One Thing That is Certian

Jesus often times said things to people that were shocking, that they didn't expect, and what he said to his disciples on this occasion was very shattering. I want to read from chapter 24 of the book of Matthew, and I want to talk about verses 32 through 35, this is sort of a conclusion to this chapter, and Jesus was telling them the shocking thing that the temple that they had, this magnificent building, maybe the most unusual architectural structure in the world in Jesus' day, was going to be destroyed. This was the place the Hebrew people thought of God as living in. They could not imagine the world without that. It's like you would imagine that one day we got up and every Bible in the whole world just disappeared. You would say, what could be the future of our religion if that has happened to us? That's how they would feel about what Jesus said. They couldn't imagine anything except, this must mean the end of the world. So they asked him two questions. One is, when will all this happen? And the second question they asked was, when will you return and the end be here? They connected those two together, and I think they could see that there was a tremendous change with the destruction of the temple. The Jewish religion changed at that moment and never was the same again. Jesus, in addressing his disciples, had not a concern about when all this was going to take place, but his concern was, I don't want you to be deceived about all the things that are going to happen. So I want you to know for sure what's going to take place. The second thing he said to them was, I don't want you to ever be anxious about all the things that I'm talking to you about. For all his followers, he wants two things, an absence of deception and the absence of anxiety or fear. So he begins to tell them what's going to happen. You're going to face tremendous persecution. People will hate you, persecute you, kill you. You'll find terrible things are happening in the world, wars and all kinds of difficulties. But in spite of the fact that these could cause you to be anxious, don't be worried. Because if you are faithful to do what I tell you all the way to the end of your life, you will be saved from anything that will destroy you. Jesus wanted his disciples and those of us who are following him to be confident no matter what the world around us is like, no matter what the situation we see comes to. He wanted his disciples to be able to know that there would be clear evidence of the things that they needed to be alerted for. No one would have to rely on anyone coming and telling them. They would know when these times and events took place. He said it will be as clear as lightning across the sky. When you see lightning, you don't have to have somebody explain to you what it is. You don't have to have anybody point it out to you. It's clear and plain and evident and everyone can see it. So I don't want you to be worried because I'm telling you that you will know what is happening and what you should do. I'm not going to tell you in advance, but I'm going to tell you enough things so that you'll know when all of this begins to take place and you won't be destroyed or you won't be anxious or you won't be worried. Now in verse 32, Jesus is sort of summing up why they should not be anxious or worried or disturbed. Now learn this lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near right at the door. I tell you the truth. This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. What Jesus wanted them to see is just as there are signs in the natural order of the cycles that the earth goes through, so there are going to be signs that he gives to them that will allow them to be prepared for the events that are taking place. They were asking about the destruction of the temple. They assumed that the destruction of the temple would mean that the end of the world was at hand. Jesus didn't change their ideas about that. We don't know what Jesus knew. We only know what he said. He said to them, these are the things that are going to take place, and this is how you can be warned about it. He said, when you hear of the armies coming to the city of Jerusalem, you know that the desolation is about to occur. And so you leave the city, you run outside to the hills, and don't wait for anything. Don't go downstairs and get your food or your clothes or your valuables. If you're plowing, don't go over and get your coat you've laid by the side. Just run as hard and as fast as you can. And the sign will be when you hear that the armies are approaching. That's your signal. And when you know that, then you know what you should do to save your life. And of course that's what some of them did when the city of Jerusalem was besieged. They ran to the hills and to the caves and saved their life. Now, just as this tree will give you signs about nature and its cycles, so the things I've told you will give you clues about how to react no matter what the circumstances are when the terrible afflictions come. I don't know very much about trees in that part of the world, but I read up on it. Most of the trees in this climate, where it's very mild, stay green all year round. But some of them do lose their leaves in the winter, even though it's not a cold winter. The almond tree, for example, will lose its leaves in the winter, and then in early spring it begins to have its leaves come back. Sort of like here, you know, you hear people say, boy, spring's coming, I saw a crocus jump up in my yard this week. The crocus for us is a sign that spring is coming, even though it has to poke up through the ice and snow. So for them, this almond tree was a sort of symbol of the impending springtime. When you see the leaves coming on the almond tree, you know spring is