WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.400 So, we spend a lot of our time thinking forward, thinking about the future, as I was mentioning 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:12.759 to the children earlier. 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:20.679 I think we're, in many ways, we're fascinated with the future, what is still to come, sometimes 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:29.960 on a cosmic level, increasingly today with a conspiracy angle, but maybe also on a personal 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:30.960 level. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.079 We think about our own lives and our own futures. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:35.600 What's my future going to be like? 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:37.200 Who's my future going to be with? 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:38.280 What am I going to do? 00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:39.799 What is it going to be like? 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:47.120 And we recognize there's a degree of mystery with that, sometimes within as great hope, 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:50.079 but also fear. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:55.000 And all of these emotions we sense when we're thinking about the future. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:59.719 And I think particularly if you get older, maybe you're thinking, and I'm thinking more 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:05.239 about the future and what our future holds, and how our future, or how our life will end, 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:07.959 we think about that more and more. 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:14.239 And as I was saying to the kids, I think there's generally two emotions that go alongside our 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:17.640 thinking of the future or the end of anything. 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:22.840 And one is anticipation, and the other is dread. 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.159 So very often we anticipate the end of something. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:35.120 I've mentioned, I think here, or at some place then, I've mentioned the TV film, you 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.519 get it as an app, the chosen about the life of Jesus. 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:44.359 And it's a great film that speaks about, or a great series that's speaking about Jesus. 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:47.879 And you can pay it forward. 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.959 You can pay them money so that they can produce more episodes that will take us right to the 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:52.959 end of Jesus' life. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:57.879 There's a sense of thinking it forward and praying it forward, and there's an anticipation. 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:01.359 Maybe already you're anticipating the end of the sermon. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:05.280 Maybe it's COVID, and we're thinking about, wouldn't it be great when it ends and finishes 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:06.719 and we get back to normal? 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:12.120 Or much more simply, if a night shift or a week of hard studies. 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:16.919 And there can be longing, and there can be dreaming and excitement and anticipation, thinking 00:02:16.919 --> 00:02:21.240 forward about the end of something. 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:24.320 But also we know there can be dread, obviously. 00:02:24.320 --> 00:02:30.520 A human level dread coming to the end of maybe a holiday that you've waited for so long to 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:31.520 enjoy. 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:36.840 Dread, your contract at work being terminated and coming to an end. 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:44.719 In relationships, in marriage, the dread of that relationship, that bond being broken, 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:48.000 particularly in death and the dread of that. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.039 And these things can fill us with dread. 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:56.879 I don't think anyone simply lives for the moment. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:01.599 I think we are hardwired to consider the future. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:05.159 There's a relentless looking ahead in our lives. 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:08.360 And we're all aware that there's an end zone. 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:09.360 We're always aware. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:12.719 We sometimes push it to the back of our minds, but we're aware of an end zone. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:17.000 We're aware of a finishing line, even maybe not so much the younger people here, but we 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:18.879 are aware of these things. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:21.560 We know that nothing stays the same. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:25.080 And we know that what lies ahead is either good or bad for us. 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:28.080 It's a delight or a dread. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.759 Our life, this world, is finite. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:32.960 We know that. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:34.199 We know that spiritually. 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:36.560 We also know that scientifically. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:37.560 Nothing goes on forever. 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:41.639 I'm afraid the traveling willbodies got it all wrong in that great song that they had, 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:45.400 the road goes on forever and the party never ends. 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:49.640 It's a great song, great chorus, but a lousy sentiment. 00:03:49.640 --> 00:03:52.240 It's absolutely not the case. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:58.000 So when we recognize this and we see this in our lives, how is Jesus here speaking into 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:03.159 the inevitability of this truth, that there is an end, that there is a future, that history 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:04.159 is linear? 