Jerusalem and the Second Coming of Christ

I want you to go to Matthew chapter 24 again. We missed last week just with me being ill, but I want to come straight back into this. Last week was part 11 and we looked at Jerusalem and Bible prophecy and I felt I had to carry on from that. Tonight I want to go into part 12, Jerusalem and the second coming of Christ. Last week I'd spent days just putting a message together, went to the computer and found at the weekend everything is gone. It's all lost, just days. That's a bit disheartening on one side, but I've learned by long experience, and I have to tell you, I wasn't trying to do it. As soon as that happens, I go, the Lord's in this. So it means days of extra work, but I actually believe somehow either that needed to be lost and I'm not being, I don't know what the word, casual on those things. I'm not the person who says, ah, surah, whatever's meant to be happens. That's rubbish. That could get you in serious trouble. Very dangerous. Oh, well, it's just meant to happen. That's very dangerous attitude. I don't have that. But when you walk with God, when you're in prayer, when you love him, I've seen too many things to know. I need to go through this again. It'll be totally, it'll be the same message, but totally different. I'll leave things out. I'll insert things that I never thought about in the previous week. So I trust God on that. So I'm trusting now that God obviously scrapped the other one. So I could rewrite and just come to you with these scriptures in this manner with this emphasis, but it is the same message. Part 12, Jerusalem and the second coming of Christ, reading from Matthew 24 verse one. And Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto him, see not all these things. Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately saying, tell us when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? Then jump with me down to verse 29 in the same chapter. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven. And then shall the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together the elect from the four winds and one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branches yet tender and putteth forth leaves, you know that the summer is nigh. So likewise you shall see all these things, or when you shall see all these things, know that it is near even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the son of man be. For as in the days that were before the floods, they were eating and drinking, marrying, giving and marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark. I knew not when the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. And then let's pray together here tonight for God's help and his grace as we come to the word of God. Father, we thank you God for your word, your book, Lord God, every single sign, every teaching, every timeline, every instruction, every command, every warning, Lord God, we want to take heed to the written scriptures. And we ask even tonight that you remember your covenant with us, that you would take your word and write it upon our minds and inscribe it upon our hearts. So God, Father, we want to be marked by the word of God. And tonight as we stop and consider, Lord God, Jerusalem and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that you'd grip us with the reality that Jesus Christ is coming again. That even as we see prophecy being fulfilled in our generation, as we look at our very television screen and see the prominence of Jerusalem and Israel, and many of the things that you speak about in the word of God, that we are to lift up our heads. We are to look heavenwards because a redemption draws nigh. Lord God, we cry out even tonight, even so come Lord Jesus. Maranatha. Lord God, we are looking and hastening and desiring the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, I pray and flame our hearts. Let us not be afraid. Let us not be terrified. Lord God, let us not be anxious tonight. But oh God, let our confidence be in a physical, literal, visible coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our hope, the second coming of our Lord and Savior. Father, thank you that you're going to bring the kingdoms of this earth to an end, the wickedness of man to an end, and that you'll bring in everlasting righteousness at your appearing in Jesus' name. We love you, Lord Jesus. And thank you, the same Jesus that died for us at Calvary on the cross, ridiculed by men as he suffered in our place for our sins, that he will come with great power and glory on the clouds of heaven with his angels, with the saints of God, to pour out his wrath and his judgment upon a wicked and evil generation. Even so come, Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. My message, Jerusalem and the second coming of Christ. I want to connect the city of Jerusalem, a small city, an insignificant city, a city with a small population, and yet the most noted city in our world, a city tonight that all eyes are upon. The media has its eyes upon it, world politics has, the UN has, the EU has, everyone has their eyes on Jerusalem. I want to tell you that Scripture is very clear when you take it literally as it's correctly meant to be interpreted. Jerusalem in the last days is going to play its part with the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Jerusalem played a vital part in the first coming when Jesus Christ came and was born at Bethlehem. It was a stone's throw away from the city of Jerusalem. This was his local city at the hour and the time that he was born. We know that later when his family returned again to Nazareth, that annually, every year, they made journeys to the city of Jerusalem. We looked at on Sunday how as a 12-year-old boy, he was there and Mary and Joseph lost him in the temple in the city of Jerusalem. We know that when he stepped out in ministry, each year he came and was in Jerusalem. He spent the last week of his life in Jerusalem. He preached his prophetic messages in Jerusalem. He gave his last warnings in Jerusalem. We know he is taken prisoner, crucified, just outside the gates of the city of Jerusalem. We see that Jerusalem was chosen and played a vital part in the first coming. I believe also scripture shows, prophesies, emphasizes that again Jerusalem and the land of Israel will play a significant part at the time of the second coming of the same Lord Jesus Christ. The one who died there will return there. The one who ascended from there shall return in like manner. Let me preach, teach this to you because there's many erroneous teachings. In verse 3, we see the disciples coming to Jesus. It says, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately saying, tell us when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? Some