punishment, Luke 13:4. In other words, just because an earthquake hits somewhere doesn't mean, well, there must have been some really bad sinners and God's judging them, right? Just because someone comes down with a sickness or they lose a loved one doesn't mean that they're under God's punitive curse or punitive judgment, okay? Jesus speaks of this actually in Luke 13, where He talks about a tower that fell on people. He says, "Were they any worse sinners than you?" In other words, it didn't fall on them because of God's judgment. God allows bad things to happen for various reasons, right? And wars and these things, even though they point to judgment, they're not individual signs of judgment against individuals, okay?

These signs do point to the world being under God's curse. Curse is the third blank. Why do we get sick? Thanks, Adam and Eve, right? And we ratified it. We can thank ourselves too, right? Sin brought the curse. Sin brought death, right? Why do people die? Because we're sinners and we're deserving of it. They remind us of God's wrath. Wrath is the fourth point. These signs of the earthquakes, of famines, of pestilence, of war, they remind us of God's wrath stored up, quote, "for the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." When God comes in judgment, when Christ comes as Judge, it will be a revelation that He is holy. It will be a revelation that His judgment is righteous, that He's calling a fig a fig and a spade a spade, right? He knows perfectly the state of all mankind, and He judges everyone according to their works.

These signs mark not the end, but the beginning, beginning is the fifth blank, of sorrows, Matthew 24:6–8. Jesus says specifically that wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilence, it's not the end, but it marks the beginning of sorrows. That word sorrows is referring in the Hebrew to a woman's travail, a woman's time of giving birth, right? For you ladies, you mothers, you know that going up into your pregnancy, you begin to contract, right? It's a very painful process, right? To be able to bring a child into this world, it's not easy. It's very difficult, but it brings about a wonderful thing, right? These wars, these pestilences, these earthquakes, Jesus says that they are basically the birth pangs of the Messiah. They precede His coming, letting us know that the messianic Savior who has died for our sins and defeated death is coming in to vanquish all of our enemies. These are the messianic pangs, pangs is the sixth blank, pledging the Judge's certain return, return is the last blank.

Flip over on the back. Let's read this here in Matthew 24. "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?' And Jesus answered and said to them: 'Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.'"

All these things that we've looked at, these signs of God's grace, the signs of man's rebellion towards God, and the signs of God's judgment, were around in the time of Christ, were around in the time of the apostles. They've been around all throughout the age of church history. They're in the present now. There are those who exalt themselves against God, who claim and demand to be worshiped in the place of God, and those who are doing so in churches. Don't think that this is all future. There will be an escalation perhaps, but what I'm getting at is all these signs are always present in between God's first coming and Christ's second coming.

Application for number eight: "Behold, the Judge," the Judge, "is standing at the door!" James 5:9. I believe that Christ can come at any moment. I believe that interpreting... When you look at these passages in detail, you can find all these things at work in our world today. But whether He comes tonight, or whether He tarries for another 2,000 years, let us be found faithful. Let us be watchful. Let us be obedient. Let us be proclaiming the gospel. And let us put our hope in His blessed appearing and say, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"