The Concealed Time of the Second Coming

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides three linguistic reasons from the Greek text to prove that Mark 13:32 refers to the Second Coming: the contrasting particle 'but,' the strong demonstrative pronoun…

Martin uses examples like 'do you expect me to eat that?' and 'me like that guy?' to explain what a demonstrative pronoun is and how it points out something emphatically.

But there is a strong intimation that a contrasting event with contrasting circumstances is now to be introduced. Then the second reason I'm convinced that our Lord is speaking about His own second coming, beginning with verse 32, is the presence of a strong demonstrative pronoun by which the event is isolated and identified. A strong demonstrative pronoun by which the event is isolated and identified. You say, Pastor, what in the world is a demonstrative pronoun? Well, it is a pronoun which points out someone or something. We use it all the time, you kids. Maybe one of your buddies has you ov...

16:11 - 17:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin provides three linguistic reasons from the Greek text to prove that Mark 13:32 refers to the Second Coming: the contrasting particle 'but,' the strong demonstrative pronoun…

Martin speculates that Jesus, as a master preacher, might have used hand gestures, pointing towards Jerusalem for its destruction and then pointing 'far out' for His Second Coming, to visually emphasize the transition in His discourse.

But of that day or the hour. You see, our Lord very clearly is putting an emphasis upon something other than the circumstances of the near impending judgment upon Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. And could it be, and I only offer this as a question, that since our Lord was the master preacher, and any preacher worth his weight in salt, not only uses his voice and his eyes to preach, but all of his humanity and engages what is technically called his paralinguistics, his hands and eyes in preaching, could it be that what our Lord was doing was something like this? Having described th...

17:57 - 19:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin amplifies the concealment by specifying three categories of beings who do not know the time: angels in heaven, apostles on earth, and even the Son Himself, emphasizing the…

Martin uses the analogy of an angel's appointment book to humorously illustrate that even angels, despite their crucial role in the Second Coming, do not have the date written down, reinforcing the idea of concealed timing.

He shall send forth His angels to gather His elect. And according to Matthew 13, the angels will also gather out the wicked. And as they would bind the tares in a harvest so they will be bound and they will be cast into the fire, who then more likely among non-humans to know the day of the Lord's return than angels? Pure, sinless spirits near to the throne of God, waiting for the slightest glance of God's eye to leap to immediate obedience in performing their divinely established errands. They will form the great entourage of the returning Lord in order to gather out His elect. Surely they mus...

30:44 - 31:56 Read in full sermon

Driving home: God would rather give skeptics and heretics fuel in a text like this with which to consume themselves in their own arrogance and self deception than rob the believing community of God's people from the knowledge that the…

Martin states that God would rather give skeptics fuel for their arrogance by recording Christ's 'I do not know' statement than rob believers of the knowledge that their servant is God, highlighting the preciousness of Christ's servanthood.

In a little while as we've already alluded he will agonize in Gethsemane and one of his own faith in him. And dear children of God listen to me this hit me with such tremendous force the other day. God would rather give skeptics and heretics fuel in a text like this with which to consume themselves in their own arrogance and self deception than rob the believing community of God's people from the knowledge that their servant is God. Oh dear people what a picture of the assumed servanthood of our Lord. He becomes willingly ignorant even of an event in which he has such tremendous interest. In h...

54:01 - 55:11 Read in full sermon

The point: If any of you follow such movements, it's not because you weren't warned, my hands are clean. I've warned you. That's part of my task as a shepherd, to warn you.

Martin references Delamore's book on Edward Irving, a forerunner of the charismatic movement, as an example of the tragic spiritual results of date-setting movements.

And I warn you because in every age you've had your date-setters and your date-setting movements. And the dates have come and gone and the men in the movements with them. And if you want your heart to be broken, read Delamore's book on Edward Irving, forerunner of the charismatic movement, and you'll weep. Read of the movements.

64:27 - 64:55 Read in full sermon