From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Anybody interested in the future? That’s just a common thing among humans. We have an interest in the future. Those who don’t know Christ are still interested in the future. That’s why they read their horoscope. People ask questions about what’s going to happen to planet Earth. I’ve been hearing all this about climate change and is a meteor going to destroy us? What is going to happen? Hollywood makes all these movies about Armageddon and things like that. The end of the world. Is the end really near?

Guest (Male): This comes straight from the mouth of Jesus. What did he actually say about the end of the world and his glorious return? For sure, he made it clear that his return will be sudden, unmistakable, and glorious. But only those who are ready will rejoice. This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve. Thank you for joining us for a new year broadcast around the world, sharing truth, love, and hope for a hurting and dying world.

Today, he begins a brand new nine-message series entitled, "When the Son of Man Comes," a study of Matthew 24 and 25. Now, this collection of messages that we’re airing this month will challenge you to examine your heart, live with urgency, and faithfully follow Christ until he returns. In today’s eye-opening lesson, Pastor Jeff unpacks Jesus’ words from Matthew 24, verses 1 through 14, to reveal the clear warnings and indicators of his soon return. You can go to fromhisheart.org to find out details about this entire series that will air this month. Right now, though, open your Bible to Matthew chapter 24. Here again is Pastor Jeff Schreve with the first message titled, "The Prophetic Signs of the End Times."

Dr. Jeff Schreve: How many in this room would say that you are interested in the future? Well, for believers, we have the answer in the Word of God. Now, we may not understand everything about the end times, but we know that Jesus has promised he is going to come again. There is going to be an end of the age that ushers in a new age known as the Millennial Kingdom, the reign of Jesus Christ on the earth.

The disciples were interested in the future, and they wanted Jesus to tell them what is going to come. As we read Matthew 24 and 25, you need to remind yourself of this fact: the Jews only saw one coming of the Messiah. When the Messiah comes, that’s when he sets up his kingdom. That’s when the new age comes.

They had two big problems with Jesus, and this is why Jesus was rejected by the Jews. Number one, they didn’t realize that Messiah was God. They thought Messiah was just going to be the son of David, just a regular guy. They saw Messiah as being more political than spiritual. They totally missed it that Messiah was going to die on the cross for the sins of the world. They totally missed it that there are two comings of the Messiah.

On Palm Sunday, everybody is cheering him. "Hosanna to the son of David!" This is so exciting. Let the good times roll because Messiah is here. But he didn’t take over like they thought he should do, and so they were quick to say, "Forget this guy, he’s an impostor because he’s not doing what the Messiah is supposed to do."

The disciples had that in their head. There’s one coming of Messiah and, as Peter said, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." And so they had to learn that there are two comings. The first coming, he came in humility to be crucified, and he’s coming again.

Matthew chapter 24, the Olivet Discourse. Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to him. He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another which will not be torn down." They were freaked out.

As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, verse 3, he had to leave the temple and go up to the Mount of Olives. It takes a little while, about a mile and a half or so, two miles away. As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him. Mark tells us it was Peter, James, John, and Andrew. It wasn't all of them; it was those four. They came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

They asked three questions. Not one stone upon another in this beautiful temple? When does that happen? What's the sign of your coming, and what's the sign of the end of the age? They wanted to know the future, and they thought everything was coming just like that. I mean, boom, we are here. The masses have said, "Hosanna to the son of David." Is it coming tomorrow, the next day? When is it coming? They thought it was very, very soon.

What did Jesus tell them, and what is he telling us about the future? Three discoveries. Discovery number one: the temple will be destroyed. He makes that very clear in verse 2. He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another which will not be torn down."

They were flipping out over the temple. It was Herod’s temple. Remember, it took 46 years to build the temple. In John chapter 2, Jesus said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again." They said, "It took 46 years to build this temple. How are you going to raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body.

Herod had been on a big building project to renovate the temple. You know the temple was destroyed, Solomon’s temple, the first temple. Then they rebuilt the temple when they came back from exile in Babylon, but it wasn't anything like Solomon’s temple. Solomon’s temple was top-notch. They had this second temple, but it wasn't very good. So Herod, wanting to curry favor with the Jews and also speak to his own greatness, he called himself Herod the Great. He wanted to redo the temple, and so he went on a massive building program to make the temple the most beautiful place you could imagine.

The disciples are telling him, "Lord, look at all these beautiful buildings. I mean, it is something else." They were expecting him to join in and say, "Yes, this is so wonderful." But he doesn't do that. He says, "Not one stone will be left upon another." Well, when is that going to happen? When will these things be?

Interestingly, as you read Matthew 24, Matthew doesn't record the answer to that question. They asked three questions: When will this happen, the destruction of the temple? When are you coming? And when is the end of the age? What are the signs of your coming and the end of the age?

First question he doesn't answer in the book of Matthew. He doesn't answer in the book of Mark, but he answers in the book of Luke. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all speak of the Olivet Discourse. In the book of Luke, he says this in Luke 21:20: "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near." He doesn't say this is going to happen in 70 AD. He just says, "Hey guys, when you see the armies surround Jerusalem, just know that’s when the devastation is going to take place."