people say there's only one question here. Others, including myself, say there's two questions here. See, last time we talked about a group called the Preterist. The word literally means and the teaching means that all of Bible prophecy or at least most of it is already fulfilled. All of Matthew 24 fulfilled. Almost all of the book of Revelation fulfilled in the first century. That's what a Preterist is. That's what they believe. It is fulfilled. Prophecy has already taken place. What we read of in Matthew 24, the Preterist says it's all taken place. Jesus coming in the clouds, it took place at 70 AD. They say the angels came in 70 AD invisibly to judge. The end of the age happened. What was that? The end of the Jewish age. And so, when the disciples come here and say, when shall these things be? When shall the temple be destroyed? They say the next two statements are the same question because they not only say, when shall these things be? Talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. They go on to say, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? So, they join all three statements and they say the destruction of Jerusalem, the coming of Christ and the end of the world, it's all the same event and it happened at 70 AD. Matthew 24 has been totally, completely fulfilled. Nothing left to be fulfilled again. And of course, I utterly, absolutely disagree with that. It is true that Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple, that not one stone would remain upon another stone. That was true. That happened in AD 70. But there's much more in this chapter. If you want to say it all happened in AD 70, you have to spiritualize everything. You have to make everything invisible, everything exaggerated language. And this is what they do. So, we're going to look at this. I hate to talk about Preterists because I find it so pathetic, so unlikely, so little held in our world. But you know what concerns me? It's becoming rampant through YouTube. It becomes popular by people who don't even know what they're talking about. And so, I want to deal with this in a very clear and an accurate way. I want you to know, and believe me, this doesn't only protect you from Preterism, it protects you from Amillennialism. Because the Amillennialists, many of the reformed circles, they come to this chapter and they say, oh, everything is spiritualized. But Jesus coming in the clouds, that will literally, physically, visibly happen. But everything else is spiritualized. I'm going to tell you, if you spiritualize all the prophecies and then try to make me believe Christ coming in the clouds is literal, I'm going to say, on what basis? You've destroyed the whole foundation of this. If you begin saying, anti-Christ is spiritual, the millennium is spiritual, the tribulation is spiritual, all the signs are spiritual, but Christ will come physically at the end of age. You've undermined and damaged the entire teaching. That's why I believe Preterism actually is a child of Amillennialism. This spiritualizing a prophecy, making it spiritual, invisible. Actually, what Amillennialists do, many of the reformed preachers do, has given birth to Preterism, which is heresy, where they deny a physical, visible, literal, second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me deal with this. I was going to quote from an Amillennialist, one of the best, godliest, Lothar. I read his book and I laughed half the way through it going, this gives me such material of confirmation why I'm not an Amillennialist. It is absolutely brilliant. If I should decease, go and get this book. You've got loads of notes in it showing why this book is so wrong, and it's the best attempt of any man ever to try and defend it. But anyway, that's getting off track. Let me take you into the text here, because I want you to see that Jerusalem, as a physical, literal city, is connected to the second coming of Christ. And there are movements, preachers, videos without number that are rising, that's trying to spiritualize and reinterpret these scriptures. And I want to tell you, if you deny the physical, second coming of Christ, you are not an Orthodox Christian. Because it's one of the simple, basic teachings for 2,000 years that have united all genuine, born again Christians of every denomination and of every view of Bible prophecy. We may differ on many aspects of prophecy, but every genuine Christian believes in a physical return of Jesus at the end of the age. If you deny that, you're not even an Orthodox Christian, and you're denying a very fundamental thing. So let's look at this, because if you know truth, know scripture clearly, if you think it through simple statements, it doesn't protect you or defend you against one error, but many errors. If you know the word of God, when you hear error, you go, uh-uh, there's something wrong. You may not know all arguments, but you go, that isn't right. They're misinterpreting, twisting, taking that out of context, missing out words, forgetting to state simple things, not taking it in context. So let me teach things. Get this grounded in your heart. Men are denying that Jerusalem has any place in prophecy. And you know what? Let me give you an example here, a bit similar, but totally different from what I had before. The Preterist is like a man with a jigsaw in one hand and a hammer in the other. As he begins making his jigsaw, he starts with the four corners and he puts them in place. He goes, wow, look what I've done with the jigsaw. I've got major points of truth in place, and they fit. Praise God. With Preterists, partial Preterists, and Amillennialists, there's certain things I absolutely agree with them, and they teach it well. And I go, bravo. So they get four corners, and then they've got all the other bits, so they pour all the bits. This guy who's got his hammer, his jigsaw, and the four corners now gets frustrated because he can't make the rest of it fit. So what does he do? He pours all the pieces in the middle and begins to bang in. As long as the four corners are there, it doesn't matter where anything else goes. I will make it fit. And he bashes every single bit of the jigsaw into place. You know what he does? He absolutely damages every other piece of the jigsaw. He twists it, manipulates it, damages it, and he says, yes, but I've got the four corners in place. So it doesn't matter what happens to the rest. That's what the Preterist does. And he emphasizes and says, Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70. It happened. I agree with him. That's in place. And then he takes the hammer, and he starts bashing Jesus coming in the clouds and says, that's spiritual, invisible, and no one could see it. And the tribulation was from AD 67 through to 70. And he bashes it in, and he begins