The Nearness of Jerusalem’s Destruction

Introduction to the Olivet Discourse and its Structure

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, June 12, 1988, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn together to the Gospel of Mark and the 13th chapter, Mark chapter 13,

0:31 and I shall read in your hearing verses 28 through 37. Mark 13, beginning the reading at verse 28. Now from the fig tree learn her parable. When her branch is now become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is nigh, even so also when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is nigh even at the doors.

1:10 Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass. They shall not pass away until all these things be accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

1:30 But of that day or that hour knows no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take heed, watch and pray. For you know not when the time is. It is as when a man sojourning in another country, having left his house and given authority to his servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch.

2:05 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the Lord of the house comes, whether at even or at midnight or at cockcrowing or in the morning. Let us pray. Blessed coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch.

2:33 Now let us again pray and ask the blessing of God upon the ministry of the word as we seek together to know the mind of God as found in the portion that we will study together. Let us pray. Our Father, we are conscious as we come. We come to study your word that we stand in present and desperate need of the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit.

3:05 We pray with the psalmist, open our eyes, undress our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of your law. We pray that you will subdue all idle curiosity concerning future things. Give us a heart that longs to know what we need to know, that we may be what we ought to be. Give us a sight of our Lord Jesus in the glory of his person and in the certainty and changelessness of his own word.

3:44 May our hearts be confronted with him in the ministry of the word this morning. Hear us as we plead these mercies in his name. In our expositions of the Gospel of Mark, we come this morning to begin our study of the last section of the Olivet Discourse as given to us by the Holy Spirit through the pen of John Mark. Now, as we come to this section, bounded by verses 28 and 37, let me remind you briefly of the overall structure of this chapter. The Olivet Discourse began in the setting described in verses 1 through 4. Our Lord leaves the temple area with his disciples, makes his way out to the slopes of the Mount of Olives, and having said on the way that there is not one stone that shall not be thrown down in the temple, the disciples come to him with the question, When shall these things be? When shall all these things be accomplished?

5:06 More fully in the language of Matthew, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age? Well, in response to that, our Lord focuses upon two great epical events in the history of redemption. And the Olivet Discourse focuses upon event number one, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. And then the second advent, or the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

5:41 In verses 5 through 13, our Lord underscores the things that will characterize the entirety of the interadvental period. When they ask what will be the sign of your coming, his response is, these things are not the sign of my coming. These things will characterize the end of the age. the entire age from the very moment that our Lord spoke until the second advent. There will be religious deception, verses 5 and 6. International tension, verses 7 through 8a. There will be natural disruptions and physical disasters, 8b. And then there will be intensive opposition to the gospel and to those who propagate it, verses 9 to 13. But our Lord says in the face of these

6:37 things that will characterize the entire age, his people are not to be shaken. In the face of deception, he says, do not be led astray. In the face of international tension and natural disasters, he says, do not be troubled, verse 7. And in the face of opposition to the gospel, he says, don't be anxious and don't deny your attachment to the gospel. Then in verses 14 to 23, we find our Lord focusing upon one event, namely that event of the destruction of Jerusalem and the overthrowing of the temple. And they were to know that this event was about to transpire, according to verse 14, they would see the abomination of desolation. And according to Luke 21.20, whatever that was, it was found in conjunction with Jerusalem being surrounded by armies.

7:44 And when they saw that, the people of God were to flee to the mountains. They were to flee with a sense of urgency in spite of the difficulties, in the face of the horrible persecution and horrible tribulation that would come, and even in the face of those who would say, you don't need to flee, the Christ is here, the Christ is there. Then in verses 24-27, just as our Lord concentrated on the first event in verses 14-23, so He concentrates upon the second event, His own coming in power and in great glory. So the coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age is the exclusive concentration of verses 24-27. And we noted in our study last week the relative time of His coming after that tribulation. In other words, after the destruction of Jerusalem, then the second. The second advent will occur.

8:55 That's the relative time. How much time between 70 A.D.?