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:07.439 How does He speak into that truth here? 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:11.879 And it's very powerful the way He does so. 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:15.460 Because He knows the path that history takes. 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:18.800 He knows and He understands the path history takes. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:26.120 And He speaks in prophetic terms towards that in this chapter, this chapter 24 of Jesus. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:32.000 It's part of three chapters where He's speaking about really the end of time and what that 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:34.000 will involve. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:39.800 Now, I confess, right at the beginning of the sermon, I don't have all the answers to 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:40.920 this chapter. 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:43.360 This is a complex chapter. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.640 He knows, I don't. 00:04:46.640 --> 00:04:51.360 But He is speaking confidently and with authority. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.520 There are elements to this chapter that are clear and undoubted. 00:04:56.520 --> 00:05:01.680 There are other elements that are difficult and challenging and there's not great consensus 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:06.800 on exactly how they will work themselves out in the future. 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:14.600 But Jesus is reminding us here that He is in the center of history. 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:19.639 And He is confident of what is happening and what is going to happen and what will happen 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:22.120 because He is critical to it. 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:24.360 He's critical to its outworking. 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:30.519 And He's critical to our understanding, both of our own lives and of the history of this 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:31.519 world. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:39.479 What he means is that He is at the center of a linear reality of history where as He 00:05:39.479 --> 00:05:44.879 prophesies here, He is speaking into that. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:49.799 And the chapter, the language of the chapter is apocalyptic. 00:05:49.799 --> 00:05:58.719 It accords with different types of apocalyptic literature in the Bible, both towards the 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:03.640 end of the Bible and revelation, which is really lots and lots of symbols and pictures 00:06:03.640 --> 00:06:05.640 depicting different truths. 00:06:05.640 --> 00:06:11.080 And also some of the Old Testament apocalyptic prophetic writings looking forward, whether 00:06:11.080 --> 00:06:15.360 it's in Isaiah or Daniel or Joel or Zechariah and Haggai. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:22.160 And I think that genre of language is difficult for us, is difficult to translate, it's difficult 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:27.080 for us fully to understand and I think the rules of language sometimes are different 00:06:27.080 --> 00:06:28.480 within it. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:35.960 But what is happening in this chapter is as Jesus looks forward, as He prophesies towards 00:06:35.960 --> 00:06:42.920 the end, there are two prophecies fusing into one, two prophecies coming together. 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.280 I'll say a little bit more about them later. 00:06:45.280 --> 00:06:50.480 And one of them, one of the prophecies is going to happen quite soon in Jesus' life 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:54.879 and according to, nearest according to Jesus' lifetime. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:07:00.079 And then the second prophecy is about the end of history, the end of time. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.199 And one of them anticipates the other. 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:05.680 So the first one which He speaks about, I'll say more about it in a minute in more detail, 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:11.439 is the destruction of Jerusalem which He's anticipating in AD 70, which was a horrific 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:14.439 event in the history of the world. 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:20.519 And the second prophecy is the end of the age, the second coming of Jesus. 00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:26.719 And in a sense, the destruction of Jerusalem is a cameo, a picture of the second greater 00:07:26.719 --> 00:07:28.799 destruction and the end of the world. 00:07:28.799 --> 00:07:33.919 It foreshadows, it's almost like the end of the world is a second wave, we've talked 00:07:33.919 --> 00:07:36.079 a lot about second waves just now. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:40.839 And in this case, it's much more dramatic and much more serious. 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:49.000 And theologians speak about this as, I hope I'll explain what I mean, a prophetic foreshortening. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:53.600 So any of you, if you're hill climbers here, if you bag them in rows, you'll know what 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:54.600 I mean. 00:07:54.600 --> 00:08:01.319 Because if you're walking towards, maybe walking at ground level or at the bottom of 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:07.160 the hill and you see your summit, but you also see a summit before it and you say, oh, 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:10.839 I'll forget to that summit, that's great, I'll just about be at the top. 00:08:10.839 --> 00:08:11.839 And I'll just about there. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:13.720 They both look like they're exactly close. 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:18.519 And so you move forward quite confidently and you climb and you climb and you eventually 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:21.519 get to the very top of that summit. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:28.399 And there's a huge long valley or glen going way down and then way up again before you 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:30.479 can reach the second summit. 