Brownstown Presbyterian Church
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Matthew 24.1-2ESV
Matthew 24.3-5ESV
Matthew 24.6-8ESV
Matthew 24.9-12ESV
Matthew 24.13-15ESV
- IntroductionThere are certain things in life that are simply unmistakable.This past week Laura was excited to go outside to see the Aurora Borialis…the northern lights…caused by the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and charged particles from the sun.I love space and astronomy but Laura was WAY more excited than me to see them. She was excited enough to go walk our dog through the graveyard on the edge of town in order to get a good view of them.But…as it turns out…I heard her banging on the window as soon as she stepped outside. I ran outside and…sure enough there they were…the northern lights…unmistakable…it looked like nothing she or I had ever seen before.There was no mistaking what we saw…the beautiful reds and greens filled the night sky. Laura took a picture and the colors were even more dramatic as the exposure of the picture allowed for more light to be captured in the image.It was beautfiul. Y’all should have seen Laura…she was giddy as a kid on Christmas morning...That’s how many of us respond to the beauty of natural phenomenon…whether we know it or not…the beauty of creation draws us deeper into our desire to know our creator. God speaks to us and reveals himself through the beauty of nature.When we truly conetmplate…why there is beauty at all…when we allow ourselves to experience the awe of creation…the existence of God is not diffiult to comprehend. That’s what I want to focus on today…God’s unmistakable presence with us in perilous times.RecapToday we continue our October sermon series “How to Love in Perilus Times”. Last month we focused on God’s timeless love…this month I want us to focus how to love through the difficult times of our day.Last week we discussed the first part of the Olivet Discourse…Jesus’ message of the end times…the times of destruction of the 2nd temple in 70 AD by Rome…and also about how the world will look just before his return.Paul writing in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 writes...
2 Timothy 3:1–5 NLT You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!Last week we talked about Jesus’ words that people would betray and hate one another and lawlessness will increase…causing many people’s love for one another…to grow cold.Jesus is teaching this message of the end times…out of his love for his disciples then and now…urging each of us to not let our love grow cold but endure to the end.TodayJesus begins today’s reading with a reference to the book of Daniel…speaking of the time when the “abomination of desolation” or as scholar R.T. France puts it…the “devistating polution” of the temple of God in Jerusalem…when the profane puts itself in the holiest place on earth…and declaries itslef to be God…then the people will know its time to scadaddle...see 2 Thessalonians 2:42 Thessalonians 2:3–4 ESV Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.Revelation 13:14–15 NLT And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.Jesus is warning us that there will be a time…in the future…when there will be a great devestating polluting of God’s temple…when that happens…you’ll know the time for Jesus’ return is near...Then Jesus agains speaks of futher deception...Matthew 24:23–26 ESV Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.Apparently…a major aspect of the end of the age…the end times…is the idea of deception.Being that we are in a presidential election year…one could perhaps say…we are in a season of deception...But Jesus is referring to deception of salvation…of pointing people to look to a false Christ…and anit-Christ instead of to Jesus himself. That will happen more and more…the closer we get to Jesus’ return.Don’t fall for it. When Jesus returns it will be unmistakable!As it reads in Matthew 24:27Matthew 24:27 ESV For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.Like the northern lights…in the skies of Indiana…it will be unmistakable when Jesus returns. Jesus is warning his disciples deception will be all over the place…don’t be fooled by any of it…when I reutrn…you…and everyone... will know it.Jesus then says a cryptic reference to Israel...Matthew 24:28 ESV Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.D.A. Carson sums this saying up this way...“The proverb may be a colorful way of saying that things come to pass at just the right time (Broadus); so the proverb applies here and in Luke 17:37 to the Parousia (the 2nd coming) of the Son of Man. Concluding this broader section (vv. 4–28) is this thought: Do not be too eager for Christ’s coming, or you will be deceived by false claimants (24:23–26). When he comes, his coming will be unmistakable (v. 27), in God’s own time (v. 28)—a time when the world will be ripe for judgment (Zahn; see on v. 6).D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 504.ClosingHis coming will be unmistakable.How are we to live in light of Jesus’ words in this section of Matthew 24?We are to live expectantly...looking for Chrit’s returnwe are to live on alert…for false Christ’s…false teachings…today we call it misinformation…which has always and will always be with us...And we are to live unmistakably hopeful lives in the midst of chaos…in perilus times we are to rooted in Christ…knowing that his return is drawing nearer every day.When we see certain signs of the end times…that we most certainly see in our day…especailly with the gathering nations surrounding Israel…Russia, Persia (Iran) and China…we know that one day the world will attack Israel and only God himself will be able to stop them...We are not to be shocked…or scared…because the Lord Jesus has lovingly prepared us…Let us get on with our lives…in living out and preaching the good news of the kingdom of God…until the end comes!Thanks be to God…AMEN. Matthew 24:1–2ESV
Matthew 24:12–14ESV
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