Also in the book of Luke, very interesting, when Jesus came in for the triumphal entry, whether it's Palm Sunday or Palm Monday, when he comes in and he is approaching Jerusalem and he sees it, and all the people have come out to praise him and to worship him and to say "Hosanna to the son of David" and lay down the palm branches and lay down their coats, which is a symbol of submission to the Messiah, he weeps. They’re cheering, and he’s crying.

What does he say? Luke chapter 19: "When he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'"

The Romans came in under General Titus, the son of Vespasian, who was the emperor. He came in, they besieged the city April 14, 70 AD, and they broke down the wall of Jerusalem and came in August 29th of 70 AD and destroyed everything. They tore Herod’s temple apart, and not one stone was left upon another. Josephus said some of those stones weighed 100 tons, and they’re all broken and they’re not in their place. They were pushed over the western wall, and there they sit to this day as a monument, as almost a tombstone of what happened in 70 AD. Josephus, the Jewish historian, said 1.1 million were killed during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Jesus said, "Hey guys, you may be all enamored with the temple, but I’m telling you, inside of 40 years, this is going to be totally destroyed."

Second discovery: signs will precede his coming at the end of the age. Now, Matthew 24 and 25 can be interpreted in lots of different ways. One of the things that, as I was studying this week, one of the things that came out is this: there is nowhere in Matthew 24 and 25 where Jesus talks about the rapture. Many people try and push in the rapture. Where does this fit in in the words of Jesus? He doesn't talk about the rapture. He’s talking about his return.

There's the rapture when he comes in the clouds for his own, and then there is the return, Revelation 19, beginning in verse 11, where he puts his feet down on the Mount of Olives, exactly where he was giving this Olivet Discourse. He does battle at the Battle of Armageddon, and he sets up his kingdom. So he’s not talking, if you try and read the rapture into Matthew 24 and 25, you get all twisted about.

He gives signs. "What’s the sign of your coming?" So Jesus is going to give us signs. Now remember this, the rapture is a signless event that precedes his second coming, his actual return to the earth.

How do you know that? It's because he told us over and over, "Be ready, be ready, be ready, be ready." The Thessalonians, he said you’re waiting for the Lord to appear. Now, it's a signless event, and that’s why we as Christians are supposed to live our life thinking at any moment the Lord could come back.

I’ve told you before my father-in-law, who was a pastor for 50 years, he had a little lapel pin that he gave me with a trumpet, and it said two words underneath it: "Perhaps today." Perhaps today we’re going to be caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. As Paul said in Philippians chapter 3: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory through the exertion of the power that he has, even to subject all things to himself."

Is your body starting to fail? Is it tough to get up out of bed or get out of a chair or do much of anything? Do you get slip-on shoes because it's like, "I don’t want to tie those suckers"? If you get like that, just know that there’s a new day coming, and the Lord is coming. He’s going to give you a brand-new body, and it's going to be awesome.

The rapture is a signless event. Now I can tell you with certainty that Jesus Christ is not coming back to put his feet on the Mount of Olives and do battle with the Antichrist today. The situation is not set up for that. So I’m not looking for the return of Christ right today or tomorrow or next week or next month. That would take time. These signs that we’re going to go through, those have to appear first.

But the rapture doesn't require a sign. So here is a little timeline just to help you with your eschatology. Where are we right now? We’re in the present Church age. The Church age began on the day of Pentecost where the Holy Spirit came to live inside believers and 3,000 were baptized on the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2. We’re in the Church age, and the Church age lasts until the Lord comes and gets us, and the Church is raptured out of here.

Then you have the seven years of tribulation. What Jesus is going to answer the guys is going to be this is what happens in the tribulation period. The verses we’re going to talk about today primarily deal with the first three and a half years of the tribulation because Matthew 24 verse 15, the abomination of desolation, that changes everything.

That sets up the tribulation period. You have the tribulation period seven years, but then you have the last three and a half years known as the Great Tribulation. That’s when the devil shows his true colors, when the Antichrist shows his true colors. He’s pretending to be this nice guy who makes peace in the Middle East, but then he shows his true colors at the three-and-a-half-year mark. Then Jesus said of those days, had they not been cut short, everyone would have died.

At the end of seven years, then you have the return of Christ. That’s what Jesus is talking about, his return. After his return, he sets up his Millennial Kingdom, his thousand-year reign. That’s the new age. Then the final judgment, Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15. Then the last two chapters in the Bible, Revelation 21 and 22, the eternal state. Nobody’s being born anymore, and we’re with the Lord forever and ever and ever in a new heavens and a new earth.

The rapture is a signless event that precedes his coming, and the coming of the Lord ushers in the end of the age. Now, look at the question again: "Tell us when will these things happen?" No doubt he told them, but Matthew doesn't record it. "And what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?" The sign of his coming and the end of the age are at the same time because when he comes and he does battle with the Antichrist and wipes out all the enemies and the blood flows up to the horse’s bridles for a distance of 200 miles—there is carnage like you’ve never seen before or could ever even imagine—and then he sets up his kingdom. All that happens together.

That’s two questions, but it's really one. So then he goes into the signs. The signs of his coming are birth pains that will intensify. That’s what he says. These are the beginnings of birth pains.

Verse 4, Jesus gives an answer. Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name saying, 'I am the Christ' and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, you are not terrified, alarmed, for these things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains."

Any woman in here that’s had a baby, she knows about birth pains. Any husband who’s been there with his wife, he knows about birth pains. When Debbie and I were first having kids, there was this thing called Lamaze. Anybody remember Lamaze? Lamaze went the way of the dinosaur. They don’t have that anymore. As a young dad to be, I had to go to Lamaze classes, and it was kind of weird, but I was there. I was going to be the coach.

I was wearing my UT ring that I have that I shouldn't be wearing today since we got smoked by Arkansas three straight games in baseball. That was very disappointing. I was wearing my ring and Debbie, with Jill, our first child, she was having a lot of labor pains and things weren't going well. She would squeeze when the pain would come. She’d squeeze and squeeze and squeeze. I had the imprint of a longhorn on this other finger because she was squeezing so hard. The pain just comes and then it subsides, and then it comes and then it subsides. But it increases in intensity, and it increases in frequency until the baby is born.

There are some who will tell us Matthew 24 and 25 has already happened. That was fulfilled when Titus came in and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. But this is about the coming of the Son of Man. He’s not here yet, right? He’s here by his Spirit, but he’s not physically here. This is future.

Something that’s interesting, when Jesus says "you will see this" and "you will experience this" and "you," he’s not talking to the disciples: Peter, James, John, and Andrew. They’re not the "you." He’s talking in a prophetic "you." There is such a mechanism in apocalyptic literature that’s called the prophetic "you."

When he says "you this" and "you that" and "you the other," he’s not talking to those guys right then. He’s talking to the "you" in the future, the "you" who are going to see these things and experience these things. So the birth pains are coming, and they’re the signs, just like it is in physical birth. The pains are the sign that the baby is coming and the baby will soon be here. The signs that we’re going to go over, the first few anyway, are the beginning of birth pains.

What are these signs? First of all, it says in verse 4, there is the sign of spiritual deception. Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name saying, 'I am the Christ' and will mislead many." Verse 11: "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many."

We’ve had false prophets and false teachers from the beginning. Old Testament dealt with false prophets. John says in 1 John chapter 4 verse 1: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." This isn't something new, but during that first three and a half years of the tribulation, there are going to be false prophets and false Christs like crazy.

The rapture changes everything in the world. The Bible tells us in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 that when the Church is raptured, the restrainer is removed. So the devil is able to accomplish much more than he is now, and the spiritual deception will be off the chain. Luke 21 verse 8 puts it this way: He said, "See to it that you are not misled, for many will come in my name saying, 'I am he' and 'the time is near.' Do not go after them."

The time is near. They’re going to be saying, "Hey, you guys have been waiting for me. I am the Christ, and my time is near to be exalted and to take over." Many are going to follow after those false Christs. Spiritual deception is going to be at a high.

Guest (Male): Are you ready? Are you preparing for the return of Christ with urgency and truth? The world is spinning like a top with uncertainty and wars and disasters, deception and spiritual confusion. People are asking, "Is this the end?"

In Pastor Jeff’s new nine-message series we’re airing this month called, "When the Son of Man Comes," Pastor Jeff unpacks Matthew chapter 24 and 25 and the most detailed teaching of Jesus about the end times to bring clear, biblical answers and a call to readiness. The truth is, as we step into this new year, this message couldn’t be more timely or relevant for the generations that are alive and breathing on this planet.

Through your support, From His Heart proclaims the uncompromising truth of God’s Word to a world that desperately needs the answers. Together, we’re helping people to get the truth about his return so that they will prepare their hearts and the hearts of their loved ones for Jesus’ return. To say thank you for your gift of support this month, we’d like to send you Pastor Jeff’s brand new nine-message series, "When the Son of Man Comes," a study of Matthew chapter 24 and 25.

It’s available on a USB flash drive, DVDs, CDs, or an immediate digital download. You can request it when you make your gift by going online to fromhisheart.org or call 866-40-BIBLE. That’s 866-402-4253. Thank you for your generosity as we begin a new year with new hope to share our core mission: proclaiming biblical truth in a world of deception because we all need to be ready for the return of Christ and to help others hear God’s truth before it’s too late. Again, request the series, "When the Son of Man Comes," and you can call 866-40-BIBLE or go to fromhisheart.org.

God bless you for standing with us at this important time. Time has gone for today. I’m Larry Nobles, and you heard part one of this lesson called, "The Prophetic Signs of the End Times," and we’ll have part two next time. Have a glorious and worshipful weekend and be with us next time when Pastor Jeff Schreve opens God’s Word and shares real truth, real love, and real hope from his heart.