00:08:30.479 --> 00:08:34.120 So from far away, these summits look like they're just together, absolutely in the same 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:35.620 place. 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:39.079 But as you climb the first one, you realize there's quite a great distance before you 00:08:39.079 --> 00:08:43.399 have to go down and up before you reach the second summit. 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:45.439 Visual foreshortening, in other words. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:49.600 And really that's what's happening here is that Jesus is looking forward and he's presenting 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.640 two events in history and it's almost like they fuse together and they're in the same 00:08:53.640 --> 00:08:54.640 place. 00:08:54.640 --> 00:08:59.400 But as time is revealed, there is a great distance between the two. 00:08:59.400 --> 00:09:05.000 So he's setting out the trajectory here, the path, the direction, the end game, the end 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:06.000 of the line. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:11.600 And it's interesting, it gives it here because it's in the context of his own earthly life 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:13.040 coming to an end. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:18.039 Or just about at the end of Jesus' life here, and he's intensely recognizing and thinking 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:21.279 about that, life like no other. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.799 And it's the anchor on which he's grounding his word. 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:31.319 What I'm about to experience, he says, has great relevance to what happens in AD 70 and 00:09:31.319 --> 00:09:34.759 then what will happen at the end of time. 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:40.919 And it's provoked by the disciples in verse 1 pointing out the buildings of the temple. 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:43.120 Verse 1, look at them. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:49.120 And I wonder whether Jesus then immediately thought of John chapter 2 and verse 19 where 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:55.639 he says in another gospel, destroy the temple and in three days I will raise it up. 00:09:55.639 --> 00:10:01.799 Where he links the destruction of the temple which is going to happen with his own body 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:04.000 and with his own death and resurrection. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:09.079 And he goes on, say, truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another 00:10:09.079 --> 00:10:10.079 that will not be thrown down. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:17.840 And he's speaking, introducing there a prophecy about the end of the temple, the destruction 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.840 of Jerusalem in AD 70. 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:29.600 And really I think primarily that's dealt with in verses 15 to 28 where he talks about 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:35.600 the abomination of desolation spoken of the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:37.480 linking the holy place with the temple. 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:41.159 And then goes on to say what a terrible time it will be for pregnant mothers if you're 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:43.879 trying to flee this city, don't go in winter. 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.320 And he goes on to say all these things that it will be a terrible time but it was shortened 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:49.920 for the sake of the elect. 00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:58.159 And that seems almost entirely to be related to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:04.920 Four years before that destruction the Roman powers, the Roman authorities, the Roman soldiers, 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:08.120 the Roman army, they besieged Jerusalem. 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:11.519 Jerusalem and the Jewish people were becoming a thorn in their side so they wanted their 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:13.039 destruction. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.799 And so they besieged Jerusalem and it was a brutal siege. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:25.559 And there was really determined opposition to it from the Jewish freedom fighters within 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:27.879 Jerusalem. 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:40.159 And Jesus says in verse 33 as well, sorry verse 34, truly I say to you this generation 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:43.240 will not pass away until all these things take place. 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:48.039 So he's speaking to a generation who would know and would experience for the most part 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:52.759 this terrible destruction, the Roman emperor Titus. 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:56.360 He destroyed Jerusalem. 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:57.639 He destroyed its walls. 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:01.240 He stood like the abomination of desolation. 00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:05.440 He stood in the holy place himself with the destruction of the temple around him and claimed 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:06.519 himself to be God. 00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:08.019 It was carnage. 00:12:08.019 --> 00:12:09.800 A million Jews were killed. 00:12:09.800 --> 00:12:11.919 Hundred thousand were taken captive. 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:13.360 There was desperate starvation. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:14.800 There was cannibalism. 00:12:14.800 --> 00:12:19.600 And in around that whole time there was false Christ saying come to us, we'll let you escape 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.080 but we're the Messiah. 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:23.879 And it was apocalyptic. 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:28.559 Even some of the Roman historians of the time thought it was the end of the world. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:33.919 And yet Jesus is saying the destruction of Jerusalem is the end of an era. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:35.559 It's the end of a civilization. 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:37.240 It's the end of a culture. 