8:59 Well, we know at least almost 2,000 years. How much more time? We do not know. Then He describes the accompaniments of His second advent, these great disruptions in the heavens and in the earth.

9:16 And then the characteristics of His coming. It will be personal, visible, majestic and awesome. And then He concludes with a description of the central activity at His coming. He will gather His elect.

9:30 Now our Lord, you see, has answered their question. When shall these things be? What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age? He answers in verses 7-13 by saying, None of these things are the signs of my coming and of the end of the age.

9:51 Don't let anyone tell you that, wars and rumors of wars are the sign of my coming. These are the beginnings of travail. These things must needs come to pass. Great religious deception, great opposition to the gospel, those are not signs of the end. They are the characteristics of the inter-advental period. Then our Lord, in order to preserve His own, gives them as much as they need to know that would indicate when Jerusalem was about to be destroyed, that they might flee to the mountains. He does not give them so much as to satisfy all idle curiosity, but as much as is necessary to secure their safety. Then, in verses 24 to 27, He says, in essence, the only sign of my second coming will be my coming. For you see, those things connected

10:48 with His coming will be my coming. The second coming are the accompaniments of His coming. When the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars fall from heaven, then they shall see the Son of Man coming in power and in great glory. Now, He's answered their question.

Applying the Teaching: Two Events, Two Responses

11:10 And as a wise preacher and as the shepherd of His people, our Lord now begins to apply the teaching. He is given. And in verses 28 to the end of the chapter, we find our Lord making specific applications to the disciples with reference to these two events. And it's vital to grasp the structure of this closing section. In verses 28 to 31, this is what we have. As to the first event, the destruction of Jerusalem, our Lord is teaching His disciples that that destruction will come very shortly, in fact, within the very lifetime of some of them, and His own infallible Word secures it. That's the fundamental teaching of verses 28 to 31. But now, with reference to that second event, His coming in power and great glory, He says in verse 32, 2. The coming of the Son of Man, don't speculate with regard to the time, no one knows it but

12:28 the Father. Rather than speculate, concentrate on readiness. So that's the substance of this final section. Verses 28 to 31, concentrate on the first event, saying that first event is relatively near at hand.

12:49 It will come to pass in the lifetime of some of you. And if that seems out of the question and unthinkable, you still look upon the temple as an impregnable symbol of stability and indestructibility. No, within your very lifetime, that temple will be destroyed and all that I have prophesied about the destruction of Jerusalem will come to pass and my own infallible word secures it. And with reference to that day, don't speculate about the time because even the sun in his present state of humiliation as to his human understanding does not know the time.

13:34 And if the sun does not know the time, who are you to pry for knowledge that is denied even the sun? No, don't speculate. Rather, be prepared. Be wise.

13:46 Watchful. Be ready. Live in a state of readiness and expectation. Now, as I understand the passage, that's the overall structure of the chapter and the structure of the concluding section.

14:01 Now, this morning we will look only at verses 28 to 31 which apply to the nearness of the destruction of Jerusalem.

The Simple Parable: Learning from the Fig Tree

14:14 And when our Lord addresses this matter of the nearness, the nearness of the destruction of Jerusalem, he does so in terms of three things. First of all, we have a simple parable in verses 28 and 29. Then we have a solemn prophecy in verse 30. And then a sweeping pronouncement in verse 31.

14:38 First of all, then, a simple parable. Note the language of the text. Now, from the fig tree, learn her parable. When her branch has now become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.

14:56 Even so, you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is nigh even at the doors. Now, in this simple parable, we have the imagery employed and then the imagery applied. Our Lord was a good homiletician. You have the imagery employed and then the imagery applied.

15:26 Now, in the imagery employed, our Lord talks about something that his disciples would readily have recognized as a common, almost universally acknowledged fact by anyone living in that area of Palestine. Note what the facts are. Learn, he says, from the fig tree her parable. The fig tree.

15:49 The fig tree is teaching you lessons. They were surrounded by olive trees on the Mount of Olives. He didn't use the olive tree because the olive tree is an evergreen. And our Lord wanted them to learn a lesson from the fig tree.