to bash all these precious truths, all for one truth. That's very dangerous, that you would damage the teaching of the second coming of Christ to get rid of Jerusalem as having a physical, real place in Bible prophecy, and the Jew, and Israel. And there's men in the church that'll do that. They'll change the doctrine of the second coming, all in order to prove one little point in doctrine. You're in dangerous ground if you ever let that in your heart. Look what this statement says. When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? They say this word coming, the sign of thy coming, you Jesus. What shall be the sign of thy coming? The word coming there is the Greek word parousia. It's one of the beautiful Greek words, one of the main words talking about Jesus coming again. What shall be the sign of thy coming? They say, the Preterists, and some Amillennialists, that here in this chapter, Matthew 24, that the sign of thy coming is the sign of you coming invisibly in AD 70 to judge Israel, and to pour out your wrath on them, and to cut them off. That's what the coming of Christ is, invisible, secret, in wrath, only upon Israel. But let's look at this word, coming, coming, parousia. It was used from about the 3rd century BC in the Greek culture and language, concerning a visiting emperor coming to reveal himself, to be present physically, and to display his glory openly. That's the Greek word parousia. He came to be revealed in his glory, his power, physically, he was present. And so this word actually means to be manifest physically, present physically, revealing yourself visibly, and then beginning to display the glory of your majesty. Not just that you are there, but displaying the best of who you are, the reality, the power, your words, your presence. You make your presence to be felt. You function there, not merely just to appear, but it's to appear and be there, and to function there. And so we see that this word is used 24 times in our New Testament. Parousia is a beautiful Greek word, 24 times. 17 of those times is concerning the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Four of those times, it's mentioned in Matthew 24. And listen to me, if in Matthew 24, it's speaking about AD 70, nowhere else in the New Testament is there any other chapter, or any other book in the New Testament that says that Christ would come in AD 70, only this chapter. It'll be the only place that parousia is used of the secret coming of Christ in judgment in AD 70, if they're correctly interpreting it, but I don't think they are. You see, I think that all 17 uses of this word parousia in connection with Christ is concerning one event, and it's never happened yet. It is the coming of the King at the end of age. It didn't happen in AD 70. The King has not come yet. He has not displayed his glory yet. He has not come to stay yet. It hasn't happened. But they make up this teaching that he came to Jerusalem in AD 70 to destroy it. I thought it was Titus. I thought it's explicit. It was the Roman armies that came. But no, they say it was Jesus. I don't believe that at all. It says here in these four mentions in Matthew 24, what shall be the sign of thy coming, you Jesus, of thy coming? You're appearing physically. What's going to be the sign of it? Jesus goes on to teach it in this chapter. Then in Matthew 24, 27, for as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be. It's going to be like lightning, not like Irish lightning, eastern lightning that comes out of the east to the west. The entire sky is lit up. Every eye sees that lightning. Jesus is saying, what's it going to be like when the Son of Man comes? And twice in this says, if they say go out to a secret chamber, oh, he's here. Don't believe that. Or here he is. Don't believe that. It is going to be spectacular, visible. Everyone will see at the same time. So Jesus uses this word coming. Of course it's going to be visible. 24 verse 37, and as in the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be. And then verse 39, I knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So also the coming of the Son of Man be. Four times in Matthew 24, it speaks about the coming of the Son of Man. It emphasizes it. And unless you make this some unique, strange thing, you need to agree there's an entire teaching in the New Testament about the parousia, parousia, the appearing, the physical appearing of Jesus Christ, his second coming, his return, his visible return, his physical return. And it mentions this as well in 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thessalonians 2, 1 Thessalonians 3, 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Thessalonians 5. It says a lot in Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 2 says it twice. In James chapter 5, 2 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 3, and in 1 John chapter 2, it all speaks about the parousia of Jesus Christ, the second coming. It says he'll be with angels, with the saints. He'll be in great power, with great judgment, time and time and time again. It teaches this. Of course, the word is also used five times of Paul and four of his co-workers. And so he'll say, Stephanus is going to come on to you. He's sending co-workers from him. They're physically going to appear. They're going there to do a task. They're going to be in the midst of that church to function. That is a parousia, a coming of that person. And so we see that the second coming is attached to the end of the age. Either A.D. 70 was the end of the age, or the end of the age is just about to come. And my Bible says the end of the age comes when Jesus appears in all of his glory and his majesty. What a glorious thing that we have to look forward to. You see, I believe that the second coming is attached to the end of the age to certain signs taught by Jesus in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Christ's teaching is filled with signs. I don't understand whether it's a preterist, a pre-tribber, an A. Miller, or whoever. All these different diverse groups in the There's no signs for Jesus coming, or the rapture. I don't understand them. Get back to your Bible. Our Bible's filled with signs. Jesus says, here are signs. Why does he give signs? Because there's going to be visible, physical things that you can discern to tell the earth that you live in. Jesus is coming again. But listen to me, not only is the second coming connected to certain signs, but also the sequence of certain events, certain warnings. And listen to me, to the city of Jerusalem, the second coming in prophecy is connected physically to the city of Jerusalem. Let me just briefly prove that. But it says in Matthew 24, 36, but of the day and the hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only. So while we have signs, I'm not saying, don't get caught up in these groups. Every year, it's going to be in October, blood moons, blah, blah, blah. Don't buy buying their books, watching their videos, all of the rest, buying their school caps, their prayer shawls or anything else. Don't be doing that because your book is a waste of money two years down the road. It's useless. Stay with scripture. Now I believe scripture shows the second coming of Christ, a set of events is going to happen. It's going to center on the city of Jerusalem. When you go to the book of Revelation, chapter 16, verse 14, you have the sixth vial where God is going to pour out His judgment on the earth. Listen to what it says. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and the whole earth. You know what Preterists say, the whole book of Revelation was fulfilled in AD 70. It's localized, centered on Jerusalem, not global. Utterly impossible when you read Revelation. What it says with this sixth vial, these demon spirits go out to the kings of the entire earth, and then it re-emphasizes the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Behold, I, Jesus, come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And he gathered them together unto a place that in the Hebrew tongue is called Armageddon. Where's Armageddon? Just north of the city of Jerusalem. Do you know what the book of Revelation shows? That all the armies, the kings of the east and of the earth are all going to be gathered to one place just above Jerusalem, right at the end, at the coming of the Lord. Then listen to this in Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 1. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee, for I will gather, God's gathering again, all nations against Jerusalem to battle. Same thing, same time. And the city shall be taken, and houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city, notice the city, half of the city shall go into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be out of the city. Then shall the Lord go forth. Notice that the coming of the Lord is connected to what happens in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, half of it is captured. Armies of the world are gathered against it. They're besieging it. And in a terrible state, when it's just about to be completely defeated, it says, then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet, notice this carefully, and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives. His physical feet shall stand upon the physical mountain of Olives. Then notice what it says, which is before Jerusalem on the east. Do you know why he says that? In case people start spiritualizing it. Oh, it's a spiritual Jerusalem, and it's spiritual feet, and there'll be a spiritual Mount of Olives. So he has to be very exact here. Yeah, let me explain which one. The one that is outside Jerusalem to the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst. Do you realize Jerusalem is going to play an integral part when Jesus Christ comes back again? When he comes back, he's not coming back to Berlin or Dublin. He won't come back to any of the major cities of the world. He's going to come back to Jerusalem, and there's one mountain he's going to put his feet on. You know, in Job, says we're going to see our Redeemer, our Lord, stand upon the earth. The email says he will never stand on the earth. You need to spiritualize it. I hope it makes you mad, these preachers who spiritualize everything. It is a twisting of Scripture. You know, when you start doing that, you're not left with anything. I promise you, you're left way out in left field, utterly, utterly confused. That's only my introduction. Now let's get into this message. I've got four points for you. Let's go into the text, and let me show four things, like I did with the one on Jerusalem and prophecy. Four things why I reject the spiritualizing of this entire chapter, and I believe it's about a physical, literal, glorious coming and appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ for a second time when all eyes shall see him. Let me prove it to you here. Number one, we have in verse 29, it's a coming with visible cosmic signs, and we touched on this, but I want to go further here. The second coming, or this parousia, parousia of the Lord Jesus, is it invisible? Is it localized to Jerusalem? Is it only to judge the Jews? Let's have a look. Let's test it with Scripture. Number one, I believe it's a coming with visible cosmic signs, and by cosmic, I mean out in the cosmos. Listen to what it says. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the Son of Man in heaven. They say this happened in A.D. 70. The sun, the moon, the stars, the powers of heavens, all shook, all darkened. They spiritualize the language and say, oh, it's just emphasizing judgment. It's symbolic. It's pictorial. It's typology. They also say the sun, the moon, the stars represent the nation of Israel. Now, here is where I would agree with them. Does the sun, moon, stars ever represent Israel? Yes, in Bible prophecy, it does. I've taught this, preached this many times. That's why I'm glad you knew that point, because in Revelation 12, verse 1, it talks about a woman clothed with the sun. The moon is under her feet, and upon her head is a crown of 12 stars. Who is she? Some say the church. I utterly disagree. She is Israel. It's symbolic language. Those aren't literal stars. That isn't the real moon. It's under her feet. It's obviously symbolic language. It's symbolic, so I need to find the interpretation. What's the interpretation? Where have I seen the star, the sun, the moon identified before? Well, I go into Genesis, chapter 37, verse 9. It's Joseph's dream. Listen, the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars made abeyance unto me. Who are they? Abraham, Sarah, sorry, Jacob. I'm getting mixed up with my generations. Jacob, his wife, and the 11 brothers. It's Israel. The 12 tribes of Israel are identified as the stars, so there's symbolic language. There are times we do take symbols, and we interpret them. I don't just say stars are always physical or literal. No, only when it's very obvious in the context and by the teaching. Listen to this when you go into Daniel, chapter 8, and verse 10. We dealt with this when we taught on it. It says this about a prophecy about Antiochus Epiphanes. He was a Greek prince, a type of Antichrist. Listen to what it says. It waxed great, the little horn. He was the little horn. It waxed great, even to the host of heaven, and cast down some of the host of the stars to the ground and stamped upon them. How does a little horn, a physical man, cast down stars? You have to interpret it spiritually. It is speaking about princes in Israel. It's not speaking about angels here, and