Good Morning and Welcome

Well, good morning. We got a great looking crowd today. It's so good to see everybody here. And I tell you something that really just blesses me. I don't know if it blesses—I believe it blesses others in the churches. We got a lot of new visitors, relatively newer visitors. It's just so good to have all of y'all. And I would just tell you, just if there's any way you got any questions, please let us know. We actually had a new members class last Sunday after church. But if you miss that and you're thinking about Longleaf Baptist being your church home, just sometime see me, sometime talk to me and we can get a chance to talk. It's just such a blessing to have everybody here and we certainly love having our new guests.

Starting the Mini-Series: Signs Everywhere Are Signs

Last Sunday we started what I'd call a mini sermon series. We started it last Sunday. We're going to definitely be in it today and we'll see if we stick with this the next week or so. But at least for today, we're continuing this miniseries that we're calling signs—signs everywhere are signs. You know, nobody knows the hour that the Lord is coming back. None of us know. That's the way God intended it to be. We don't know the exact hour. Matthew 24, I believe around verse 36, it says, "No one knows the hour." So, if anybody ever tries to tell you they know when the Lord is coming back, watch out. Nobody knows the hour.

But we do see signs and I believe in scripture, a lot of what we see the Lord telling us is he gives us signs. In fact, the passage we're going to today is in Matthew 24 where he speaks about signs. Last Sunday we went to Daniel 9. We'd been in Daniel—such an awesome book of the word of God. We were there about four or five Sundays, but last Sunday we were in Daniel 9 and we read in Daniel 9 chapter 27 that one day there's going to be the man of sin, the Antichrist. He's going to rise to power. He's going to be a little horn that rises to power. Probably somebody from a nation that's not as well-known. He's going to rise to power and he's going to sign a covenant of peace with many. And we've heard a lot about peace in the world lately over the news a lot lately. We've even heard that there's a board of peace forming where it's going to consist of some world leaders that'll be on it. And what we talked about last Sunday is although we don't know the hour, we certainly see the signs and one sign that we see is the table is being set for peace. Now, we don't know how long it'll be, but we could certainly see where everything that we're seeing going on in our world today, the table is being set. You set your table. If you're going to have a nice formal dinner, and you want to kind of have all the table settings out before you eat the dinner, you kind of could see where the table is being set for peace. The table is being set for one, the Antichrist, that will rise up and that will rise to power and will promise peace. But we know the scripture tells us he'll break it halfway through. And that'll usher in the great tribulation.

Continuing in Matthew 24: The Olivet Discourse

Today we're going to continue though in that series where we're talking about signs. Signs everywhere are signs and we're going to Matthew 24. Now Matthew 24 and Matthew 25. A lot of times you'll hear them referred to as the discourse. We're going to hone in on the first eight verses of Matthew 24. We will get to other parts of Matthew 24 as well, but they're called all of that discourse. First, in the Gospel of Matthew, this is the fifth and final discourse where Jesus is teaching and preaching in the Gospel of Matthew. It's the fifth one, but it's called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus, he had this discourse, this discussion, this teaching with his disciples on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is close to Jerusalem. I believe about a half a mile from Jerusalem. And what we actually see in Matthew 24 when Matthew 24 opens up in verse one beginning there it says, "Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came to show him the buildings of the temple." And Jesus said to them, that's Matthew 24:2. Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down."

We're going to read in a minute verses 3-8. But I wanted to start with those first two verses in Matthew 24. And mind you the context. If you flip back to Matthew 23, you'll see Jesus is in Jerusalem. A lot of Matthew 23, you'll see the religious leaders opposing Jesus and you'll see Jesus rebuking them in Matthew 23. This passage that we're reading, it took place somewhere between the triumphal entry and Jesus going to the cross. A lot of scholars say that this passage in Matthew 24, the Olivet discourse, a lot of them say it was on Tuesday of Holy Week. But I've also read where some will say it's Wednesday or Thursday. Somewhere between Jesus entering triumphantly. We remember when he entered triumphantly, right? It's recorded in all of the gospels. He came in triumphantly, welcomed as king. But just later on that week, they nailed him to the cross. Somewhere between there was the Olivet discourse. Jesus, he had left Jerusalem. And the disciples there in verse one, it's like they're saying, "Look at all this." And I picture them walking away from Jerusalem towards the Mount of Olives. That's what I picture. And they're like, "Isn't this amazing? Isn't the temple amazing? Isn't all these buildings in Jerusalem amazing?" And in verse two, Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?" He said, "Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down."

A lot of we know that Jerusalem and the temple was conquered in 70 AD. So after Jesus suffered, after he died, after he rose from the dead, after he ascended to heaven in the year 70, the Roman army conquered Jerusalem and the temple was taken down. And he says, "Not one stone shall be left here." Many believe that's a prophecy that Jesus was giving the disciples in the near immediate future where the temple would be down. Now, remember, one day the temple in Jerusalem is going to get rebuilt. And boy, when you see that temple getting rebuilt, I don't know if we'll be here or not, but man, if we do, boy, does that ever point towards a sign. Because we know one day the Antichrist, when he breaks the covenant, he's going to be breaking the covenant, setting himself up to be worshiped in the temple like he's God. But that's kind of the context building up to this passage. They've left Jerusalem. The disciples are following. They're going to the Mount of Olives. And when we come to verse three, we see that Jesus is sitting on the Mount of Olives. So again, that's how these chapters get known to be the Olivet discourse.

Reading Matthew 24:3-8

I want to read there in Matthew 24, and we'll begin in verse three. I do invite anybody that is able and would like to stand with me in honor of the reading of the word of God. Matthew 24 beginning in verse three, the word of God says, "Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when