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:42.080 But at four shadows, just like my death, just like your death and every other death, at 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:47.919 four shadows a greater, more final end. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:48.919 And that's the message. 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:50.639 He's pointing forward. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:57.399 He's pointing forward through prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem to a greater 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:00.759 and more terrible end event. 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:07.519 Now there may be multiple semi apocalyptic fulfillments like World War I or World War 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:14.639 II, where there is endings, where there is the destruction of cultures and of nations. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:16.720 But foreshadowing, what's foreshadowing? 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.240 The end of time. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:23.240 And really from verse 36 forward, and I'm kind of cutting it in neatly, I'm chopping 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:24.240 up neatly. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.120 It's not quite so neat in the chapter. 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.560 There are bits that seem to overlap and fuse. 00:13:28.560 --> 00:13:33.279 But roughly from verse 36 onwards, we have Jesus speaking about the end of time. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:38.560 You know, concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the Father, not even the 00:13:38.560 --> 00:13:41.399 angels in heaven nor the Son, but the Father only. 00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:46.639 And he goes on to speak about the return of the Son of man. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:50.960 Or you must also be ready in verse 44 for the Son of man is coming an hour you do not 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:52.799 expect. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:14:00.240 And what he's encouraging us to do today, he's saying, he's encouraging us to look at 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:05.559 the Bible and say, okay, the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus came true. 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:08.679 Jesus' own prophecy of his own death that he's been making recently that I will die 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:10.159 and in the third day be raised again. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:11.159 It came true. 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:17.879 AD 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem, it came true, and he's saying, therefore, listen 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:23.079 to what I have to say about the end of time, about the linear nature of history, and that 00:14:23.079 --> 00:14:27.639 history is his story. 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:29.839 And we are part of that. 00:14:29.839 --> 00:14:31.279 History is not cyclical. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:33.519 We're not coming back as frogs. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:35.439 It's going somewhere. 00:14:35.439 --> 00:14:37.480 And it's ending as it's begun. 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:38.759 It's not random. 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:41.000 And it's not yet to be decided. 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.799 It's not simply that it's finite and it will run out of steam and it will die a natural 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:46.840 death far from it. 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:52.600 In God's time, in God's way, we know that Jesus Christ is returning. 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:57.720 So that everything that we are experiencing now, all of our lives, everything that we 00:14:57.720 --> 00:15:01.080 know is coming to an end. 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:03.279 It will pass away as he says. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:06.679 Heaven and earth, he says, will pass away. 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:10.919 And he's reminding us of where our priorities lie. 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:13.079 So there's a definite point. 00:15:13.079 --> 00:15:17.319 There's a definite point if we look at verse 35, where heaven and earth will pass away, 00:15:17.319 --> 00:15:19.399 but my words will not pass away. 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:22.799 And again in verse 44, that the Son of Man is coming. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:29.199 There's a day, the rest of the word tells us a day of judgment, where every evil, where 00:15:29.199 --> 00:15:35.919 every injustice you face, where every brutality, where all unbelief, rejection of God, where 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:41.759 every act of greed and ugliness, betrayal, lies, lovelessness, selfishness, every sinful 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:53.959 thought that was ever imagined will come before God's justice. 00:15:53.959 --> 00:15:58.919 Nothing will be unaccounted for, not the least, not the greatest sin. 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:04.719 And it will stand before His perfect standard of pure and unspoiled love. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:12.120 And that day will be a day where He declares us innocent, covered in the righteousness 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:20.800 of Jesus, or guilty as we have rejected or ignored Jesus as Lord and Savior. 00:16:20.800 --> 00:16:23.960 Christ is saying, look, I'm here. 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:26.360 I'm not dying just randomly. 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:27.960 I'm dying in your place. 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:29.440 I'm dying for you. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.879 I'm dying because I'm the rescuer. 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:36.720 And I'm saying, if you put your trust in me, that last day isn't a day of dread. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:41.320 It's a day of anticipation because of who He is. 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:43.480 And He's reminding us of that. 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:47.200 And He has the authority to do so. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:49.240 And He wants people to consider Him. 