it's certainly not speaking about physical stars. So, there are times, and I'm just trying to help you. I need to teach you this. It's not enough for me to teach you what a thing is. This is how you interpret things. This is how you come to understand them. This is how you test teachings, slowly, carefully, delicately. But here in Matthew 24, it talks about the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its life, the stars falling, the heavens being shook. I believe this is physical, a physical, cosmic shaking of the universe that's going to impact the entirety of creation. It also says in Luke chapter 21, 25, and there should be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars. Listen to what else it says. If you spiritualize that, you've got to spiritualize everything. And upon the earth, distress and nations. Oh, you need to spiritualize that. With perplexity, the sea and waves roaring, you need to spiritualize that. Or let's go back to Matthew and look at the other signs. And kingdom shall rise against kingdom. Spiritualize that. And there should be famines. Spiritualize it. Pestilence, earthquakes in diverse places. So, the earthquakes, you have to spiritualize them. You can't just spiritualize the sun, the stars falling from the sky, or the sun stopping giving its life, and yet keep everything else physical. You can't do that. You don't get to choose and decide here. There's got to be a pattern. And so, if the nations are physical, so are the stars. It actually flows all together very clearly and very distinctly. It's talking about celestial signs. These preterists, how do they interpret it? They say, well, there were signs in the heavens in AD 65, five years before the temple's destroyed. At Passover, a mysterious light appeared in the holy place of the temple for three hours. And they start to go through all this sort of stuff and say, see, there were signs. You can't do that with Bible prophecy. You can't do this cosmic blackout, which is spoken about all through the Bible, time after time, in connection with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and make it into a light in the holy place. You can't make stars and moon and sun that. You can't do that. You say, I believe this is a remarkable appearing and sign. In fact, this is repeated in Isaiah 13, Isaiah 5, Isaiah 24, Isaiah 60, Ezekiel 32, Joel chapter 2, Joel chapter 3, Amos chapter 5, and Amos 8, Haggai 2, Acts chapter 2, and Revelation chapter 6. It is a time sequence event. There's one unique physical time when the sun, moon, stars stop giving their light. One unique cosmic event. You know, a few years ago, these guys in America started teaching the blood moons, all the mega preachers, and then everyone jumped on it, selling their books, selling their videos. They always charge for the videos. We have inside knowledge about the blood moons. And they started to gauge how at certain times the moon would go blood red, and then something would happen in the nation of Israel. And they took these scriptures and said, let's see what's happening. What a load of rubbish. See, if you know what I'm saying, there's one interpretation for this. One event. It's a time sequence event. Right after this, Jesus comes, and it happens at the end of the tribulation. It marks the end of the tribulation, the great tribulation. Not in the middle of the tribulation. Doesn't happen 10 times. One unique cosmic event. You know what happens, and here's what it's like. God the Father pulls the plug on all of the lights in the entire universe for one reason. Why would he put out every single cosmic light in the universe? Why would he do that? You know why? Because someone is coming, and every eye is going to see him, and he is the light of glory. Saints of God, I'm telling you, God the Father blacks out every light and says, I have set the stage and platform for the greatest appearing for the King of glory, and all of his majesty, and his power, and his authority. This is an extraordinary thing. Absolutely dynamic. Listen to Peter on the day of Pentecost, and the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood before the great and notable day of the Lord. He's quoting from Joel. You know what he's saying? I'm going to pour out my spirit upon all flesh, your daughters, and your sons, your handmaidens. All flesh, I'm going to pour out my spirit. Then he gives a sign when this is all going to end, when the cosmic blackout takes place. No further outpourings of the Holy Spirit. No work of the Holy Spirit on the earth. He gives a timeline very clearly. What's interesting in Joel chapter 3, it says, the stars shall withdraw their shining. Then the Lord shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice in Jerusalem. That's my first point, a cosmic blackout. Preterist, stick that in your pipe and smoke it, because some of those guys smoke pipes. That's one for your pipe. Number two, it's a coming with vocal global mourning on the earth. This isn't localized to Jerusalem. Listen to what Jesus teaches here in verse 30. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. We've had the cosmic blackout. Then the sign of the Son of Man appears. Then notice what happens. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. Did Jesus mean what he said, or is it spiritual language? These people, what do they do to Scripture? Oh, all the tribes are spiritual. It means Israel. No, Jesus means what he says. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. That means it's physical. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. As soon as that sign appears, they're going to mourn. Say that word, mourn. It means to beat your breast vigorously. It means deep, passionate emotion, fear, terror, sadness, grief. You are distraught to such a point. You are punching your physical body. What does it say? All the tribes of the earth, and notice the word carefully, tribes. That's very distinct. See with these guys who want to spiritualize all this, be very careful with them. They take words like nation and families, world, earth, and they join it all, forge it together and say, see, it means all the same. No, it doesn't. It doesn't. Do you know why I use the word tribe? You can't confuse that with a localized environment. All the tribes of the earth, they're going to actually mourn. When this happens, this sign of the coming of the Son of Man, when it appears, where else do we see this? Revelation chapter 1 verse 7, behold, he, that is Jesus, cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him. Notice he comes on the clouds. Notice every eye shall see him when he comes on the clouds. And they also which pierced him, that's Israel, and all kindreds of the earth, that can't be Israel. They that pierced him and all the kindreds, all the