soon ahead. The fig tree was different. The fig tree lost its leaves in the winter, just like the almond tree did, but it didn't put on its leaves early in the spring, it put them on very, very late in the spring. So when you began to see the leaves on the fig tree, you knew that summer was coming. So if you could tell the difference between the almond tree and the fig tree, you knew what to expect from each of them. So I'm giving you, he said, signs of the same thing. The fig tree would get its leaves hard in the winter, its limbs hard and brittle in the winter. All the sap, I suppose, would drain out of them. When spring started coming, they would get tender and green, and out of the end of each of the branches, a little bud would show itself. And when they saw that, they knew that summer was very, very close. All the things that I'm telling you are just like that. You can't predict when the leaves are going to come out on the trees, but you do know when you see signs on the trees that the leaves are soon to come. The things that I'm telling you, you can't figure out exactly and directly. Some of them are sort of fuzzy. We're not exactly sure all that he means and how it's going to take place, but he says when you see them, you will recognize them. That's why we're not to worry. Maybe you don't recognize all the things that are going to take place when the end of the world arrives, but you have the signs that let you know, and you have the ability to tell. Now, you have to have some training, you see, to be able to figure out the difference between a fig tree and an almond tree. And then you have to have some experience to know the difference about when they bring their leaves on. And you have to have some experience to know when the leaves come on the almond tree, it's the beginning of spring. And when they come on the fig tree, it's the beginning of summer. And so you need to have the teachings that Jesus gives you. That's why it's important for you to learn that. But when you have all of that, you may not quite get what's going to take place. But here's the big difference. When Jesus left, he said to his followers, I will give you my Holy Spirit. So if you've surrendered your life to Christ and he is in control of your life, he guarantees you the presence of the same Spirit that guided him. He gives you the promise of the same Spirit that put in his mind the very words of God himself to direct and guide him. So when you see these signs and you've learned what they are, and the Spirit of God says to you, this is the warning, you know that the time is at hand. And Jesus gives us sort of a trial run here. For in the prophecy he made about the destruction of the temple in the city of Jerusalem, this all happened just as Jesus told us it would. When the people were in Jerusalem and they heard the sound or the sign of the armies of the Roman Empire were on the march toward Jerusalem, the believers fled the city. And exactly what happened, what Jesus said would occur, did occur. The temple was destroyed. It was burned, annihilated. They were warned. They recognized the warning. They did what they were supposed to do and they were safe. The Bible oftentimes has prophecies with multiple fulfillments. That's one of the things that makes it a little difficult about the Scriptures. For example, the abomination of desolation that Daniel predicted would take place happened two different times in the Bible we know about. One was the time about 164 years before Jesus was born, whenever a Greek soldier and his army captured the city of Jerusalem and went to the temple and tried to destroy it. They took pigs and offered them on the altar to desecrate it. Other unclean animals were brought into the temple to desecrate it so it would not ever be used for worship of holy God again. They wanted to annihilate this Jewish religion because it was such a terrible obstacle to the Greeks controlling the city and the nation of Judah. And then after Jesus' death, 70 A.D., the city of Jerusalem was again surrounded. The Roman armies this time invaded the city. A million people were killed. The city was destroyed. The temple was placed, in the temple was placed the statues of Roman gods. Sacrifices were offered to the Roman emperor as a god, and again the temple was desecrated. But this time destroyed, never to be the same again. Now Jesus also in his prophecies talks about this end of the time, and it seems here as if it's compressed into this city of Jerusalem event, but we know that it wasn't because here we are 2,000 years later and it hasn't happened. So we know from our own experience in reading the scriptures that the interpretation that this was to occur, the end of time at the time of the city of Jerusalem, we know that that's not what Jesus meant because he didn't make mistakes like this. What he tells them is this is the beginning of the end, and whenever the end does come there will still be signs and signals like the leaves on the tree that will warn you. And when it happens you will know that that's taking place. So one of these prophecies Jesus talks about is still in the future for us to experience. But we have from the story Jesus told adequate information to know that he will make sure we know and are warned and we will have the signal that will allow us to go through it without being crushed or destroyed. That's what gives us the confidence because we have now a trial run of what Jesus said and we know that everything he said is exactly the way it was. So Jesus tells them I want you to know the signs will be there and you'll be able to recognize them and know exactly what's taking place. Even so when you see all these things you will know that it is near right at the door. You will know these things. You will be able to recognize