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:51.200 Otherwise, it's the end of hope. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:54.759 There's life only through Him. 00:16:54.759 --> 00:17:03.720 But last day, He introduces eternal darkness, acknowledged guilt, and no place in His restored 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:04.720 universe. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:09.720 See a little bit more about that next week, because the chapter carries on to speak about 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:10.920 that. 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:17.200 So Christ is the one who's speaking here, and He's speaking of His return as judge, 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:23.359 not as Savior, comes once as Savior, returns as judge, not in humiliation, but in glory. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:26.359 And He reminds us that that is a day of reckoning. 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:30.439 In John chapter 5 and 22, He speaks about that as well. 00:17:30.439 --> 00:17:35.319 You know, the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son. 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:40.399 So because of what Jesus has done, He's given that place of judgment. 00:17:40.399 --> 00:17:42.079 And that's good, isn't it? 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:43.079 That's good. 00:17:43.079 --> 00:17:44.519 We all call for a day of judgment. 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:46.859 We all call for vindication. 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:49.319 We all call for every wrong thing to be put right. 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:51.479 We need that, don't we? 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:58.240 We need that reality that wrongdoing and evil will not get away with it. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.559 But we also need to include ourselves in that and recognize that our wrongdoing and our 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:09.519 evil can only be dealt with by trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:13.559 Now that's a truth that is really significant and really important, but it's often, I think, 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:15.799 a truth that we don't want to hear. 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:20.519 And certainly many of our friends who maybe are not Christians and we long to see as Christians, 00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:22.359 maybe they don't want to hear. 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:28.480 It reminds me very much of, in a completely different context, certainly, of a glorious 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:30.000 scene from a... 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:37.359 Probably one of the best cinematic scenes of all time, certainly in my limited understanding. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:43.960 But it's Colonel Nathan R. Jessup who is played by Jack Nicholson in the film, A Few Good 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:52.400 Men, and he's on trial for something that's happening at Wantanimo Bay, and he's a soldier 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.200 in the American Army. 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:55.200 And he's... 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:01.440 Tom Cruise challenges him to make a confession and challenges him about the truth. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:02.440 And he says, you don't... 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:04.319 You can't handle the truth. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:09.440 You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about it, parties, 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:11.440 you want me on that wall. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:13.440 You need me on that wall. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:14.440 It's just... 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.680 It's a magnificent piece of acting. 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:22.240 And he's speaking just about the fact that so often we shy away from the truth because 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.039 it's uncomfortable and it's... 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:27.640 And he's saying, now I know that it's a completely different context. 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:32.640 But isn't that often the way that it's truth we don't want to talk about? 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:33.640 It's truth... 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:36.500 Yes, we want someone to judge. 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:38.519 We want someone in that place to judge. 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:41.320 But judging everyone else, not me. 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:44.359 It's uncomfortable truth for ourselves. 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:49.159 And we need to ask the question, is it truth you can't handle? 00:19:49.159 --> 00:19:52.240 Is it truth you just avoid? 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:57.720 It's truth that brings us to Jesus Christ. 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.319 So he speaks about the end of time. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:02.599 What are we to do then? 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:06.200 What are we to do with what Christ says? 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:07.839 And we can't simply just... 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:10.000 I don't want you to brush it aside. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:13.519 I don't want you to think, well, that's fine for another day. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.720 Please consider the living Word of God. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.279 Verse 35 helps us to understand. 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:20.599 I hope you can take a closer look at this chart. 00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:25.799 I haven't gone into a great detail in this 25 minutes we have together. 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:28.279 Verse 35 says, heaven and earth will pass away. 00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:30.720 Okay, that's really the theme. 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:33.160 But my words will not pass away. 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:36.480 So do we recognize the significance here of Jesus' words? 