16:05 That was a tree that, like most of the trees we're familiar with, lost its leaves in the winter and sprouted its leaves in the late spring. So our Lord says, with respect to the fig tree, you have observed something. That when her branch becomes tender and it is literally putting forth its leaves as a process, you know that the summer is near. Now, in the path that I usually use when I run, I'm reminded of this and it came to my mind in my preparation that often there are parts, twigs of trees overhanging the place where I run. And I'm fearful that I might sometime, if I'm concentrating, poke my eye with one of them, or someone a few inches taller than myself might do that, who may run along the same way. So I have a habit of breaking off such twigs. And in the wintertime, when I run in that direction and one of those twigs is there, it's so easy to break it, it's brittle.

17:11 The sap is all drained out of the tree, and though it's a living tree, the twigs are very brittle and you can snap them off. But in the springtime, it's so frustrating. There are times when running by, I go to snap it, and I keep running, and I hold, and I have to stop and go back and tear it off. Why? What happens?

17:29 When the sap comes up through the trunk of the tree and makes its way out into the branches and the twigs, the twigs become supple. They're once again full of sap. And then they begin to bud. And we all look forward with tremendous anticipation to those first little signs of green dotting the trees, that were a dark and lifeless gray throughout the bleak winter months.

17:53 Well, the disciples had observed this with regard to the fig tree, and also with reference to other trees, as we learn from the parallel passage in Luke 21. Now that is the imagery that our Lord applies, and he says to these disciples, You know the lesson that the fig tree is always teaching. When the twigs turn from being brittle to supple, and begin to sprout, without leaves, you are assured that summer is very near. You are able to reason from this fact of the supple twigs and the sprouting leaves, to the proximity and nearness of summer.

18:35 That's the imagery employed. Now look at the imagery applied. Verse 29. Even so, in the same way, you Greek students, houtos,

18:48 in the same way, reasoning from one reality that you can see, to an anticipated reality that you cannot yet see, but you have every reason to expect will come to pass, our Lord says, Even so, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, even literally upon the doors. Now what is he referring to? Well, he is referring, you see, to the things that he has described as characterizing the entire inter-advental period in general, but more specifically, the things described in verses 14 through 23. He is not referring to verses 24 to 27, because, you see, according to verses 24 to 27, when the Lord returns, it is his return that announces his return, and nothing before it. There will be accompaniments to his return. But when the stars begin to fall, and the sun is darkened, and the moon is darkened, we are not to know that his coming is near at hand.

20:13 His coming has arrived. And those events will be, as it were, the entourage and the accompaniments, of his coming. No, tie together in your thinking verse 4. Tell us, when shall these things be?

20:33 Then verse 23, take heed, behold, I told you all things beforehand.

20:43 Now, he says, learn from the fig tree her parable. When her branch is tender and puts forth itself, leaves you know that the summer is near, even so, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, even at the doors. Know that the destruction of Jerusalem is near. When these things come to pass, you have every reason to anticipate that very soon Jerusalem will be destroyed.

21:22 You will see, you will see, you will see, you will see, you will see, you will see, you will see, you will see, you will see, will see the abomination of desolation, the trigger event which will be the signal to flee to the mountains will come to pass. Just as in the springtime, the late spring, when you see that brittle twig becoming supple and putting forth its leaves, you know that summer's near. You can't say full-blown summer will be here in seven days or sixteen days or twenty-three, but there is proximate nearness. Summer is not four, five, six months away.

21:58 Summer is right around the corner. And so our Lord, by this simple parable, sets before His own people, His own disciples, this reminder that they are to keep alert for the very things that He described as indicating the approach of the destruction of Jerusalem. And though some of you may have been taught that, well, this budding of the fig tree applies to Israel returning to the land and becoming a nation because the fig tree is the symbol of Israel in an earlier part of the book, it must be the symbol of Israel here. Well, there's a simple answer to that.