them. You will not have warning in advance but when you see them you will know that the time is right there. Now Jesus wants to make sure that we are confident in what he has to say. Because not being deceived means we have to trust what he says above what everybody else might tell us or anyone else might tell us. And to not be afraid we have to have confidence that the things he's told us are going to happen exactly as he says that they would. And so Jesus gives us two words, two ideas that seem in some ways to be conflicting. I tell you the truth this generation will certainly not pass away till all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away. Jesus begins this passage with the word in Greek that you all know. You know a Greek word and that Greek word is Amen. Now we usually think that means the end of the prayer or maybe some affirmation during the sermon but it's really a word with very strong powerful meaning. It was a word that was used in the Greek language to be able to affirm when you were giving testimony that what you were going to tell is the truth. Sometimes it's translated verily verily or certainly certainly as an emphasis on the fact that this is really the truth. What Jesus does here is he takes an oath. He says I want to swear to you that the things that I'm telling you are the truth. I'm swearing on my nature. I as a person stand before you to say this is the truth and all of my character and nature and ministry and work are dependent on the fact that I'm telling you the truth. Jesus puts his whole life and ministry at stake by what he's telling us here. I want you to understand that this is not taken lightly nor is it simply a guess nor is it simply an idea but this is the truth. And then he says I tell you the truth this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away. Now Jesus is telling us from the very mind of God what we are to hear. We know from the book of John that Jesus received the instructions as to what he was to say and what he was to do from the father himself. And he said I tell you what the father tells me to tell you and I do what the father tells me to do. Jesus lived in a human body like we are and he got his directions like you and I get our directions from God through the Holy Spirit telling us what we ought to do. The difference between most of us and Jesus was there was no sense of rebellion in him. He didn't stop and say well I don't think that's a good idea to the father. He didn't say well I know what you say but I want to do something else. He always listened to the father, always obeyed him and always said what he was supposed to say. Now if this is true what Jesus is telling us in this story is the father has told me to tell you these warnings about the coming and the end of the world and of the temple. And I can verify that it's true because the father always speaks the truth. And what I'm telling you is true. The difficulty most of us have with following God is we don't mind following him with the things that sort of fit in with our lifestyle, fit in with our own ideas, fit in with our own reason. But then there come times whenever we're asked to do and say things that don't fit in with what we would really like to do. They don't fit in with what the rest of the people around us are doing. So we're afraid we'll look odd if we do these things. They don't fit in with our schedule. God I know that I've got a busy day and a lot of things I'm trying to do and then he pops something in there that we know really we should pay attention to this person or we should read the Bible or we should pray and we reason through it. Well you know I don't have time to do that. Always take the mission offering and you say what should I give God and he puts a figure in your mind and you say now wait a minute God. I can't do this because there's just not enough money available or he says I want you to take this job and you say well God I would do that work in the church but I just don't feel qualified to do it. You see we judge God's words by our own mind. Does this seem right to me? Is it what I want to do? Is it what everybody else does? Instead of what do you say God and whatever it is you say I will do. There's over and over again in the Bible stories of people who did something that was just absolutely ridiculous in human terms but it was very successful. If you were caught by an ocean with an army coming behind you would your first choice to be let's walk across this on dry ground. Tell you what I'll do I'll hold my hands up in the sky all the water will part and we'll all get across this. If you came to some army with that kind of a suggestion they would laugh you out of the whole army. That's exactly what Moses did. He had the courage to do what God told him was the thing he should do because it was right and good and true. And Jesus builds on that to say to them what I've told you is the truth. So whenever you see these signs you know that what I'm telling you is going to really take place and you should do it. And then he throws us something that makes it hard. He said this generation will pass away will not pass away before all these things take place. Now he's affirmed that this is the truth. He's affirmed now that this generation will not pass away before all these things happen and these two seem to be contradictory to us. Well whenever you run across that with anybody your friends or with God a good friend you know that tells you the truth that's honest and they say one thing it seems to contradict the other. If you believe that they're an honest person with integrity you don't write off say well they must have lied. You stop and you say explain to me why you said this and then you said this. That's the opposite. That's what you do when you're handling the Bible. If