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.279 Who is the authority to say these things? 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:48.079 Who could say something like this without being a complete madman or the living God? 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.360 Who knows the end from the beginning? 00:20:50.360 --> 00:20:57.319 You know, what sense is Jesus saying this if He's about to be nailed and crucified to 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:00.000 a tree unless that has significance? 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.079 What is it that you think about Jesus Christ? 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:08.519 It all boils down to that in your life and in mine, is He trustworthy? 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:12.480 Is what He says worth considering? 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:16.399 Can you find fault with Him or with what He says? 00:21:16.399 --> 00:21:20.919 What do you do with what has already been fulfilled in Scripture? 00:21:20.919 --> 00:21:28.720 Clearly spoken before its time and clearly fulfilled in a detailed way. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:34.279 What are you doing with the challenges that Jesus puts before us here about the linear 00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:40.720 nature of history and the bigger picture which impacts all our lives because we aren't guaranteed 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:46.839 tomorrow, even though we may think we are. 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:52.799 So He says, you know, way my words, you know, they're really way too... 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:53.799 Who are we listening to? 00:21:53.799 --> 00:22:00.240 Are we listening to the transient words of people who are part of this heaven and earth 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.599 that will pass away? 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.879 Or are we listening to the eternal words of Jesus? 00:22:04.879 --> 00:22:08.799 And in verse 4, right at the beginning when He's speaking to the disciples, He says, you 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:16.960 know, don't be led astray or don't be deceived. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:22.519 You don't drift far, really, the idea that picture is not drifting far from the reality 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:23.839 that He's spoken about. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:24.839 Don't... 00:22:24.839 --> 00:22:31.240 You see, don't build your hope on other things apart from me and my Word and my grace and 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:33.799 my relationship with me. 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:37.920 You know, we can either, I guess, with regard to the future, we can have a naive optimism. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:43.400 We can leave and skip out the building and say, hey, everything's going to be fine. 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:53.080 Or sometimes we can have a fatalistic kind of descent into nothingness about the future 00:22:53.080 --> 00:22:56.320 and not hope and be rather despairing. 00:22:56.320 --> 00:23:00.560 But He says, don't drift in either of these directions, but rather listen to Christ, look 00:23:00.560 --> 00:23:06.880 to Christ and remember His great love and desire for us. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:13.000 Even this passage, even for the Jewish people who listened and who heard this passage, it 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:14.559 was a warning. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:17.720 He talks about fleeing from the wrath that is to come. 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:23.119 And that initially spoke about the destruction of Jerusalem and it was... 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:30.079 There is at least some evidence that many of the Christians who knew of this prophecy 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:38.279 did leave Jerusalem before its destruction in the 80s, 70. 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:39.380 Don't be deceived. 00:23:39.380 --> 00:23:41.880 These are the warnings of love. 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:46.920 Things given with grace and with open arms so that we live our lives the right way. 00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:47.920 So how does it... 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.720 Okay, we don't be deceived and recognize the words of Jesus. 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:56.160 On a day-to-day basis, what does it mean for us as Christians? 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:04.000 Well, verse 42, He speaks about a response and He says, therefore, stay awake for you 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.920 do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:08.920 Stay awake. 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:11.760 Colossians 4 verse 2 has the saying. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:18.319 And it's teaching right through the New Testament, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:20.720 in it with thanksgiving. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.879 So He's saying keep watch spiritually. 00:24:22.879 --> 00:24:27.879 If you're a Christian, if you're 10, if you're 20, if you've been a Christian for 50 years 00:24:27.879 --> 00:24:34.879 or five minutes, He says, you have grace and the power of the spirit in us enables us to 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:41.920 be spiritually alert and to depend on Him on a daily basis. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:48.080 You know, we're in a winter, right through, you know, whether it's a winter of discontent, 00:24:48.080 --> 00:24:56.360 it's a winter of a pandemic, but like a broader level life, we're in the... in many ways, we're 00:24:56.360 --> 00:24:59.200 in winter. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:00.200 And it's tough times. 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:07.759 It's tribulation as He speaks about here, but His birth pains, He says in verse 6, because 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:10.680 there's something coming at the end of it. 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:17.360 And we have to live through this short time where we battle with difficulties and sadness 00:25:17.360 --> 00:25:25.759 and sometimes persecution as Christians and remember that there's something else. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:32.720 Seeing God loving one another is hugely significant. 