22:41 In Luke chapter 21 and verse 29, notice the language recorded by Luke. Luke 21 and verse 29, He spoke to them a parable, Behold the fig tree and all the trees. When they now shoot forth, you see it and know of your own selves that the summer is now nigh. He said there's nothing special about the fig tree.

23:07 It is a certain class of tree. And what you see in the fig tree and all other trees that shed their leaves in the winter and lose their sap, unlike the evergreens, so there is no special significance. It is symbolically to the fig tree. That is eisegesis, not exegesis.

23:27 That is importing notions into the text, not extracting the meaning out of the text. Well, from this simple parable, our Lord then makes a solemn prophecy. And I trust that as we move through the solemn prophecy, you'll be more convinced of the exposition of the simple parable. Verse 30, Verse 30, Verse 30, Verse 30, Verse 30, Verse 30, Verse 30, Verse 30, Verse 30, Verse 30, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away until all these things be accomplished.

The Solemn Prophecy: 'This Generation Shall Not Pass Away'

24:04 Now, whenever we confront these words from the lips of our Lord, verily, or John's double verily, verily, we are about to hear a peculiarly solemn, authoritative word of Christ. Some commentators call these the, the magisterial sayings of the Lord Jesus. And whenever we find them in Scripture, we ought to give peculiar heed to those words. And in this particular setting, our Lord chose to say to His disciples, Verily I say unto you, I have told you something it may be hard for you to grasp.

24:47 You have pointed out to me the magnificent temple structure. You have, I have particularly focused upon the massive stones, larger than this platform. And I have told you that not one stone shall be left upon another. I have described the circumstances of the siege of Jerusalem, and the coming of the abomination of desolation, which when you see you are to flee to the mountains, for there shall be unprecedented tribulation.

25:18 I know you find this hard to believe and even as I've now given you, I know you find this hard to believe. And even as I've now given you, And even as I've now given you, you a simple parable, as you reason from the supple budding twig to the coming of summer. So when you see these things, know that it is nigh, even upon the doors. To strengthen your faith, I add to my simple parable this most solemn prophecy. Verily I say unto you, here comes a word with unusual solemnity and unusual certainty. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away until all these things be accomplished. Now what does our Lord solemnly prophesy? Well, the word generation normally is used in the gospel.

26:17 It is used to describe the sum total of a certain people within a certain sphere who are living at the same time. And I could demonstrate passage after passage. Jesus says, O faithless generation, this evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And though this is the normal, ordinary usage of the word generation and its primary meaning, you have people who try to force the word into a different significance. Because they have not recognized that Jesus is not speaking of everything that he has spoken about in the preceding discourse, but is referring exclusively to the destruction of Jerusalem, believing commentators have said, well, if generation means the sum total of the people then living, then it is not speaking of everything that he has spoken about in the preceding discourse, but is referring exclusively to the destruction of Jerusalem.

27:17 Then Jesus made a mistake. Because the second advent did not occur in that generation. And if all these things means everything right through verse 27, then Jesus made a mistake. And because they are believing commentators, they will take any option rather than have their Lord make a mistake, and rightly so. So they try to demonstrate that the word generation has a different usage occasionally.

27:46 They demonstrate its usage in certain Old Testament passages when they translated from the Hebrew into Greek. But you see, it is a forcing of the ordinary significance of the word generation, and there is nothing in the context to indicate that such forcing is warranted.

28:06 Unbelieving commentators say, yes, the word generation means just that, the sum total of any group of people living at a given time, and Jesus was just mistaken. Or the early disciples were mistaken. mistaken, and the tradition that ended up in this Olivet discourse reflects their mistaken notion that the second advent was near at hand, and so we have a Bible full of errors. Well, you see, dear people, we don't want either to put a forced meaning on the word of God or to move into the realm of skepticism and unbelief. So how are we to understand the solemn prophecy? This is how we're to understand it. Our Lord has just told them from the simple parable, there are certain things you're going to be able to see. Those things will be, as it were, the announcement that the destruction of Jerusalem is near. When the armies begin to encompass Jerusalem, these are things that will occur over a period of weeks and months. Then there will be something that is a peculiarly