you believe that Jesus really has the words of God and speaks the truth you stop to say what did he mean. Well if I were saying this to Jesus saying it to the people I would look at his disciples and say if I thought that they were going to be the ones who would see the end of the world I'd say and you guys here you're not going to die before the end of the world comes. Be really clear wouldn't it? But he didn't say that. He said this generation. Does he mean the generation standing in front of him? Obviously not. What could he mean? Well the generation that's going to see the destruction of the temple and the generation that's going to see the end of the world those generations are the one he's talking about. Before you see the first hints that the army is coming you know that the end of the temple and the city of Jerusalem is going to happen in your lifetime. Now I'll say to you if one day you should get up and suddenly it should be clear to you that some of these things the Bible talks about taking place have happened you can just say for sure I will not die before I see Jesus return. How will you know that? Well the Bible tells us what the signs are. The Holy Spirit will enlighten us as to the fact that these signs are really the ones Jesus was talking about and when that happens you will be in the generation that will see the return of Jesus. Mark my word Jesus says when you see these signs whatever the generation is this generation that sees the sign will see the fulfillment of the prophecy. And then he stops to put the nail cinched. Whenever I used to work helping carpenters they would say you hit the nail and you hit that last one which sinks it good. This one is the one that clenches the nail. He said a lot of things in this world are temporary and unreliable. You may think that the earth itself is reliable because you stand on it because it seems to be forever but this earth will pass away. But more permanent than the earth and the sky is the word of the Father. When the Father said let there be light there was light and there will be the Son until the Father says I'm through with you go out. Then it goes out. The word of the Father was here before creation. If you look back at the creation story in Genesis all he did was let there be light and there was light. Let there be water separated from the ground and all that happened. Every single thing that he did was by his word. He spoke a word and everything took place. There is nothing more permanent and eternal than the word of God. And what I'm telling you Jesus says is the word that the Father has given to me to say to you. So you can count on this more than you can count on getting up tomorrow and seeing the sun or the ground around you. This is more certain than anything you will ever see. This is really important for us to get. Because we live in a world where so many questions and doubts about the scripture and about moral behavior are widely practiced. And when you sit down to talk to people about why they do the things that seem contrary to what God says they always have a reason for that. Need to seem right to me. Everyone else is doing it. I don't think it's possible to do what the Bible says you should do. There are always reasons. But the basic thing is I'm not sure that it's true if I do that that it will work right. A basic doubt in the word of God. None of us would even think of not doing something we know will work right. If you know that something you're going to do is going to work right you don't even hesitate by doing it. You know you can get up out of a chair you just get up. You don't stop and think well what about the law of gravity and what about if my legs give it. You just get up. You should have that same kind of confidence when you read in the Bible or you hear the word of God to you. Never doubt it. So all the things I'm telling you are permanent and if you are going to be my followers you must learn to trust the word of God above all else in the world. So the things that I've told you will come to pass for you. It's important what Jesus tells us about the end of time because those who get caught at the place and time when it does take place will discover the tremendous changes in the world and the world will come to a stop and the judgment day will be there. But we're not there today yet. All we have is a life to be able to live in obedience to God and what Jesus says about the end of the time and the end of the world and the end of this age is critical for us to get through all these things that are going to take place. What you have to learn to do is listen to the words of God and to learn to put them into practice. Your preparation day for that great time is now. Preparing your own life for the event that will cause you to stand in the presence of God. Now you may not see the end of time as Jesus describes it here with the coming of Jesus from the sky but I'll promise you this. You will see the end of this world in your life. If it's not the coming of Jesus in the clouds it will be your coming to see him after death. And your preparation for these great events that will take place are absolutely dependent on believing that the word of God is more reliable than anything in all the world. So when you know what God wants you to do you have to have the courage and faith to act in obedience to what he tells you. Because it is that learning how to live in obedience to God day by day that will make it possible for you at the time of death to face God with confidence. It is that living day by day in the presence of God listening to him and following him that will allow you in the time that he returns to recognize the signs that you see and know what's happening around you. If you don't learn to listen to that then you're going to be unprepared either for death or for life everlasting after Jesus returns. This word of Jesus is so critical for us because it calls us back to the basic fundamental issue of what it means to be a follower of Christ. That you say to him, I believe that you and you alone have the words that bring life. I make a pledge to you that I will trust you and you alone as the sole guide for my life. And once you make that promise to God then you set out to become his follower, his disciple. It means you begin to learn in the scriptures what he's like and what God is like and how you can recognize his voice and how you can follow him so that in every situation that you find yourself you know how to hear the voice of God as compared to the voice of your own mind and of the people around you who are trying to influence you. And you know the difference between what is real and true and what is false and what will kill you. If you don't learn that, your life will be a miserable series of terrible failures because listening to the wrong voice in your life causes you to make choices that are always destructive and deadly, always. It doesn't make any difference how many other people do it, it doesn't make any difference how many people excuse it, if it's contrary to the word of God it is deadly. Jesus' warning, everything in this world will disappear except one thing, it is what God says is right and true. And if you will believe what I'm saying to you today, you will be prepared for everything in the world you might face, both in this world and at the end of the world and then forever. Every human being in the face of the earth has a decision to make. Is the word of God true? Do I want to follow it? That's the issue. If you've never made that commitment in your own life, now you can join a church without making that promise, you can be baptized without making that promise, you can be a church member without making that promise. Many people are baptized, they join a church, they're part of a church, but they still live doing what their own mind tells them is the right thing to do. They still do every day the things that they think are good, they do the things that seem to fit the way they want to live. But the radical commitment to say, I'm going to live by God's instructions, is what brings you into the kingdom of heaven. What allows you to live a powerful life in the kingdom of God is learning to put into practice all those things God tells us. I see so many of us who think, well, I can do some of them that I think will work out, but I'm not going to be radical about this. Well, it's kind of like saying I'm going to learn my addition, but I'm not going to be radical and learn about subtraction and division and think I learned math. It's all or nothing. All or nothing. That's what Jesus' requirement is. Would you bow your heads for a moment, please? I have one thing to ask of you. Do you believe that the words of God written in the scriptures are true? Do you believe the things that you know God tells you you should do are right? And are you convinced that the things He tells you are wrong, that you must not do them? Have you made the promise to God to live in obedience to Him? Now, what you need to do is to say to God, am I living this? Have I made this promise to you? If you're not sure, this is a time for you to be certain. No matter what happened last year, two years ago, ten years ago, today, do you know without a doubt that you've made a pledge to God to live in obedience to Him as best you can? If you've never done that, here's what God asks. This is important to me, He says. I want you to publicly stand and declare to everyone, Jesus Christ is my Lord. You do this with baptism. You go into the water to show your old life has passed. You're raised up out of the water to show you're living a new life in obedience to the words of the Father. You begin to grow in your relationship to God by obedience, learning what He wants you to do, and doing what He tells you. If you've made that promise to God, are you growing in your trust and obedience to God? Are you doing different things, new things for God, or has your life settled in a routine that you're the same now as you were two years ago? That's not growth. That's not following God. Two things He wants, holiness, becoming more and more like Him, and making disciples, doing His work. Those two things ought to mark your life. If they're not, then you're not following God's words as a follower of His. In a moment, we're going to sing together an invitation song. I want to invite you, if you've never committed your life to Christ, to say to Him, today I give myself to You. If you've made that promise to Him that your own life is not lived in radical obedience to God, you've excused yourself for a lot of ways. You know it's wrong. I want you to say to God, I renew my devotion to You. Maybe God said to you, this is a place that I want you to be a part of, a church family that's yours. Maybe He wants you to come and say, today I want to say I'm going to become a part of this group of people to do the work God has given these people to accomplish in this town. Listen, the word of God to you must be obeyed. Father, I don't know what you say to each person in this congregation, but you alone speak those words. I just ask with such urgency that each one of us who hear you would say today, whatever you want, Father, I will do, that we might know the joy of living this life without deception, without anxiety and fear. In the name of Jesus, I ask this, amen. Would you stand, please, while we sing this song? God has spoken to you, and you know He has, and you're ready to follow Him. I just ask you to make your way out into the aisle. Come and share with me or Carl. This is the promise I want to make to God.