families of the earth shall wail because of him, even so, amen. Do you see what happens when Jesus comes back physically, visibly, literally on the clouds of heaven? It says, all the tribes shall mourn. No more than that. It says, every eye shall see him. How could he have come back invisibly in AD 70? Did every eye see him? Absolutely not. Here in Revelation chapter 1, it says, when he comes back on the clouds of the heaven, every eye shall see him. And the kindreds, all the families of the earth shall wail because of him. They're not rejoicing. They're not happy. The nations that are there at the time of his coming, nations, kingdoms, all peoples, all families of the earth, they're going to wail. If they're on the earth at that time, right at that time when he appears, they're going to be wailing, beating their breasts. They're going to be in terror. As soon as they see that sign in the clouds, it's too late. Do you realize there's an hour when it's too late? Too late, the door of grace is shut. No forgiveness, no mercy. There's an hour when the nations, all the kindreds are going to suddenly realize. Can you imagine in one instant, all kingdoms of the earth, all tribes, all people groups are suddenly going to realize what's just happened. It says in Revelation chapter 6, 15, and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bond man and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said, doesn't look like it's an invisible coming. The earth suddenly realizes Jesus is who he said he was. Do you realize the appearing of Christ, the coming, the parousia, that this coming in majesty and glory, do you realize the whole world stops in its tracks? Do you realize every single eye suddenly realizes? This is an AI. It's not a video game. It's not something transported up into the clouds. Suddenly every single person from the richest, the most technical, the most powerful, all of them instantly realize we have blown us. We have messed up. This is real. In one moment, what you experienced spiritually on the day you got born again, the realization of his reality, they too late realize that they're on the verge of hell. What a terrible thing. And they begin to cry out to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us, hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. Remember he's a lamb who died for you, suffered for you, saves you, but not in that day. He's a lamb, the wrath of the lamb, the bleeding lamb, the lamb of Calvary is going to become the lamb of wrath. It's not the lamb of wrath tonight, I want to tell you. He's the lamb of mercy tonight. There's hope for you, forgiveness for you, mercy for you, kindness for you, forgiveness for you, but not on that day. There is wrath, the same lamb who forgives, cleanses in his blood is going to bring wrath for the entire earth, the entire world. And it goes on to say, for the great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand. So look at these two things. Number one there, it's a coming with visible cosmic signs, you can't invent that. Number two, it's a coming with a vocal global mourning on the earth. The entire earth is caught up in this, the entire cosmos is caught up in this. You can't be deceived on that day. There's no deception can hide this on that day. You know what the Bible says in Thessalonians that when he comes right at that hour, he will destroy the man of sin, the son of perdition with the brightness of his appearing. Immediately antichrist is destroyed by his appearing in glory and majesty. The third thing is it's a coming in visible power and glory on the clouds. The preterist believes the clouds in Matthew 24 are spiritual, symbolic, not literal, not real. Jesus would never come on clouds, that's what they teach. And in fact they say it happened in AD 70, he came on the clouds. Let's have a look at this. Look at verse 30 again, and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven. And then further on says, and they shall see the son of man coming. Why are they mourning? Look at those who are mourning on earth, all the tribes of the earth mourn. Why do they mourn? They see the son of man coming. All the tribes, not Israel, not Jerusalem, not Titus and his Roman army. It says all tribes see his coming. Now you tell me, did the heathen pagan nations see Jesus come in AD 70? Did they see a sign in the heavens? Did they see him come? Not at all. And they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. I believe this is the second coming of Jesus. He's going to come on the air. He's going to come in the clouds of heaven. What in power and great glory as a king and majesty, his real divinity is going to be revealed. His sovereignty, his power, his majesty, his eternal reign, who he is, is going to get displayed. But oh no, they say he came invisibly just to judge Jerusalem and to finish with Israel, to set Jerusalem aside, Israel aside, the Jews aside, to finish with them, cut them off, and to have nothing more to do with them. Your house is left to you desolate. I don't believe that. This is a prophecy that Jesus is going to come back to Jerusalem. But in a worldwide fashion, his feet are going to stand on the Mount of Olives, physically, literally, visibly. But the entire cosmos is affected. Every tribe on earth is affected. It is a visible coming. Every eye is going to see him. Listen to where Jesus quotes from. He's quoting from Daniel's prophecy, chapter 7. In Daniel chapter 7, we have the vision of four beasts. The four beasts represent four different empires. It first of all represents Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. The second beast represented Medo-Persia. The third beast represents the Grecian empire. And the fourth unusual beast represents the Roman empire. But then listen, in Daniel 7, it talks about the four beasts following after each other. Then the fourth beast, something happens to it. We see a further stage of that fourth Roman beast that's going to appear in the last days. And in the last appearance of that fourth beast, and the little horn, and the ten horns, there's another kingdom that comes from heaven. Listen carefully to what it says. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, all the thrones of those empires. And the ancient of days, God the Father did set whose garments are as white as snow, his hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was like fiery flame and wheels burning with fire, a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and tens times 10,000 stood before him. The judgment was set and the books were opened. Look at it. It's talking about the heavens moving. It's at the end of earthly kingdoms. It's a time of judgment. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake. I beheld even till the beast was slain. It's talking about this time of this happening. The beast is slain. What's the beast? It's talking about the little horn, Antichrist, and his body destroyed. That's how you know it's talking about a man. The beast has a body. I'm given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they have their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season in time. I saw in the night visions and behold, one like the son of man, notice that statement, son of man, came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. It's not until the beasts are slain and their power taken away that the son of man comes on the clouds of heaven, and he is given dominion and power and authority. This statement, the son of man and Daniel, is repeated in Matthew's gospel 32 times speaking about Jesus Christ. When it speaks in Matthew 24 about the son of man, it's quoting from Daniel. The son of man's going to come on the clouds. Jesus repeats this. He was the son of man. In Matthew 24, it says, the son of man shall come on the clouds of heaven. Behold, one like the son of man came in the clouds of heaven and came near to the ancient of days. When you go to Matthew 26, 64, Jesus standing before the high priest being judged before he's crucified. Listen to what he says to the high priest. Hereafter shall ye see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. That high priest got very offended. You're going to see me. He's standing with the crown of thorns bleeding. He is prepared for crucifixion. He is being condemned to death as a criminal, and he's telling the high priest, the religious leader of the nation of Israel, see after all of this, you will see me coming on the clouds of heaven. Do you know what the high priest cries out? Blasphemy. You're claiming to be God. You're claiming to be the son of man. Some claim this was fulfilled in AD 70. The high priest didn't see him come in great glory then. Didn't see him sitting on the right hand. You know what Jesus is saying? When I come back at the end of the age, you, like everyone else, is going to see me. Every sinner that's ever lived is going to see me coming in power. Every single sinner, every single living person going to see the glory of this. You see, when Jesus comes on the clouds, now listen, let's give a bit of benefit of the doubt. Well, maybe it could be that Christ coming on the clouds. Maybe it is symbolic. Maybe it is spiritual language. I mean, can you imagine Jesus actually literally coming on the clouds of heaven? Do you really believe that's going to happen? Do you really believe the clouds are literal? Are you telling me that Christ in his resurrection body would have anything to do with clouds? Are you serious? Now you're doubting. Good. Because I'll give you a scripture. Listen, Acts chapter 1 verse 9. Always compare scripture with scripture. Always. Acts chapter 1 verse 9. And when he had spoken these things, Jesus, before he's about to sin, while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. Those who want to symbolize the clouds better do it in Acts chapter 1. Then listen to what it says. And while they looked steadfastly towards heaven, oh, Christ isn't going to go up to heaven like M.T. Wright mocks. Heretic. What dangerous men with their intelligence and their eloquence, and they play games. Oh, you can't describe. Heaven isn't up there, just like hell isn't down there. Don't get involved with these men. Look at it. As Jesus ascended on high, the disciples are watching him go up. Behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall come in like manner. Do you see that? Don't dare tell me he's not coming on the clouds of heaven. I have biblical proof. Did he ascend up into a cloud physically? He's coming physically, visibly with the clouds of heaven. The angel actually said, in like manner as you have seen him go up into heaven. He's going to come in the same way. I'll tell you more than that. He's not only going to come in the same way, the same person. He's going to come to the same place. Where did he ascend? The Mount of Olives. He ascended up, seen by 500 eyewitnesses. And here you have all these teachers who don't even have time. Even Sproul used to believe this stuff, spiritualize this stuff. Matthew 24, great man, teacher. But he got this wrong. Some men you shouldn't follow on prophecy. Follow them on salvation. Don't follow them on prophecy. They messed it up. Went back to old archaic books they should never have touched. And when here's a revelation, stick with your Bible. Or else you're going to start spiritualizing clouds when you should never, ever do that. Let me finish here. Very hard to do because I've got so much to say. But point four, as we close here very briefly, it's a coming with a worldwide and gathering of the elect. It says in Matthew 24, 31, we've only really dealt with two scriptures, only two scriptures. Boy, do you realize how long we could preach through Matthew 24, just dealing with it thoroughly. Saints go back to your Bible, read the Bible, study your Bible, understand simple scriptures, and it'll save you from amillennialism, preterism, all sorts of things. It's a coming with worldwide and gathering of the elect. Verse 31, and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet. I don't even know how they interpret this for AD 70. I don't want to even know. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds. And then notice he has to use another statement to make sure you don't misunderstand it or spiritualize it. So he says, first of all, to gather the elect from the four winds. Then he explains from one end of heaven to the other. The four winds, it's universal, the entire globe, all the earth, the four points of the compass. But in case someone wants to change it, spiritualize it and go, the four winds is Israel. In AD 70, he says one end of the earth. You can't make this AD 70. You can't say Matthew 24 is all being fulfilled. It all goes together. And so we have this visible cosmic blackout. We have this global mourning of all sinful tribes. We have the visible glory of Christ coming in the clouds. And then we have this worldwide gathering of the elect. It says he sends his angels to gather the elect. What are elect ones? Chosen ones, ones that only God knows, redeemed saints, forgiven, washed in the blood, made righteous by the blood of Christ. Christ has come for them. They're not saved by law. They're not saved by works. You know, the hyper-dispensationalists, they say, you go back and you're saved by law during the tribulation, then God help you, none of you shall be saved. Read Revelation. It says, who's all this vast multitude with their robes drenched in blood? Who are they? Oh, these are the martyrs that came out of the tribulation. They're washed in the blood of the