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:37.680 If we're living as if this is all there is, you're pouring your energy, your gifts, your 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:41.640 talents and your love into things that are passing away. 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:49.480 It's not saying we ignore these things, but we just recognize them in the right perspective. 00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:57.000 And if you're hoping in anything other than Jesus for meaning and identity and direction 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:05.000 and hope and life, then you're relying on something that can never take you beyond the 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.720 grave, that never lasts further than this life. 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:16.920 And so He asks us to watch, to be alert, to remember this is a difficult time. 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:18.299 It's not easy. 00:26:18.299 --> 00:26:19.579 We need Him. 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:20.579 We need prayer. 00:26:20.579 --> 00:26:21.579 We need one another. 00:26:21.579 --> 00:26:22.579 We need worship. 00:26:22.579 --> 00:26:23.859 We need the Holy Spirit. 00:26:23.859 --> 00:26:27.839 We need, as He says in verse 13, to persevere. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:35.200 It's tremendously significant to endure to the end and then we will be saved and to know 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:38.599 that endurance. 00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:43.839 So in many ways when you first read that, it's a bleak chapter, isn't it? 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:48.659 And it's a difficult chapter and there seems to be confusion and things that don't necessarily 00:26:48.659 --> 00:26:50.859 fit into a timescale. 00:26:50.859 --> 00:26:53.139 And there's no getting away from that. 00:26:53.139 --> 00:26:56.899 But can I remind you of a beautiful three words that are in it as well? 00:26:56.899 --> 00:27:01.500 I mean, it's all beautiful in its own way. 00:27:01.500 --> 00:27:07.859 Verse 32, the last three words of verse 32, summer is near. 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:09.699 In many ways it's a chapter of judgment. 00:27:09.700 --> 00:27:14.420 It is a chapter of judgment and there's a bleakness and a kind of a heaviness to it as well because 00:27:14.420 --> 00:27:15.420 of that. 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:21.140 But aren't the beautiful words, summer, Jesus says, He's going to the cross. 00:27:21.140 --> 00:27:24.180 He's going to face the power of darkness and hell and death and the grave and the wrath 00:27:24.180 --> 00:27:25.180 of God. 00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:28.580 And He says still, look, summer is near. 00:27:28.580 --> 00:27:29.819 It's a glimpse. 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:36.740 It's a glimpse that He's speaking in the context of rescue and of provision and of hope and 00:27:36.740 --> 00:27:38.240 of love. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:40.579 He's saying, I know this is winter. 00:27:40.579 --> 00:27:42.019 I know this is bleak. 00:27:42.019 --> 00:27:43.180 I know it's difficult. 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:44.779 There's no doubt about it. 00:27:44.779 --> 00:27:52.380 But He's saying summer is coming and it's not going to be a Scottish summer. 00:27:52.380 --> 00:27:53.620 Summer is coming, He says. 00:27:53.620 --> 00:28:05.579 In Him, He says even now, the greatest of days, it's going to be nothing compared to 00:28:05.579 --> 00:28:07.019 what's to come. 00:28:07.019 --> 00:28:11.299 And we saw the end coming, we can anticipate. 00:28:11.299 --> 00:28:16.299 You know what it's like in Scotland on a beautiful winter's day. 00:28:16.299 --> 00:28:21.740 And there are some really beautiful winter's day, but it's crisp and it's cold, but it's 00:28:21.740 --> 00:28:25.259 really sunny and it's a beautiful blue sky. 00:28:25.259 --> 00:28:31.059 And you can wrap up and you can almost feel the warmth in the sun. 00:28:31.059 --> 00:28:37.299 And it anticipates, if you find a sheltered spot, it can almost feel warm. 00:28:37.299 --> 00:28:40.019 Well, Jesus is saying, oh, it's winter time. 00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:47.659 If you find your sheltered spot in me, you'll begin to feel the warmth of what lies ahead. 00:28:47.659 --> 00:28:52.899 Something beautiful, something that will not fill you with dread but will fill you with 00:28:52.899 --> 00:28:53.899 anticipation. 00:28:53.899 --> 00:28:57.619 The future holds dread for a lot of people. 00:28:57.619 --> 00:29:01.899 But in Christ, it can be an anticipation because summer is near. 00:29:01.899 --> 00:29:08.779 And I would implore us all to consider that challenging truth from Jesus very powerfully 00:29:08.779 --> 00:29:09.779 in our own lives. 00:29:09.779 --> 00:29:11.339 Let's pray together. 00:29:11.339 --> 00:29:17.979 Father God, we ask and pray that You would help us to understand the complexity of this 00:29:17.979 --> 00:29:27.259 world, the reality that sometimes things are just out of sync, that things are broken, 00:29:27.259 --> 00:29:31.539 things are upside down, things are not as we would wish them to be. 00:29:31.539 --> 00:29:40.019 And even our longings seem to have so many misguided and selfish and misdirected ambitions. 00:29:40.019 --> 00:29:46.619 And Lord, we know that only You can put that right in Christ, can redeem and rescue and 00:29:46.619 --> 00:29:54.299 re-birth us so that we are living as we were intended to live facing Jesus, dealing with 00:29:54.299 --> 00:29:57.019 all that would separate us from You. 00:29:57.019 --> 00:30:02.859 And help us to persevere, help us to run and find shelter in You so that we might feel 00:30:02.859 --> 00:30:08.099 the warmth of Your grace even in the wintertime of this life. 00:30:08.099 --> 00:30:16.220 And enjoy and celebrate and think forward to the last great day, not with dread but with 00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:17.220 anticipation. 00:30:17.220 --> 00:30:25.339 And Lord, for any who take up this message, who hear the sermon maybe, who just plug online 00:30:25.339 --> 00:30:29.819 maybe for whatever reason, who maybe never even listened before or who've listened many 00:30:29.819 --> 00:30:36.659 times before but have never been challenged by the relevance of the gospel to their lives 00:30:36.659 --> 00:30:42.099 and to their future, may this be a day when You bring people to know Yourself and Your 00:30:42.099 --> 00:30:49.099 grace and love as they run to You for rescue, for forgiveness, for hope and for a future. 00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:51.579 We ask it in Your precious name. 00:30:51.579 --> 00:30:55.579 Amen.