29:13 aggravated abomination that is about to proceed. The desolating judgment of God, when you see that, then flee. And just as you see the supple twig putting forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. When you see those things, you know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation, the sum total of men living at this time, shall not have all died off until... All these things connected with the destruction of Jerusalem shall be accomplished. And so our Lord

29:58 makes this very solemn prophecy that within the lifetime of some of those who were standing there or sitting there that day on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, the destruction of Jerusalem would occur. That they would live to see these generalities of Jerusalem. And so our Lord makes this very solemn prophecy that within the lifetime of some of those who were standing there that within the lifetime of some of those who were standing there N спасa The fundamental characteristics of the Inter-Advental period, religious deception, international tensions, Natural disasters, the progress and opposition of the but they would also see the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, the false messiahs and the Cornell Translation destruction of Jerusalem, and our Lord solemnly prophesied that all of that would come to pass while some of them are living. of them in his presence would still be living. And that's exactly what happened. Within 40 years, it did come to pass. Between 68 and 70 A.D., the horrible destruction of Jerusalem

31:02 did occur in space-time history, and this solemn prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ was literally fulfilled. And then that leads us from the simple parable and the solemn prophecy to see in the third place the sweeping pronouncement, verse 31. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Now what is our Lord doing? Well, I believe again we see him strengthening, but to sing the faith and confidence of his disciples. He's told them things that so unhinged them that they could not conceive of the destruction of the destruction of Jerusalem and the utter overthrow of the temple without equating it with the end of the age and the coming in of the messianic kingdom. That's why they tied them all together in their question. When shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age? Our Lord knew that this was a hard pill for them to swallow.

The Sweeping Pronouncement: The Enduring Word of Christ

32:11 Not one stone shall be left upon another. And that's going to happen in conjunction with something within your own life. And that's going to happen in conjunction with something within your lifetime. It's as though our Lord draws near and puts his arms around them and says, now I know, I know this is hard for you to swallow. You see in your mind's eye, you can even now look and see the sun as it strikes the golden parts of the crest of the temple. And that's the picture of the changeless, the impregnable. I want to encourage you. And so he moves from his solemn prophecy to this sweeping pronouncement that has both a positive and a negative, all of which focuses upon the reliability of the word of Jesus.

32:55 Look at the positive. The heaven and the earth shall pass away. Think for a moment what our Lord was saying. What appears more stable to us mortals, more enduring, more lasting and unassailable than the existing heaven and earth? Think of just little parts of the earth. If you've ever seen the Alps. If you've ever seen the Rockies in the western part of our country. They seem to be the very symbol almost of eternal strength. But our Lord says the entire earth as we now know it shall pass away. What seems to be more enduring than the stars that have given out their light for thousands of years that are there fixed in their appointed places in the heavens? What seems to be more enduring than the stars that have given out their light for thousands of years that are there fixed in their appointed places in the heavens? What seems to be more enduring than that? And yet our Lord in his sweeping pronouncement says the heaven and

33:56 the earth shall pass away. And it's interesting this very verb pass away is the one that is used in second Peter 3.10 to describe what will happen at the second coming of our Lord Jesus. In second Peter 3 and verse 10, Peter tells us, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in which the heavens shall pass away.

34:20 Heaven shall, here's our word, pass away. Exact same verb in the exact same form. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise. And it's the same verb used in Revelation 21 in verse 1, where John speaks of the new heavens and the new earth.

34:45 For the first heavens and the first earth are passed away. A different form of the verb, but exactly the same verb. The first earth and the first heaven are passed away. So when our Lord makes this sweeping pronouncement, He is assuring His disciples that the things that seem to be the symbol of the greatest stability and permanence, not only will every stone in the temple be cast down, but a time is coming.

35:21 When the earth and the heaven, as we now know it, shall pass away. Then He makes the negative statement. But My words, and then He uses a double negative. No, not ever shall they pass away.

35:39 My words shall not pass away. My words shall not pass away. That is, as the heavens and the earth will be changed in their form, in their appearance, in their very substance,

36:01 there will be some continuity between the existing heavens and the existing earth, but so radically changed will they be that they are called the new heavens and the new earth. But He said, not so with My words. As to their form, as to their meaning, as to their certainty, My words shall, shall not pass away. It's interesting, isn't it, that our Lord uses words that are very, very akin to the words spoken of Jehovah in Isaiah 40, and verse 6, the voice of one saying, cry.

36:43 And one said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely this people is grass.

36:58 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever. It's most interesting that set against verse 32, in which the Lord acknowledges His ignorance of the day and the hour of His own return, is this tremendous affirmation of an authority, attached to His words, that nowhere else is found attached to anything other than the words of God Himself. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words, My words shall not pass away.

37:46 This is the sweeping pronouncement our Lord makes. And why does He make it? I underscore again, in order to strengthen the faith of those disciples, to buttress their confidence, to live by faith and not by sight, to hang, as it were, all of their hopes and expectations, and even what they would do if they were there when that crisis came in the siege of Jerusalem, knowing that when the abomination of desolation appeared, no matter what anyone claimed, lo, here is Christ, here's the Christ, this one is validating, validating His messianic claims with signs and wonders. Jesus says, Don't believe them. It is My words that shall never pass away. And My words have described the circumstances that will precipitate the destruction of Jerusalem. And I've given you those words not to try to sit around and speculate about them, but I've given you those words that they shall be to you what the supple and budding, fig-tree twig is as you anticipate the arrival of summer.

39:02 Let the appearance of these things convince you that this great cataclysmic event in the history of redemption, the formal dismantling of everything connected with the old covenant in Judaism, the formal dismantling of all of that system, He says, I encourage you with this solemn prophecy, this generation, shall not pass until all these things be accomplished. And now if your faith is not strong enough to face this, let Me give you this sweeping pronouncement, heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass away. And as with those disciples, so with us. You and I live subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem. What must yet come to pass? Before there will be the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the falling stars, and the darkened sun, and the darkened moon, and the sign of the Son of Man Himself appearing in clouds of glory and power.

Application for Believers: Confidence in Christ's Word

40:14 Well, with my present understanding of Scripture, I'm not prepared to say that anything must transpire that cannot transpire in my lifetime or yours. And what is it upon which we are to hang our souls, as the people of God? When one generation after another has lived in the hope of His return, lived in the expectation of His return, lived with the prayer, even so come, Lord Jesus. When one generation after another of Christians have laid their loved ones in the cold earth, and have taken comfort from the words of 1 Thessalonians 4, we do not want you to sorrow as those who have no hope. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we shall not all sleep. The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, for the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

41:24 So shall we ever be with the Lord. Well, the generation that fed its hope for its departed loved ones upon those words, that generation is now in the earth, and the subsequent generation fed its hopes upon that word, and they're in the earth, and other generations, and perhaps that will be true of us. Can we take hold of? Oh, dear people, this is what we can lay hold of.

41:53 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall never pass away. He said the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves, shall come forth. And we're prepared, as it were, to let millennia be shrunk by the word of Jesus, and to stand at this point in time, and as it were, bring before our minds that sweeping panorama of all humanity called out from the dead, clothed with resurrection bodies, to stand before the great judge of the universe. How do we know it shall be? Because Christ said, though heaven and earth pass away, and they shall pass away, His words shall not pass away. And Jesus Christ has said that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and it was destroyed. He said not one stone would be left upon another, and one stone was not left upon another.

43:03 He spoke of a great truth, a tribulation, the likes of which had no precedent and would have no rival. And it came to pass as He prophesied. And so likewise with reference to this great and glorious second event towards which He directs His attention in the latter part of this chapter. And here, child of God, is the place of your confidence and mine.

43:32 This is the place of our consolation. We are prepared to hang our souls upon the word and the trustworthiness of Jesus. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall never pass away. But for you who are out of Christ, these words hold no comfort.

Application for Unbelievers: Terror in Christ's Word

43:56 In your present state, they ought to fill you with terror. Because Jesus' words to you are very clear. Jesus' words to you are spoken in such passages as Matthew 25, John chapter 5, and a host of other places in which He says in the day of His return, He will summon all men to stand before Him and those who are not savingly united to Him, regardless of what they claim, regardless of what they say about their relationship to Him, if He does not own them as His own, He will say to them, Depart from Me, I never knew you. And He said they shall go into everlasting punishment. They shall go into outer darkness. They shall go to the place where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. You see, this sweeping pronouncement of our Lord attaches not only to the words spoken in this setting, words which did indeed infallibly come to pass with regard to the first great event, but will infallibly come to pass with reference to the second great event.

45:11 And with respect to those words, they shall not pass away. And it's a horrible thing to stand here this morning and think that there may be some of you who will be eternal monuments to the validity of this pronouncement of our Lord. He said these shall go away into everlasting punishment. There are many who will go away into everlasting punishment.

45:38 Those are the words of Jesus. And He says those words shall not pass away. There are certain words of Jesus that can only be fulfilled in the damnation of every unbelieving, impenitent sinner. Do you want to be an eternal monument of the truth of those words?

45:57 Oh, my dear friend, I would much rather be an eternal monument of His words. Him that comes to Me I'll in no wise cast out. Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.

46:19 Dear friend, you're going to be an eternal monument of the truth of the words of Jesus, either in your damnation or in your salvation. But His words will not fail. There's no way you can get Him to change one of those words. And all the pleas and all the cries and all the groans of the damned will touch no cord of compassion even in the heart of the infinitely lovely tender Son of God.

46:49 God will magnify His justice in your damnation and will prove the validity of the word of His own dear Son. But for us as the people of God living between those two great comings of our Lord, what is our hope? What is our preoccupation? My friends, it is not the signs of the times.

Conclusion: Living by Christ's Infallible Word

47:14 It is not making charts. It is not trying to fit together the jigsaw puzzle of all the details of the prophetic utterances. It is to know that what is plain, what is necessary is plain, and what is plain is that the Lord Jesus will never fail to fulfill His word. And that word is that in the appointed hour He will come.

47:40 And He will take us unto Himself. So may the Lord write upon our hearts this portion of His word as we meditate upon the simple parable, upon the solemn prophecy, and upon our Lord's sweeping pronouncement. And if His word now condemns us, may we give ourselves no rest until by that word we find mercy and salvation in Christ. Let us pray.

48:21 Our Father, we thank You for the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You for this portion of His word which we have been privileged to study together. And, O Lord, we plead for light and understanding. As we have sought to be honest with the words of Scripture, we acknowledge that our understanding is limited.

48:47 And yet we thank You for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And we pray that He will attend the teaching and preaching of the word this morning. And we pray especially for those who are in their sins, impenitent and unbelieving, that You, Lord, will awaken and disturb and draw them to the place where they see the folly of going on under the canopy of Your righteous and frightening wrath. And may they have no rest until they know themselves to be canopied under Your grace and mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ.

49:27 We pray for us as Your people that You would deliver us from any itch to have something beyond the word of our Lord Jesus, that we may increasingly find ourselves utterly comfortable living by His own words, in the confidence that though heaven and earth shall pass away, His words shall never pass away. Grant us to be a people who feed upon those words to our comfort, to our consolation, to our guidance. O Lord, may we be a people who are marked out as those who live and think and hope and pray and walk by all of the words of our Savior as given to us in the Scriptures. Hear then our prayer. And may Your blessing rest upon us as we leave this place. Sanctify our time together about our tables.

50:26 Sanctify our afternoon hours to our spiritual and physical rest and refreshment. And gather us together again this evening with joy and expectation to know Your presence in the midst of Your gathered people. Hear our prayer and receive our thanks as we draw near through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.