Lamb. They're the redeemed of the Lord, redeemed by the blood of Jesus. You can't get saved by law. It's always by grace, Old Testament, New Testament, tribulation, you name it. And so here, God sends, Jesus sends, the Son of Man sends all the angels to get all the elect ones. You don't go looking for him. Do you know he's out there in the wilderness? Do you know he's over here? Do you know it's a secret, hidden, mystical appearance of Christ? You won't need to do that. Sends his angels out and doesn't miss one single one of the elect in that hour. Left on the earth. How they ever survived to that point, I don't know. Elect, godly, not marked by Antichrist, but there's an elect people alive at the coming of the Lord. Don't we all wish we could be alive when the Lord comes? I'm afraid I've got very little hope. Wouldn't stand a chance. But I tell you, I'm coming with them. Listen to what the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 3 and 13 concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Not only is all of the elect gathered from the entire earth, when Jesus comes, the parousia, the parousia is invisible or mystical or private or silent or hidden. The parousia is visible, physical, literal. Every person on the earth knows it. All the cosmos is affected. And then it suddenly happens. But I want to tell you, when he comes, I shall be with him. We used to sing songs like that. We don't sing enough songs, brother, so like that in here. I want to tell you, when he comes, I will be with him, clothed in white, sinless, perfect, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Are you going to be there? There's only two people in this world, a sinner who ends up eternally in the lake of fire and a saint who reigns eternally with the Lord Jesus Christ. Two destinies, two persons in this world, and you're one or the other. It says in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 16 as I close, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. He doesn't just appear, he descends like he ascended. He's going to descend from heaven with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God. And listen, the dead in Christ shall rise first. If you died before this happens, your physical body meets your spirit. You come with Christ, but your body gets raised. You get raised up, reunited with your physical body. At the parousia, the second coming, every body of the elect, physical body, will be resurrected. Then we which are alive and remain, Paul puts himself in that bracket at that time, remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. It's the clouds again. Oh, that's spiritual clouds. It's mystical, symbolic. No, it's not. It's the same clouds Christ ascended in that he'll come with. Do you know what? It says, we shall be caught up. There is no spiritual experience of getting caught up with clouds. And believe me, if you have that experience, will you come and speak to me after this meeting? Because you and I need to talk and I need to pray for you. No getting caught up in clouds here. And on that day, it says, when he comes, we'll be caught up together with them in the clouds, not to heaven. Didn't say caught up to heaven, caught up in the clouds, the atmosphere of the earth. All the elect are going to get caught up to meet him in the air. And so shall we be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Saints of God, he's coming back again. He ascended from Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives. He's going to descend at Jerusalem and stand on the Mount of Olives. That means 2000 years ago, these men of God knew there's still going to be a Jerusalem at the second coming when Jesus Christ comes again. And he's going to place his feet on the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives will break in two. Saints, the cosmos is going to announce it. The mourning of the tribes of the nation are going to announce it. And the gathering of God's elect. Do you realize the saints of every age, every generation, you won't need to go looking for your body. I'm not going to go looking, going, where's Candace? I'll actually go. I know where she's going to be. It says where the carcasses, they are the eagles or the vultures gather. In Matthew 24 it says that. You know what it's saying? It's saying wherever Jesus is, every single saint from all of world history, listen to me, from all of world history, whether dead or alive, whether in the old dispensation of the Jews or the patriarchs or the tribulation or alive in the days of Antichrist, all of them, the elect from every hour will get gathered to one place to Jesus Christ in the clouds. And the Bible says we shall come with him in power and majesty and glory. And saints, what a day. It's all going to manifest in the little city of Jerusalem, a physical, natural, besieged, distraught, little historic setting in Judea. And Jesus is going to come there once again. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. It's such a remedy for heresy and confusion and wrong teaching and misinterpretation and misapplication. Lord God, it is glorious. It is marvelous. Lord God, we never get used to it. Our minds can hardly comprehend the glory, the greatness. No wonder the Bible calls this our hope, our glorious hope. And Lord God, we hasten, we long, we desire the coming of the Lord Jesus. You said that this desire, longing for his coming is a purifying hope. It is a hope that makes us holy in this world, that makes us clean in this world, that makes us to forsake sin, knowing that Jesus is going to come again the second time to reign and to rule upon the earth. And Father, I pray establish us in the simplicity of the truth and the word of God. Ground us in it. And Lord God, make us to know that in this hour, when we see all the troubles of Jerusalem and of Israel and all the signs of the times, a nation raging against nation, and Lord God, seeing all the things happening politically and socially and economically, my God, we're getting so close. We are drawn near to the day and the hour and the signs that actually proclaim that you are coming very shortly and that your coming is at the door. It's at hand. It's so close we could reach out and touch it. Lord God, we say maranatha tonight. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Stir us, O God. We're not ordained to stay here forever, but to meet you in the clouds. What a day that will be. Lord God, when my Jesus I shall see. Lord God, when he takes me by the hand. Lord God, what a Savior, what a King, what a Lord. Lord God, we look for that hour when you put on majesty and power and come to reign upon this earth and that the nations of this earth will become the kingdoms of our Lord and Christ. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen.